SKF NOTE: In 1982, working on a five-part feature series for “Modern Drummer” magazine called “The History of Rock Drumming,” I spoke with Smokey Dacus, drummer with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, about that band’s western swing influence on the early rock-and-roll musicians like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison; early rockers who very much built their music on a country music foundation.

During our interview I realized: Smoky Dacus is a pivotal drummer. A drum pioneer.

He was the first drummer to play in a country band.

Bandleader Bob Wills had the idea, in Smokey’s words, to add oomph to Wills’s fiddle band. “So he hired me,” says Smokey.

Smokey went from working in bands and orchestras where everything he played was written, to the Texas Playboys where nothing was written. How Smokey adapted is a key piece of drumming history.

In this clip from our interview, Dacus is telling me how he transitioned from a very good high school drummer, to being a sought-after drummer for dates in and around Tulsa, Oklahoma.

You can read the full transcript of Dacus’s interview on my blog starting at https://scottkfish.com/2015/08/10/smokey-dacus-pioneer-of-western-swing-drumming-pt-1/.

Thank you for listening. If you like my drummer research and writing, from the 1970s to the present, please consider supporting my work at https://scottkfish.com/thankyou