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From: Buddy McPeters
Date: October 20, 2003
Larry, I think the answer is obvious. Tommy Duncan was the better singer of the two of them. Bob could have not hired Tommy and done all the singing himself but he was smart enough to realize that though he could sing and really had a voice of his own, Tommy Duncan was a rich baritone and was a much better singer for the kind of music he had in mind. Tommy had the ability for mass appeal with his voice. Bob didn't and he knew it. Before Bob had Tommy he had hired Milton Brown to sing in the Fort Worth Doughboys, then Milton left and started his own rival band that he sang in. Bob hired Tommy to replace him, and the rest is history. I personally think Tommy Duncan was the best vocalist Bob Wills ever had, and was probably the best vocalist in all of Western Swing. Tommy had a vocal ability on a par with Emmett Miller, Jimmie Rodgers and Jack Teagarden. Bob Wills had other great singers over the years and opinions vary, but all in all the songs that Bob was remembered by most were the old original issue hit songs on 78 rpm which Tommy sang with a few exceptions like 'Corrine Corrina' sang by Bob himself, 'Miss Molly' which was sang by Leon McAuliffe, 'Home In San Antone' sang by Danny Alguire, 'Faded Love' sang by Rusty McDonald and a few others. My favorite 3 western swing vocalists are Tommy, Teddy Wilds with Ole Rasmussen and his Nebraska Cornhuskers, and of course Tex Williams with Spade Cooley and later on his own.