В 1930-е года, когда "свинг" пользовался популярностью,молодые люди от побережья до побережья в городских танцевальных залах зажигали под музыку Бенни Гудмана /Benny Goodman/,Томми Дорсея /Tommy Dorsey/, Сэмми Кая /Sammy Kaye/. Этот список также можно продолжить многими другими популярными ансамблями этой эпохи.  Country cousins of these youngsters were doing the same, but not in ballrooms and not to the "uptown" bands whose names most readily come to mind when the era of swing music is recalled.  It was something described as "hot fiddling" when it first began to stir in the Southwest--something that was not as gentile as the string-band sounds of the Eastern Appalachians.

Beginning in the country dance halls of Texas and Oklahoma, an infectious combination of country, cowboy, polka, and folk music was blended with "swing" to create a variation played by so-called "hot string bands," which would later come to be known as "Western Swing."

The birth of Western Swing can be traced more or less to an oil lamp and a sack of flour.  In 1930, a duo of fiddle and guitar players teamed up with a vocalist and rhythm guitarist to form "The Aladdin Laddies," making regular appearances on WBAP in Forth Worth Texas.  Many groups in those days took their names from the sponsor of a radio show, in this case the Aladdin Lamp Company.  When Aladdin pulled out as sponsor, the show continued under the sponsorship of the Burris Mill and Elevator Company.  The best known product of the mill was "Light Crust Flour," so the boys were renamed "The Light Crust Doughboys."  Following many changes in personnel, the Doughboys are still performing today, nearly 70 years later.

The personnel of this seminal group consisted of fiddler Bob Wills, guitarist Herman Arnspiger, vocalist Milton Brown, and his brother Derwood Brown on rhythm guitar.  Apparently, this combination never recorded.  The group did, however, make two recordings in 1932, under the name "The Fort Worth Doughboys," with Sleepy Johnson replacing Arnspiger.

Bob Wills (left) and Milton Brown (right) each went on to head one of the two most popular and important Western Swing bands.  Wills assumed the title of "King of Western Swing" and remained active for many years.  He died on May 13, 1975.  Milton Brown, who more properly deserves the title "Founder of Western Swing," died on April 18, 1936, the victim of a tragic automobile accident.  Milton Brown, only 32 years of age, was lost to us just at a time when he was preparing to rise to prominence on the national scene.

The stories of Bob Wills, Milton Brown, and the creation of "Western Swing" are so easy to find elsewhere that I shall not recount them here.  Along with liner notes of the recordings mentioned below, an excellent source, available in your library or bookstore is "COUNTRY - The Music and the Musicians" published by the Country Music Foundation and Abbeville Press (1988).