ROOTS of Country Music

Bob McNett

Rupert Robert "Bob" McNett (Lead Guitar)

(Oct. 16, 1925 ~ June 21, 1995)

Bob was born in Roaring Branch, Pennsylvania (PA) and died of Prostate Cancer in Montgomery, PA.

In 1947, NcNett met Hank Williams in Shreveport, Louisiana. Bob had originally come to the area as a member of Patsy Montana's band.

After Patsy disbanded her group, McNett joined the Drifting cowboys and worked with Hank Williams on the Louisiana Hayride and went with Williams to the Grand Ole Opry.

In 1948, Hank Williams signed with MGM Records, and released Move It On Over, a massive country hit. After a few more moderate hits, Williams released his version of Lovesick Blues (Rex Griffin) in 1949, which became a huge country hit and crossed over to mainstream audiences. That year, Williams sang the song at the Grand Ole Opry, where he became the first performer to receive six encores.

In 1949, Hank Williams brought together Bob McNett (guitar), Hillous Butrum (bass guitar), Jerry Rivers (fiddle) and Don Helms (steel guitar) to form the most famous version of the Drifting Cowboys.

Bob McNett Gibson Guitar

In May 1950, McNett left the Drifting Cowboys and Sammy Pruett rejoined the band as his replacement.  In 1977 McNett joined a reformed Drifting Cowboys band. However, In 1984, McNett retire from The Cowboys once again.