05 Dec 09 Last Drifting Cowboy Dies
Bill Lister played rhythm guitar. For the last year of Hank Williams’ life, Lister was the rhythm guitarist in the icon’s “Drifting Cowboys” band. Tuesday, Lister became the last to go.
The 86-year-old musician died Tuesday in San Antonio. He was a native of Brady, TX.
Lister was known as radio’s tallest singing cowboy. That came from the fact that he was 6 feet, 7 inches tall. Until just a few months ago, Lister still performed. He would play every night on a Caribbean cruise that originated from Galveston.
Lister’s wife was responsible for one of Hank Williams Jr.’s most enjoyable hits. In 1988, she found a demo of Hank and the Cowboys singing “There’s a Tear in My Beer.” No one until then knew the recording existed. Lister gave it to Williams’s son, who took it and made it a number-1 duet with his father.
Bill Lister is survived by one son.
Posted by: Sam Moore
Tags: Bill Lister, Hank Williams, Texas music
