BOB WILLS - RODEO PRODUCER. In 1939, at the height of his western swing band popularity, Bob Wills decided his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma needed a professional rodeo, so he produced the Bob Wills Stampede from 1939 to 1943 when he relocated his band to California. Wills handed the reins to the rodeo to his brother Johnnie Lee Wills--who changed the name to the 'Johnnie Lee Wills Tulsa Stampede Rodeo' and kept it going for another 42 years until his death in 1984. Picture was taken at the rodeo parade in downtown Tulsa. Left to right - Bob Wills on horseback, manager O. W. Mayo, Johnnie Lee Wills on horseback - circa 1945.
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