WILLIAMS, TEX
(1917–1985)
WILLIAMS, TEX (b. Sollie Paul W., Ramsey, Ill., August 23, 1917–October 11, 1985) Tex Williams was a talking-blues singer most famous for his 1947 recording of Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette, which he wrote with guitarist MERLE TRAVIS . Williams was born in rural Illinois, and by the age of thirteen was performing locally as a one-man band on radio and at local venues. He spent most of the 1930s in a variety of country and COWBOY outfits touring the Western states. By late in the decade he…