Born 109 Years Ago Today in Illinois, the Talking Blues Cowboy Who Scored a No. 1 Hit With This Clever Anti Smoking Song

A prominent figure on the post-World War II Western swing scene, Tex Williams is best known for the laconic novelty hit “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)” Co-written with Merle Travis and released in 1947, the song spent 16 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. More than six decades later, “Smoke” served as the title song for the 2005 satirical film Thank You for Smoking.

Today, we’re exploring the life and career of Sollie Paul “Tex” Williams. He was born in Ramsey, Illinois, on this day (August 23) in 1917.

Tex Williams Helped Deliver Country Music to a Much Wider Audience

The youngest of 11 children, Tex Williams learned folk and traditional music from his father, a fiddler who operated a sawmill and blacksmith shop in Ramsey. By age 13, he had his own one-man band program on a local radio station.

During the height of World War in the early 1940s, California was seeing an influx of defense workers from Texas and Oklahoma.

This created a demand for Western swing entertainment on the West Coast. That was good news for Williams when he moved to Los Angeles in 1942. He quickly found a vocalist spot with Western swing bandleader Spade Cooley’s group. Williams sang on the band’s number-one hit, “Shame On You”, in 1945.

Going His Own Way

In 1946, Capitol Records offered Tex Williams a solo contract. This strained his relationship with the already volatile Cooley to its breaking point, and the bandleader fired him in June of that year.

Williams left, taking most of Cooley’s band with him. He formed his own 12-piece band, the Western Caravan.

The group scored their first hit when their recording of “The California Polka” reached number four on the Billboard folk chart.

His Biggest Hit

In July 1947, Tex Williams released the novelty song “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)”, which he’d co-written with Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Merle Travis.

[RELATED: Born on This Day in 1917, the Country Singer Who Pioneered a Brand-New Guitar Style and Sang About the Exploitation of Coal Miners]

The song’s lyrics take direct aim at the tobacco industry, decrying the irresistible pull that their main product has on smokers. But nicotine slaves are all the same / At a pheasant party or a poker game / Everythin’s gotta stop when they have that cigarette.

“Smoke” spent 16 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the country songs chart in 1947. Since then, artists like Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel, and Hank Thompson have covered it.

While Williams never reached the pinnacle again, he did collect more top 10 hits. Those include “Don’t Telephone – Don’t Telegraph (Tell a Woman)” and “Life Gets Tee-Jus Don’t It”.

Tex Williams also landed roles in about 25 short movies, including Cheyenne Cowboy and The Pecos Pistol (both 1949).

In the 1950s, he hosted The Tex Williams Show on a local Los Angeles TV station. He also opened the Tex Williams Nightclub in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California — where he spent the last 27 years of his life.

He Didn’t Die of Lung Cancer, Contrary to Popular Belief

Due to the subject matter of Tex Williams’ signature hit, many assumed that lung cancer was what ultimately claimed his life.

And while he was a heavy smoker — reportedly going through two packs a day — Williams ultimately succumbed to kidney failure on October 11, 1985 at Newhall Community Hospital.

He was 68 years old.

Featured image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images