Spadella! The Essential Spade Cooley
Cooley was one of the more curious characters in the annals of country music. In the mid-1940s, Cooley was riding high: he was king of the Southern California ballroom circuit; a radio, TV, and movie star; and, according to legend, winner of a battle of the bands with Bob Wills. Following this 1943 victory over Wills's Playboys, Cooley declared himself "King of Western Swing" and signed a recording contract with OKeh, the results of which are found here. These 20 songs cover territory from merry ballads to blistering instrumentals. With Tex Williams handling the vocal chores, and fiery pickers such as Johnny Weis (guitar), Noel Boggs, and Joaquin Murphey (steel) behind him, the Cooley band packed a mean punch, with fiddles, harp, and accordion adding to the frenzy. These mid-1940s records, many of them big hits, marked the acme of Cooley's career and his life. His movie and TV successes dried up, his best band (this one) was stolen away by Williams, and in 1969, Cooley died while in prison for murdering his wife.--Marc Greilsamer