Robert Clarence Nolan
Clarence Robert Nobles
(April 13, 1908 - June 16, 1980)
EARLY LIFE AND CAREER (1908 - 1949)
Maybe clouds fill your skies, maybe tears fill your eyes
But your spirits will rise if you sing!
Singer, songwriter, actor and poet, Bob Nolan was instrumental in creating "Western" music, a uniquely North American art form. Cool Water and Tumbling Tumbleweeds are two of his best-known songs but they are only the tip of the iceberg. Many of his compositions had no root at all in European Folk music or in Country / Cowboy music. They were often pure poetry set to unusual melody - completely original - painting a landscape in music. The new sound caught the public's imagination. Contemporary musicians began to imitate, western movies picked it up and the new genre was popular for thirty years.
Please apply for permission from Calin Coburn to use photos or text.
Decca / Standard Radio Transcriptions
Republic Pictures (for a complete list, see Filmography)
The Classic Sons of the Pioneers Reunited
INTRODUCTION: THE MYTH AND THE MAN
Because Bob Nolan was a private person who preferred solitude to social life he has become something of a mystery. A natural disinclination to explain himself to anybody, plus a propensity for spending long periods of time alone in the mountains or desert, made him a recluse in the minds of his fellow entertainers and historians. On the other hand, nearly sixty years after he left film and stage, he remains a hero to his fans. Hero or recluse - which was he? Both?
His undeniable talent for painting the prairie and desert in simple but powerful words, or putting into verse emotions we all share, set him apart from the average Singing Cowboy of his day. His good looks and good manners romanticized that image still further. His detractors were few.
While men respected him and children and the ladies loved him, those who lived or worked with him longest felt they did not ever really know him. His personality baffled them. His second wife, Clara, was heard to say, "I lived with him for over forty years and I still don't know him." His grandson considered him an ordinary man with extraordinary talent. His daughter felt that he was always searching for something more - a key to life. Roy Rogers, after fifty years, thought that he was unknowable - "Bob was Bob." On the other hand, Lloyd Perryman, expecting nothing of him and accepting everything, was his closest friend.
Knowing a man personally is quite different from trying to meet him through the eyes of his friends and family so I cannot say through this biography that "This is Bob Nolan." I can let his friends speak of him and I can tell you a little about his background but I arrived on the scene far too late to meet him face to face. I began to research his life in 1994 and this fourteen-year distance may have allowed me to be more objective. I hope so. I have faithfully recorded the facts and I will let them speak for themselves. You be the final judge.
People can be uneasy with those they cannot type. Since they did not know just how to label Bob, they called him eccentric, an enigma, a hermit, knowing that none of those tags quite fit. According to those who knew him, and each knew a slightly different side of him, he was friendly but basically shy, attractive, opinionated, courteous, kind, moody, modest, idealistic, reticent, and articulate - although never about himself. He had a fine sense of humour and of the ridiculous. All agreed that he was a strong man, even into old age. Without ever demanding it, he was given respect and loyalty.
He was uncomfortable with praise or adulation. Bob Nolan hoped the public would think well of his songs but he was truly indifferent to what they thought of him personally.
He was not at all interested in his past or in keeping records and admitted, "I don’t go back to the past too much. I sometimes go back to try to find out what happened at what time, but I don’t live in the past at all. It repulses me no end to have people come up to me and say, Hey! I knew you when... and take me back thirty or forty years. It’s very repulsive to me to start or even begin to live in the past." As a result, he was not overly-concerned with correct dates, times or names on documents and this created a challenge to Bob's grandson and I who were attempting to chart his life.
So the following pages are not an attempt to analyze the man or explain why he was who he was. Bob maintained his personal privacy to the end, even to this day. This is not a full biography but a simple list of the facts of his life as we discovered them, illustrated with as many photos as we could find. His friends and family were generous with their opinions while agreeing that they never really knew him. They all felt that there was something more behind that courteous, kindly facade that kept them from stating equivocally, "I knew Bob Nolan." Perhaps the answer is, after all, found only in the words of his songs. (Elizabeth Drake McDonald)
Bob seldom spoke of his mother to his friends and family. He said he remembered nothing at all about her yet he wrote this line into a song, I call for mother all in vain. I never even knew her name. Why, tell me why? Had he blocked out every memory of his mother? After all, he was 8 and-a-half years old when she took him to New Brunswick. He should have remembered her easily. Why did he refuse to speak of her in later years? His younger brother, Earle, searched for and eventually found her when he was sixteen. He kept in touch with her until she died. Bob did not.
Flora Elizabeth Hussey, was born in Belfast, Ireland, moving to Canada in 1889 with her father, Frederick Hussey; mother, Louisa Jenkins Hussey; and brothers, Frederick, Percival and Waldon Hussey. She was working in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as a stenographer when Harry Bayard Nobles arrived in town to find employment as a tailor. Harry had dark brown eyes, dark brown hair, a ruddy complexion and was 5 feet 5 3/4 inches in height. He was cheerful and kind, "a very stocky guy," remembers Roy Drachman, "well-built and, by gosh, he was strong as the devil!" Harry and Flora were married on January 1, 1906, and Bob (Clarence Robert Nobles) was born on April 13, 1908 in Winnipeg. (More details in Flora Elizabeth Nobles.)
In 1912, by now a family of four after Earle’s birth in 1911, they moved to Vancouver and remained there until 1915 when the marriage failed. The family returned to Winnipeg where Flora found employment as an operator for the Manitoba Government Telephones. Harry left the boys with her and spent some time with his own parents back in New Brunswick before crossing the border into the United States, leaving the name "Nobles" behind him permanently. As "Harry B. Nolan", he looked for action in the American Southwest and joined the US Army in 1917.
Harry and Flora Nobles
(Photos courtesy of Jean Nolan Krygelski)
Working conditions for women in Manitoba in the early 1900s were well defined. By law, a married woman with dependent children was not allowed to work away from home and children. To complicate matters, Winnipeg was experiencing labour problems and the Manitoba Government Telephone Company was involved. In the summer of 1916, Flora was forced to take the children to her husband's parents, Charles and Ella Jane Nobles, in Hatfield Point, New Brunswick. She intended to come back for them when she was better able to support them and when she said goodbye to them, she did not realize that she would never see her eldest son again.
View of Belleisle Bay from the Nobles' window.
Photo courtesy of David Folster
Harry was bitter and divorce was perceived as a shame to his whole family. It is hard to understand this attitude from a distance of nearly one hundred years, but that is the way it was then. The boys' grandparents tried to erase Flora's memory from their lives. For the three years the boys lived with them, they were absolutely forbidden to speak their mother's name. Her letters never reached them. There was no attempt made by anyone to help the little boys understand the situation. Young Bob was convinced that his mother had abandoned him and the hurt remained with him for the rest of his life. He did find a measure of peace in the deep woods behind the house, a place he called his wildwood. Earle, a lively three years younger and more adaptable, became his grandmother's favorite but Bob held himself quietly and politely aloof from everyone.
Bob's "wildwood" on his grandparents' homestead in New Brunswick.
(Photo courtesy of Marsha Boyd Mitchell)
Bob or Clarence, now 8 years old, started school the Fall of 1916 at the Hatfield Point School. His teacher was Clara M. Tingley and the list of his classmates contained one of his young aunts, Mabel Spragg, and some of his cousins. Miss Tingley taught all the grades and her pupils ranged in age from 6 to 17 years of age. Bob and Earle attended school sporadically for Bob was needed to help with the chores on the farm and, after all, school was low on his grandfather's priority list. Bob's attendance was significantly lower than that of the rest of his class. In his early years with the Sons of the Pioneers, Bob was chosen to copy all the lyrics for the trio to use during rehearsals and broadcasts. Possibly due to his lack of early schooling, his spelling ability wasn't what it should have been and Bob wryly told his friend, Bill Bowen, "In the middle of a song, Timmy would startle us by breaking into laughter at the way I had misspelled some word." His spelling never did improve and this failure always annoyed and embarrassed him.
In later years, he often spoke of the beauty of the forest country in New Brunswick but he also admitted that, during those years, "We probably had one month out of the year that we went to school and it was five and one-half miles and I trotted the whole distance, half of the time with a Canadian lynx stalking me all the way." Forty years later Bob told a friend, "Oh, what a beautiful country. I don't think there's a more beautiful country in the whole of God's creation than that."
The little boys did make friends with the neighbour children, the Boyds, but there was no opportunity to get close to the other children in that rural community. Their grandfather kept them too busy. Their entertainment was simple – their young aunts liked to gather around the piano and sing together. They did have a gramophone but there was no radio in that home yet.
Although Bob claimed to have good memories of the time he spent on the old homestead, he never did go back to see his grandparents. His grandfather died in 1935, just when Bob’s career was on the rise. His grandmother lived eight years longer. She always looked for him to return but he never came.
Photo courtesy of David Folster
(Matilda Urquhart, whose name is on the headstone, was Charles and Ella Jane's youngest daughter.)
In the Summer of 1919, when Harry heard that Flora was preparing to return to New Brunswick to reclaim her boys, he wrote an urgent letter to his sister, Fannie, asking her to take them home to Boston with her until he was well enough to send for them. So Fannie appeared at the old homestead without warning one afternoon and left with the boys early the next morning. Little Earle cried; Bob said nothing. Their surname was changed to their father's adopted name of "Nolan" and their mother was never able to find them.
While the boys lived in Boston with their aunt, Bob attended school for the two years until, in 1921, Harry finally sent for him. He began school in Tucson as Clarence Robert Nolan, an impressionable thirteen-year-old torn from thick, green woodland country and replanted in the Sonora Desert. It was a shock and also the beginning of a lifelong love affair with the desert. He never tired of talking about the desert, or high prairie, and his love for it moved right into his songs. In later years, he recognized it as his true unchanging love, his mistress. Humans disappointed, yes; but his desert, never.
Earle joined Bob and his father three years later. Harry had remarried and his job as a tailor allowed him to rent only small houses or apartments. Life was a constant struggle with debt and there never seemed to be enough food for the growing boys.
Bob's brother, Earl, and half brother, Michael Foster Nolan, recall stories
Harry told them of his adventures - living in Alaska, Vancouver, and Regina,
going on an expedition to the North Pole, being a member of the expeditionary
force into Mexico after Pancho Villa, and being gassed at Belleau Wood, France.
Although the dates and the documents we have do not always support the legends,
they made Harry forever a hero in the minds and hearts of his children and
grandchildren. He died in Santa Monica, California, on November 13, 1948.
1921 saw Bob starting school in the seventh grade at Safford Junior High School, transferring to Roskruge Junior High the following spring. An outstanding athlete, he progressed normally through the grades, graduating from Tucson High School on May 25, 1928. During the summer holidays he worked as a lifeguard at the Wetmore Pool. Wetmore was more than an Olympic-size pool. It featured outdoor movies, a roller rink, a picnic park and a dance hall with a spring-suspended double maple floor so it was a gathering place for young people. During this time he started riding the rails, looking for work and seeing the country. He summed up his feelings in the line of a song when he wrote, When I feel the urge I gotta travel anywhere the tumbleweed blows.... Bob devoured the books of Richard Halliburton - tales of travel and true adventure like "The Royal Road to Romance", and these books fed that urge. He had a romantic heart in all senses of the word romance – love of adventure and the idealistic pursuit of that elusive, perfect love.
High School. (The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
For some reason, Bob let friends and interviewers believe that he had attended the University of Arizona for a time and studied harmony structure, etc. The University has no record of it although a careful search was made. His brother Earle confirmed this, "Bob was not too interested in continuing his studies." He was, however, a member of the Arion Club in Tucson High and his name is listed with the glee club in the 1928 school yearbook, The Tucsonian. His interest in harmony structure and love of harmony singing may have had its roots there.
The Tucsonian, 1928.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
One of the secrets of the success of the Sons of the Pioneers was their precise breathing, timing, tone control and well-matched vocal coordination. This does not happen naturally; it is a learned and practiced skill. To someone listening closely to Bob’s solos in the Standard Radio transcriptions of 1934, it is obvious from his articulation and timing that he had been given expert training somewhere along the way. The musical instructor of the Arion Club may have been that expert. It has been suggested that the musical director of Columbia Pictures, Morris Stoloff, was the one responsible for the training but the Sons of the Pioneers’ harmonies were tight and true a full year before their first Columbia film.
According to his brother Earle,
Bob was always fooling around with something. He played the ukulele in grammar school and then the guitar. And he wrote a lot of poetry. Cool Water was first written as a poem when Bob was attending Tucson High School. Later when he helped form the Sons of the Pioneers singing group, he added music.
During the summer he rode the freights doing all kinds of odd jobs on ranches and in small towns. I remember one of his early songs was Riding Free on the Old SP humming a Western Tune. That title sort of sums up Bob’s life back in those days.
When I was growing up and going to school, Bob was singing and playing the guitar in Los Angeles vaudeville shows. He doubled in a gymnastic act. During the summer he was a lifeguard at Long Beach. I think Bob first became serious about singing when he was in school here [Tucson], though. He worked at the Circle J Ranch down near Patagonia. At night, he’d put on a dudish outfit, get out his guitar and sing his songs to the ranch guests.
I wasn’t surprised when I heard about [Bob’s first job on radio]. But I was when the group started to appear in movies. I saw the first one down at the State. It seemed funny to see Bob on the screen. Since then I see their movies every time they come to town.
I visited him in Los Angeles a couple of years ago. Felt like a country boy when he took me out to the movie set. Couldn’t take the late hours, either!
Bob told William Bowen, editor and publisher of The Pioneer News (a North Hollywood Sons of the Pioneers fan club magazine) that he wrote a poetry column for the Arizona Wildcat called Tumbleweed Trails. A search through the back issues of the Wildcat from 1927-1930 found no evidence of such a column. However, he may have been thinking of the Tucson High School newspaper, The Cactus Chronicles. He was definitely a member of the staff of The Tucsonian, the high school yearbook.
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
Bill Bowen said that Bob seldom mentioned the fact that he was a Tucson High star athlete. On the Badger track team in 1927, he finished second in the Arizona state track meet with a vault of 11 feet 7 inches. Like his young brother a few years later, Bob could have entered the University of Arizona on an athletic scholarship but he was involved as a passenger in a motorcycle accident that partially severed his Achilles tendon. He then turned to weight-lifting and swimming.
Throughout high school, a very pretty co-ed figured largely in his life and they spent a lot of time together. To support a family meant a steady job and work was already scarce. He hitched free rides on freight trains back and forth across the country, not only looking for adventure but looking for work. At this time, he was not yet thinking of a career in music - just any job to keep food on the table.
Clarence Nolan and Pearl Fields
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
On July 7 1928, less than two months after he graduated from Grade 12, Bob married his high school sweetheart, sixteen-year old Tucsonian, Pearl Fields. Bob was barely 20. A daughter, Roberta Irene, was born to them thirteen months later but the marriage foundered almost from the beginning. Bitter letters from Pearl to her friends in Tucson portray a young husband who would not settle down to a traditional job as his wife thought he should. A fledgling musician could not support a family and Bob was in California, thinking seriously now of making music his career. Pearl was living with her parents in Texas and already considering divorce.
There was a brief reconciliation in Los Angeles in 1930 but the marriage failed completely in those grim early-Depression days. Pearl left him for good and refused to let him see their daughter for nearly 15 years. Some of his songs betray the heartsick loneliness of a father kept out of his child's life. Bob said he wrote The Touch of God's Hand at this time, too.
Bob and his first wife, Pearl.
Left: Clarence and Pearl
Right: Pearl with little Roberta
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The story of the Sons of the Pioneers was told in full by Ken Griffis in his original book, "Hear My Song - the Story of the Celebrated Sons of the Pioneers" (1974, 1994). We strongly urge you to read the book. It is our opinion that, without Mr. Griffis' extensive interviews with each member, the original Sons of the Pioneers themselves would be faceless names today. Every history or biographical sketch you read about them has been influenced by these interviews. We owe him a large debt of gratitude. The following outline of Bob's career leans heavily on "Hear My Song", and is a thumbnail sketch of Bob's years with the Sons of the Pioneers told from his perspective. We have used Bob's words and photos as much as possible. For posters or publicity and production photos from each film, please go to Filmography or The Jan Scott Collection.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CALIFORNIA LIFEGUARD AND CHAUTAUQUA
Although Bob wrote poetry and loved to sing, he never dreamed he would make his mark in the entertainment field. It did not occur to him that he would create an art form that was pure American; western, not cowboy music. He had no idea his songs would become known internationally and would live on for eighty years and more. All young singers dream of being stars but it was a combination of talent, hard work and being in the right place at the right time that sent Bob Nolan to the top of his field. His place in the sun was an uncomfortable one but he enjoyed it for a while, and then endured it for seventeen long years. Seventeen years in the public eye. Seventeen years of the most extreme pressure. Seventeen exciting, noisy, people-filled, spot-lit years in the life of a quiet man who craved solitude but instead had to battle mike fright daily. For seventeen years his name was everywhere, and then he disappeared. The only way to understand how the weight of these years bore him down is to list what he did. Then you may understand why he vanished from sight for almost thirty years. Unfortunately, it is only a partial list....
Looking for work in 1928-9, Bob traveled to California, tried a musical career
with a Chautauqua traveling group, washed a lot of dishes in restaurants and
finally found steady employment as a Los Angeles County Lifeguard on the beach
at Venice, California. He said he held that job for two years and then it, too,
disappeared in the Great Depression.
Bob as lifeguard with friend, Flash Whiting.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
On Wednesday, September 30, 1931, Bob checked the classified section in The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and found a two-line want ad, "Yodeler for old-time act, to travel. Tenor preferred. 1727 E. 65 St." At the time he was a lodger at 433 Grand Ave in Los Angeles and working as a restaurant cook but, because he had worked barefoot on the beach for so long, he had no presentable shoes in which to appear for a job interview. He bought a new pair. The long walk after he reached the end of the streetcar line blistered his heels and he had to remove the new shoes. That's how Leonard Slye (Roy Rogers) remembered meeting him - golden tan, splendid physique, bare feet and blisters. But Bob could also sing any part and yodel, too, so he was hired on the spot.
Len was the sole singer with an instrumental group called "The Rocky
Mountaineers" and knew he would feel more comfortable on stage with another
singer. It wasn't long before he hired another, Bill "Slumber" Nichols, a friend of
Nolan's. This trio lasted until August, 1932, when Bob found a steady caddying
job at the Bel Air Country Club. The trio was always hungry, had no steady wage
and made very little money aside from passing the hat, but Bob remembered those
early days, performing for civic functions, as much more fun than being in the
spotlight at Madison Square Garden ten years later.
(Left photo courtesy of Ed Phillips. Right is from the Calin Coburn Collections.)
William
"Slumber" Nichols (Ed Phillips photo)
Quotations from Slumber Nichols' diary (Hear My Song, 1974):
I joined the Rocky Mountaineers just one day before Thanksgiving, November, 1931. Bob Nolan, a friend of mine that I used to go swimming with on the beach behind the Venice Plunge and who taught me the art of handstanding, answered an ad for a yodeler and to be with above mentioned group. One day, I was home in Venice, and I had been out of a job for some time and was in debt up to my neck and just had given up, so to speak, when Bob called. He wanted me to meet him and the gang the next day at Crenshaw and Washington Blvds. in Los Angeles, where they would pick me up and take me to their house for a tryout.
Out of all the many jobs I had worked at, I had given each a fair chance to interest me as a trade but I had never run across the right thing, always wanting to be something different, someone to whom the majority of people would look up. I knew that was every man's desire and I had made up my mind to be just that if I could possibly make it. Hence all the thrill to have a chance to be an actor, radio artist or what have you.
I did find that after I had been with the gang for a while I had found my niche in life and was going to stick with it, even if I starved to death trying.
I had an awful hard time cramming songs into my head because I was brought up on classical music, and hillbilly music was about as far out as you can get from a classical background. When I went to play the new music, I just couldn't think of how it went. Hence, many embarrassing moments for yours truly. Gee, how I had to fight mike and stage fright. All I could think of was all the people I was playing for - who were hearing and watching me. With overcoming that came pride and confidence. Boy, how I liked to strut around in my Mountaineer outfit, blue cord pants, boots, checkered shirt, neckerchief and soldier's hat.
I went through the stage of thinking everyone knew who I was and that everyone worshipped and envied me. Then gradually came the changes that made everything different. You overcame those ideas of grandeur. You played before audiences on radio and it all summed up to one thing - work! It's just like any other job, not so hard and dirty as some, but still it is work. You even become a clock-watcher because your whole job depends upon so many minutes before you are on the air or stage, and so many minutes before you are off.
One night we were coming home form KGER (Daddy Ranger Frolics) and we were very low in spirits and lower in finances. We had been playing lots of dates but got nothing for it due to our manager's poor management. We were halfway home, when out of the blue sky came the words, "Well, Bill, we will have to let you go because there are too many men in the act." God, what a sensation! What a shattering of dream castles falling all around me. My one big thing in life died as suddenly as it had been born.
A few days later I went over to see the boys broadcast with my mouth open. I'll never be able to tell in words the picture that flashed through my mind. The new life that I had begun to enjoy and love, all going down the drain and no way to plug that drain. The world and I were two separate entities while I saw the transformation of myself from the pedestal back down into the rut I had fought so hard to get out of. I went home from there, had no recollection of getting home, sat in a chair and when I next knew anything, it was daylight. In short, I was shaken out of my conscious mind; I had taken it so hard.
When Ebb fired me, Bob and Len lost all interest because it just set them back to where they were before I came into the gang. All that twelve to fourteen hours a day practice for six weeks gone to hell. It took all the heart out of them and they quit trying.
I had been home just one week when I got a phone call asking me to come over and help them play at the Frolics. I found the gang had brought me back over Ebb's head. He never said a thing.
The Rocky
Mountaineers were an established radio group under contract to Winona M. Tenny.
When Bob and I joined, Ebb was tied up with her some way and this is where
George Gammon came into the act as our new manager and signed us up in a new
contract.
June 20, 1932 Copied down Bob's 'Way Out There' and
'Rainbow's End' today so he could get them copyrighted. Had been so long since I
wrote music that I was proud of myself for still being able to do it.
July 19, 1932. "Hot Dog! We got a sponsor for sixty days at
the pay of $50.00 a week (whole gang, not each), over KFAC and with our pay of
$30.00 a week over KGER, that makes a total of $80.00 a week for all of us. Our
sponsor on KGER is a fellow named Edwards who is selling Coos Bay land.
August 1, 1932. Ernie gave George a 30 day notice to quit the
gang. I don't know just what we will do for a car for transportation, nor me for
a place to stay if we bust up.
August 3, 1932. George said Nolan moved out last night and he
didn't show up for the program, so Len and I threw together a program for that
day and put it on. Came home and tried to figure out how we could make out for a
trio yodel at the theatre. Bob called up and said he would see us at the show.
We had a full house. Len and I feel like we would just rather quit than to break
in a new man to the over 200 trios we already have. We did so good after nine
months of intense rehearsal.
The small but regular paycheck plus tips from the Country Club was very welcome after going hungry with the Rocky Mountaineers. Bob's job as a caddy allowed him time to compose and he said that there was hardly a day went by that he wasn't working on a song. He often wrote songs with intricate rhythm patterns and triple rhymes, songs immediately recognizable as what would later be termed Nolanesque. Right from the beginning of his career, he wanted to write songs that were different. One of those differences was his use of the masculine reference to all the elements of nature - the wind, the sun, etc. Another was a sprinkling of formal English reminiscent of his favourite poets - Keats, Byron and Poe. His melodies often progressed up and down the chromatic scale, something new in popular music.
It was at this time that Bob wrote his most famous song, Tumbling Tumbleweeds. It began as a poem about the leaves he saw being torn and whirled from the trees during a storm he was watching from his apartment window. But it was himself he saw, not the leaves, being tossed around at the whim of the Depression. No wife, no daughter, no career, no future. He wrote it all into the little poem he called Tumbling Leaves and, like all his best poetry, it reflected his own philosophy of life. It was a philosophy from which he never veered.
Days may be dreary, still I’m not weary.
My heart needs no consoling.
At each break of dawn you’ll find that I’ve gone
Like old tumbling leaves, I’m rolling.
See them tumbling down,
Pledging their love to the ground,
Lonely but free I’ll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling leaves.
Cares of the past are behind,
Nowhere to go but I’ll find
Just where the trail will wind,
Drifting along with the tumbling leaves.
I know when night has gone
That a new world’s born at dawn.
I’ll keep rolling along,
Deep in my heart is a song
Here on the range I belong,
Drifting along with the tumbling leaves.
(2nd verse)
Time keeps rolling along,
Why should I care if I'm wrong,
Here in my heart is a song,
Drifting along with the tumbling leaves.
When Bob left the Rocky Mountaineers, Tim Spencer was hired to replace him in the trio. The new trio, minus Bob Nolan, joined Benny Nawahi's International Cowboys for a time and then formed the O Bar O Cowboys in 1933, toured the Southwest and almost starved en route.
Left to right: Cyclone, Len Slye, Uncle Joe, Vern Spencer and Slumber
Nichols.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
When they returned, Tim found a job in a Safeway warehouse and gave up the idea of making his living in music. Roy, working now with Jack and His Texas Outlaws, was still convinced they could do it if they could only persuade Bob Nolan to join them in a trio again. He talked Tim into trying once more and they both went out to visit Bob on the golf course. But Bob, eating regularly and not too receptive to the idea at all, was hard to persuade. It took all of Roy's enthusiasm and Tim's ingenuity to change his mind. With misgivings, Bob gave up his steady job - and the tips.
The three men found room and board together and began practicing.
They were determined to be better than their competition and they aimed for the
most popular radio station in the vicinity – KFWB, a Warner Brothers station.
Velma Spencer, Tim's wife, recalled that they treated their preparations like
any job – they got up early, went to work and practiced for eight hours every
day.
They called themselves The Pioneer Trio and put themselves through this
grueling routine daily, singing until their voices gave out. At the same
time, they were performing free of charge with The Texas Outlaws on KFWB for
about six months because they were not yet on staff.
Bob could play the ukulele and perhaps, at that time, a few chords on the guitar but that was all. He could not read music. None of them could. He did become proficient on the bull fiddle but he was always an indifferent guitar player. He used his guitar to find the chords he wanted for his melodies - as a tool more than as a musical instrument.
Jack
LeFevre and His Texas Outlaws
Left to right: Rudy
Sooter, Curley Hogg, Tim Spencer, Bob Nolan, Len Slye, Half Pint and Jack.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
The trio practiced endlessly until they considered themselves ready for a KFWB interview. A little more than talent and practice was involved, however. Here is how Bob described it:
Tim broke all the rules, as I was accustomed to doing, too, musically and ethically. He wasn’t averse to buying our way into a situation, which was exactly what we did.
We took cognizance of all the radio stations in and around this vicinity, the Los Angeles vicinity, and we found KFWB was partial to harmony singers and so we aimed at them specifically. When we decided to do this, our boarding house was right close to that studio and we ate lunch at the same place that KFWB’s staff was eating and we became acquainted with who was who at KFWB, and we talked to certain people.
Harry Hall was the head engineer who did all the mixing over there. Tim approached him. We invited him up to our boarding house for lunch and then we took him up into our dormitory where we stayed, and gave him an audition. He said, "I think my boss would like you guys," and Tim said, "That’s all we want!"
And it cost us $150, but it was a big help. We each put in a $50 bill. When Tim spread those $50 bills in front of him, Harry couldn’t resist. He said, "I’ll get you an audition!"
We had our program all mapped out so that it was all letter perfect and geared to get the interest of whoever was listening, and then hit them with outlandish stuff that they’d never heard before. It was all original music which Tim or I had written.
And you know what? We got into our second song— Way Out There. We were looking up into the mixer’s room where the station manager was standing, listening to us, and in the middle of that song he turned his back and walked out. All three of our hearts went right to the floor. We thought he didn’t like us. So Harry Hall switched on the intercom down in the studio where we were and he said, "That’s all, boys," and then turned it off.
Then, about at the count of 6, he turns it back on and says, "You’re hired!" It was just like a bomb! And that was it. That’s the beginning of the whole thing. The guy didn’t even wait to hear the end of the song.
While we were working up to our audition there, they'd put us with Jack and his Texas Outlaws who were there on gratis, just as a fill-in in the daytime around about noontime and nobody’d be listening. Now we were staff musicians and KFWB gave us a very exclusive spot - a fifteen minute spot - 7:30 in the evening when everybody’s home just after dinner which has always been called Prime Time. They kept trying to find a name for us. One of the announcers on that station at that time said, "You’re awfully young to be pioneers, why don’t you call yourself The Sons of the Pioneers?" And that was the beginning of The Sons of the Pioneers, just the three men.
And the workload---we began to get popular by means of the media and then those days the radio was everything and the stars were there. The columnist, Bernie Milligan of the Los Angeles Examiner, wrote a column - three columns long, full pages, the full length of the page. And, if you got in that column, you made it. We made it! And in fact, he wrote regular and he had us in the doggone thing three times a week and naturally, we could get sponsors. We were just rolling with sponsors.
And, of course, the money – the pay started going up, too, and we were making, I think, $40 a week apiece. Rich, man! I bought a new car every year! Why, the three of us lived at the same boarding house and we got two meals a day there, two home-cooked meals a day and our room for $7 a week. That left an awful lot of money to play around with.
.jpg)
Courtesy of the Roy Rogers Family Trust
Courtesy of the Roy Rogers Family Trust
The first printed appearance of the "Sons of the Pioneers" name was in a Los Angeles Examiner clipping by a reporter who whimsically signed himself "Ray D. O'Fan" dated January 19, 1934. Others followed quickly. The following are here courtesy of courtesy GD Hamann:
01/19/1934 (Los Angeles Examiner)
By Ray De O'Fan
Sons of the Pioneers is a title indicative of hill-billy singing. When investigated, these lads turn out to be the trio who appeared in early morning broadcasts as the Texas Outlaws. They are the same three persons who arranged and presented "Last Roundup" so excellently. They have a program all their own through KFWB this evening at 8:15 o'clock.
06/04/1934 (Los Angeles Examiner)
By Ray De O'Fan
Here I am going off into regular ecstasies about hillbillies. Yesterday it was hillbillyettes. Today the subjects are "Gold Star Rangers," presented each morning by KFWB. One may recognize the voices of some members of Sons of the Pioneers. In their morning broadcast the Gold Star Rangers are accumulating stack upon stack of fan mail, the surest indication that popularity has been won.
They are all right, too. You needn't believe me, though. Listen for yourself. You may be the most symphonic-minded person but in the rural melodies of the Gold Star Rangers you find that force which makes you want to sit inan easy chair and forget the world for a few minutes.
08/08/1934 (Los Angeles Examiner) Radio.
By Ray De O'Fan
Sons of the Pioneers. [just the name]
08/24/1934 (Los Angeles Examiner)
By Ray De O'Fan
Joe E. (and I've often wondered what the E. stood for) Brown, whose fame in pictures is unquestioned and who made such a big hit last Sunday night as a member of the Hi Jinks cast, participates in another broadcast when he joins the "Family Circle" through KFWB at 10:30 o'clock.
For this one day, "Family Circle" is lengthened to one hour and will present, besides Brown, five circus acts, five acts of youngsters, Eddie Eben, Nip and Tuck, Jeanne Dunne, Charlie Kaley, Ruth Durrell, Sons of the Pioneers, Hugh Farr, "Lazy Bones", Bob Shafer and John Henry.
That program cannot be laughed off.
09/28/1934 (Los Angeles Examiner)
By Ray De O'Fan
If there is a more furious fiddler in radio than Hugh Farr of KFWB's "Sons of the Pioneers", he has yet to come to light. Farr's specialty is "hot rhythm," and he makes no pretense of possessing concert ability. One may hear him this morning as part of the "Family Circle" program (10:30 o'clock). On the same program as special guest is Elmer Fryer, studio photographer, who is to tell secrets about the stars.
10/17/1934(Hollywood Citizen News)
(Zuma Palmer)
Leonard F. Slye, who not only sings with the Sons of the Pioneers but also plays the guitar on their programs. When he was in school, Mr. Slye thought he would like to be an aviator. The Sons of the Pioneers, to be heard tonight at 7:30 over KFWB, appear regularly on the Family Circle programs which are released daily except Sunday at 10:30am by KFWB. PHOTO.
5/11/1935 (Los
Angeles Post Record) Radio
"The Sons of the Pioneers", headed by Bob Nolan, plan to
introduce a new theme song to identify their Saturday evening half-hour programs
on KFWB. They'll not do away with "Tumbling Tumbleweeds", but augment it,
according to Nolan.
5/25/1935 (Los
Angeles Examiner) Radio
By Ray De O'Fan
Bing Crosby makes it a habit to accept program advice, but
never from me. However, I write this time in the interest of several persons who
have made the suggestion that he combine half a dozen or so Western songs, which
he sings so well, into a single program and have a real hillbilly roundup. And I
might suggest, in fact I will, that he introduce to the nation the Sons of the
Pioneers. There would be a real scoop for him. If there is a better musical
group of Westerners, and real Westerners, I haven't been notified.
7/31/1935 (Los
Angeles Examiner) Radio
By Ray De O'Fan
When Bob Nolan of KFWB's Sons of the Pioneers wrote "Tumbling
Tumbleweed" and "Moonlight on the Prairie", a couple of hill-billy songs, he did
it just for the fun of it.
Yesterday it was announced that both songs had been purchased
by motion picture studios for use in the films.
10/19/1935 (Los
Angeles Examiner)
By Ray De O'Fan
8pm KFWB
Sons of the Pioneers (SCN)
10/26/1935 (Los
Angeles Examiner)
By Ray De O'Fan
8pm KFWB
Sons of the Pioneers (SCN)
11/5/1935
(Hollywood Citizen News) HILLBILLIES WILL
PIT MUSIC SKILL AT CHAMPIONSHIP
The cream of the hillbilly crop is expected to compete in
the first National Hillbilly Championships, 1935 finals, when they are held
Sunday afternoon and evening in the Olympic Auditorium
Five bands, Stuart Hamblen's Lucky Stars, winners of the
recent semi-finals; Sons of the Pioneers, the Original Beverly Hillbillies,
Jimmy's Saddle Pals and the Diamond D Band, have entered.
Some of the finest yodelers, singers and banjo, guitar and
violin players in the country are to vie for honors, officials of the contest
aver. The competition is being sponsored by a combine representing all five of
the bands.
Among some of the more prominent contestants are Herman (the
Hermit) Snodgrass, said to be the unofficial national banjo playing champion;
Len Dossey, violin player, and Sonny Lawson, semi-final winning yodeler.
11/6/1935
(Los Angeles Illustrated
News) HILLBILLY CONTEST NEXT SUNDAY AT
OLYMPIC
The first western hillbilly championships, finals for
1935, will draw the finest yodelers, banjo fiddlers in the country to the scene
of the contest next Sunday at the Olympic Auditorium, at 2:35 and 8pm.
Five real hillbilly bands have entered the finals of this novel contest; with
competition at its highest peak since the winners of the western championship
will be eligible to represent the district in the near future in the east, where
the nationals will be held.
Stuart Hamblin's [sic] Lucky Stars, after winning the
semi-finals recently at the Shrine Auditorium, has a brilliant array of
hillbilly talent that is out for battle. Hamblin is confident that his national
champion banjo player, Herman "The Hermit" Snodgrass, former Oregon woodsman
entered from Burbank will clean up in the banjo division; that Len Dossey, the
fiddler, and Sonny Dawson, yodeler who won the semi-finals will capture the
prize money and the western title for his band.
Four other bands are out for battle. The sons of the
Pioneers, unofficially rated among the best in the country, have not as yet
competed in this brand new type of contest. But Tim "Spencer, their leader, has
bet his ten-gallon hat that his band will beat Hamblin's.
Other contestants placing after preliminaries and semi-finals
last month are: The Original Beverly Hillbillies, rated second; Jimmy's Saddle
Pals with Gladys LeFevre; vocalist, and the Diamond D band of Long Beach.
Grand prizes will be awarded the winning bands and divisions
of fiddlers, yodelers and banjo players receive special prizes.
11/11/1935
(Hollywood Citizen News)
THRONG STIRRED BY HILLBILLY CONTEST
Probably there never has been a more enthusiastic
audience in the Olympic Auditorium than that which yesterday afternoon and last
night witnessed Tim Spencer's Sons of the Pioneers, or Gold Star Rangers – they
use both names – take first honors in the 1935 National Hillbilly Championship
Finals.
The auditorium practically was filled with a screaming,
whistling, hillbilly-crazed mob, joyously applauding the efforts of their
favorites.
Stuart Hamblin's Lucky Stars placed second in the
competition, while the Original Hillbillies were third. Others who competed were
the Diamond D Band and Jimmy and his Saddle Pals.
OTHER AWARDS MADE
Wally Webb, member of the Saddle Pals troupe, received
first award for his ability with the banjo, while Hugh Farr, the man on the
flyin' fiddle, sawed away to top place in the fiddle contest and Sonny Dawson,
boy yodeler, took first in that competition. While Stuart Hamblin received the
most applause for his singing and subsequently received first place, special
mention was made of Jad Scroggins, of the Beverly Hillbillies "who didn't win
first solo prize because there was no one to back him," according to the
announcement of one of the judges.
At 7pm, an hour before the show was to begin, 2,000 fans
surged through the doors and penetrated the reserved seat section before ushers
had arrived.
POLICE CURB CROWD
Police officers were called to control the crowd, while
five uniformed officers and an undetermined number of plainclothes men mingled
in the audience during the evening performance.
Judges for the contest were Superior Judges Frank M. Smith and Goodwin J.
Knight. Municipal Judges Arthur Crum and Clement D. Nye, Capt. V N Moffitt of
the State Highway Patrol and Ed Green of the sheriff's office. Johnny Murray was
master of ceremonies.
Calin Coburn Collection © 2004
With a steady paycheck coming in, Bob began to send regular installments of money to Pearl for support of their daughter. Now that he was in better circumstances, he asked for custody of little Roberta. Pearl not only refused, she would not let him see his child at all, even though she herself had remarried.
Early in 1934, the trio started looking for instrumental back-up to ease the tremendous load they put on their voices because they were on air at least twenty times a week. They were singing constantly and needed someone to share that load with a solo instrumental, when necessary. From 8-9am they were on radio as The Pioneer Trio, from 5-6pm as The Gold Star Rangers, and in the late evening they joined the Jack Joy Orchestra "painting the old west in song". They also had a program every Sunday at noon. The trio looked carefully around the vicinity for an instrumentalist and zeroed in on Hugh Farr. Bob said that Hugh was not eager to leave his current group until he heard the three men sing. Bob explains how the group came to choose the Farr Brothers:
And Hugh, we hadn’t heard him play old time music, see, until one night we was listening to this---they called them the School Kids or something like that [Buttercream School Kids, a sitcom on KFOX] and they took the part of young kids, you know, the talking part and then they played their instruments, too. And Hugh one night played one of those breakdown things that you’ve heard him play and, I’m telling you, we just went out of our gourds! We had to have that fiddler. We’d been hearing him play Lady Be Good and stuff like that---the modern music of the day, and when he hit that Sally ... Fire in the Mountain ...Sally’s Got a Little One and it was one of the wildest things we ever heard, that old time fiddling stuff.
(Karl E. Farr Collection)
Farley's Gold Star Rangers and Gus Mack
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
[Sam Allen] spent some time with Herb Angell, the Sheriff at KQV in Pittsburgh. Herb has been spinning Sons of the Pioneers' transcriptions on that station one-half hour daily for six days a week and six straight years for one account. It's the Palace Clothiers – they've given away more than one and on-half million photos. (Bob Nolan, p. 6 Tumbleweed Topics, January 1942)
Bob:
So, Hugh came first. Karl wasn’t sold. Hugh came up first and we hired him and I think that Karl held out for about a month and Hugh finally talked him into it. He said, "These boys are going up!" Going up! They were making darn near as much as we were - $40 a week on that program they had down in Long Beach. And now there’s five of us and that’s the way we stood until 1937 when Roy got his big break and came to Republic.
Left to right: Karl Farr, Hugh Farr, Tim Spencer, Leonard Slye and Bob Nolan.
In front, clapping the rhythm is Gus Mack, MC for The Gold Star Rangers on KFWB.
(Karl E. Farr Collection)
Karl E. Farr Collection
Tim married Velma Blanton on August 10, 1934, at the Wee Kirk of the Heather at Forest Lawn, California. Velma was the Texas girl Tim met on his trip through the Southwest with the O Bar O Cowboys. Bob sang, "I Love You Truly" and Hugh Farr played his fiddle at the ceremony. The young couple set up housekeeping just a few blocks from where the trio had lived in the beginning.
Tumbling Tumbleweeds was not yet the signature song of the Sons of the Pioneers. In their early programs, the group used There's a Blue Sky Away Up Yonder as their theme, a tune that Rex Allen would use later. Radio audiences not only listened from their radio sets at home but would often go right down to the studio to take in the live broadcast and stage show. Home listeners could also phone in or write in requests and Tumbling Leaves was a popular request right from the start. Because sound was not perfect, the title was often misheard as "Tumbling Weeds" and the audience, both at the studio and by telephone, would request the "tumbling weeds" song. Bob eventually gave in and changed the name, making slight adjustments to the words and melody. This is how he described the transition:
The song itself, the melody, had different lyrics altogether and it was quite by accident that we thought of Tumbling Tumbleweeds. I didn’t at the time. They kept requesting this Tumbling Weeds song and the song at the time was Tumbling Leaves. I’d say about 7 out of 10 requests for the song came in “Tumbling Weeds” so Harry Hall said, “Why don’t you change the lyrics and make it “Tumbling Weeds”? Tumbling Tumbleweeds. Just the same melody except that it didn’t have that tilted note in the latter part. It went da da da da da da da da da dum.
And once I used the “tumbleweed” at the end of the phrase, I had to put in that tilt – tu-dum – where it hits the snag. Da da da da da da da da da dum tu dum. Have you ever seen a tumbleweed go racing across the desert and hit a fence? It hits it with just that sound. If you close your eyes, that’s what you see. What you hear with that one note is what you see when you see a tumbleweed hit a fence. It goes tumbling along, “ta da da da da da bump ta da” till it gets on the other side.
Historian Douglas B. Green states unequivocally, "If western music has an anthem, this is it. Lonely but free I’ll be found, drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds defines in a dozen words and a gorgeous sweep of melody, the appeal of the myth of the cowboy and the west. No one who hears it for the first time can fail to be struck by its imagination, originality and poetry, even now.... As the singing cowboy phenomenon took shape, this song became the musical embodiment of what screenwriters were trying to capture and portray in the west: the sweep, the loneliness, the proud isolation."
In the beginning, their only real competition was from the Beverly Hill Billies, a group created in 1930 by Glen Rice, manager of radio station KMPC in Beverly Hills. Rice led his radio audience to believe that he had stumbled across a hillbilly family back in the hills of Beverly and that he had persuaded them to ride out on their mules to perform on his station. People believed the story and eagerly awaited every program. The Hill Billies easily became the most popular country group in Southern California and people would flock around the radio station to get a look at them. One time a crowd estimated at ten thousand blocked traffic on Wilshire Boulevard in front of the station. This is what Bob recalled to Ken Griffis about those days:
I remember going out to the station in hopes of seeing the fellows only to find such a crowd I couldn’t get within a block of the station. I remember one time when I went out there, I could see people coming from all over, carrying boxes to stand on just so they could see through the windows.
He also recalled approaching Lem Giles of the Beverly Hill Billies to see if the two groups could exchange a few of their unpublished songs to perform on their respective radio programs. The songs could not be used on the air without the consent of the composer and Lem turned Bob down each time he asked. Finally, Bob told him that if he didn’t cooperate he would take one of Lem's most popular songs, The Little Choir Boy Sings All Alone Tonight, change one note every four bars and take credit for it. And so the beautiful I Wonder if She Waits for Me Tonight was born.
As well as being hired to play for dances and parties, the Pioneers were asked to entertain at the rodeos. Often there was resentment between the rodeo and the radio cowboys and, although scraps were not uncommon, over the years many friendships were formed. One such association with Curley Fletcher, creator of The Strawberry Roan, resulted in a song. Bob wrote music for Curley Fletcher's poem, Desolation, and published the song in both their names.
Curley Fletcher at left. Right: Bob with a fellow who may be Curley Fletcher with two children on the rodeo grounds, 1934.
The original snapshot is very small and positive identification is impossible.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
DECCA RECORD COMPANY AND THE STANDARD RADIO TRANSCRIPTIONS
In 1934, the Decca Record Company recorded the Sons of the Pioneers - Len, Bob, Tim and Hugh. On December 15, Tumbling Tumbleweeds hit the charts and shortly after that the group was signed by Standard Radio to make transcription discs. The first series of 102 songs were recorded and on March 7, 1935, the four men signed a one year contract with Decca. Royalties were 2 cents each on a double disc and 1 cent each on a single. Karl Farr was then hired and a second Standard Radio transcription series was made in 1935. Each man was paid a flat fee of $600 and, while the transcription series was immensely popular and profitable for the company, the Pioneers received nothing further. They did, however, become nationally-known through these transcriptions and the Decca recordings of 1935-37. The movie parts they were offered brought them even more publicity.
Photocopy of Decca contract courtesy of Fred Goodwin.
(John Fullerton Collection)
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
In front of KFWB, left to right: Len, Karl, Hugh, Tim with his mother and Bob.
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
(Karl E. Farr Collection)
(Karl E. Farr Collection)
1934 was the year Bob sold Tumbling Tumbleweeds, unaware that by doing so, he was losing what could have been the means to fulfill his enduring wish to travel. (See Laurence Zwisohn.) The rights and royalties did not return to him in his lifetime so his dream of travel was reduced to one sea voyage to Hawaii shortly after he retired.
Copy of original Tumbling Tumbleweeds sheet music published by Sunset Music Co., courtesy of Ron McFadden
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Sam Fox 1934
1935 saw two of Bob's songs, Tumbling Tumbleweeds and Moonlight on the Prairie, used as movie titles and performed by two different singing cowboys - Gene Autry and Dick Foran. Tumbling Tumbleweeds was used as the title of Gene Autry's first feature-length starring film and was Republic Pictures' first step into a new genre. The Sons of the Pioneers did not appear in either of the films. These movies laid the groundwork for the Singing Cowboy Western, which remained popular for twenty years. It is interesting to think that Bob's signature song was involved at the very beginning of this phenomenon.
One of Autry’s first million-selling records was his own rendition of Tumbling Tumbleweeds. Its success prompted Gene to ask Bob more than once for another hit song along the same lines. “Sure, Gene,” Bob would always respond from his customary perch in the café he frequented. “I’m working on a new song just for you.” But Bob undoubtedly knew that Gene insisted on equal writer credits on all songs and that would not suit Bob at all.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tumbling Tumbleweeds has been recorded by countless artists, including Rex Allen Jr, M. Allison, Alshire Singers, Eddy Arnold, Gene Autry, Moe Bandy, the Boston Pops Orchestra, Chartsound Orchestra, R Clark, B Cole, Collins C Quartet, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Ken Curtis, Nelson Eddy, Dale Evans, Fireside Singers, Jan Garber, Gatlin Brothers, Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, Grant Green, Jim Hendricks, Sonya Hunter, Burl Ives, J King, L Kottke, Jim Kweskin, Sleepy La Beef, Longines Symphonette, Meat Puppets, Vaughn Monroe, Michael Martin Murphey, Willie Nelson, Michael Nesmith, Jimmy C Newman, Patti Page, Johnny Puleo, Riders in the Sky, Marty Robbins, Roy Rogers, Diana Ross and the Supremes, S Schuyler, Kate Smith, Hank Snow, Sons of the Pioneers, Jo Stafford, Suave Swing Orchestra, Billy Vaughn, Jimmy Wakely, Lawrence Welk, The Western-Ayres, Slim Whitman, Roger Williams, etc.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE FIRST MOVIES (for a complete list, see Filmography)
The Sons of the Pioneers began their own movie career with the Liberty picture, The Old Homestead in 1935 but the year before that, Bob's voice made its film debut in Mascot's In Old Santa Fe, starring Ken Maynard. Maynard was a handsome, reckless, popular western star and he liked to sing but the studio was unsure of how the public would accept his high, thin singing voice. So they recorded Bob singing That's Why I Like My Dog for Ken to mime in the first scene. This is the film that actually launched Gene Autry's career in the movies - and Bob was involved in it, too. In other words, Bob Nolan was right there in the thick of things at the beginning of the Singing Cowboy movie craze and his Tumbling Tumbleweeds was the name of the very first film of that genre. Bob appeared personally in at least 88 films.
The Pioneers wrote the songs and appeared with Charles Starrett in Columbia's Gallant Defender. They had no real acting parts, just song sequences around campfires and work as extras. They were singing on Dr. Cowan's (dentist) radio program early in the mornings and then going over to the Columbia lot by 6:00am to get ready for the day's shooting which began about 7:00am. Gallant Defender cost roughly $150,000 and took about three weeks to complete. Finding titles for all these B-Westerns was a challenge and the way Columbia handled it was to get all the office staff together - stenographers, secretaries, etc - and show the new film to them. They would all submit a name and whoever won would get the $15 prize.
The Sons of the Pioneers made several shorts in 1935 (See Various Films), appeared in the two B-Western feature films for Columbia, and Bob was seen and his songs were heard on screen by an audience that craved music. Sound in the movies was in its infancy and the people wanted music as well as action. These were heady days for the young men. They did not make much money and they had to work extremely hard but they became known across the nation.
Douglas B. Green explains the reason for their quick rise to fame: "Their songs were sweeping and majestic. They were about the west. They were about the wide-open spaces and the free life and fresh air; not so much about branding and taming wild horses. They took those old songs of the trail and the endless ballads in three chords and completely revitalized them with their musicianship and their songwriting and harmony. Nobody was singing three part harmony, yodeling in harmony, like that. It was unheard of when they started in the 30s."
Way Up Thar
(Karl E. Farr Collection)
If 1935 was busy, 1936 was hectic. The group continued their radio broadcasts on KFWB, made an appearance with Bing Crosby in Paramount's Rhythm on the Range, supported Dick Foran in two Warner Brothers films, performed for three weeks at the Texas Centennial in Dallas, appeared in two Gene Autry Republic films and another Charles Starrett picture for Columbia, and all that time they were constantly expanding their repertoire. Because they were on staff at KFWB, they might have two or three programs a day and they needed new songs constantly. They also appeared on KFOX in Long Beach, KRLD in Los Angeles and as The Gold Star Rangers on both KFWB and KMTR in Hollywood. They depended heavily on old-time songs but Bob and Tim were continually writing new ones, too. This is how Bob described it:
We wasn’t going to do anything that anybody else did at all. We had to do a lot of "Gay 90’s" stuff like Annie Rooney because there was an insatiable demand at that time for harmony singing. And we were on radio at least an hour a day, every day of the year, and sometimes two hours. We had to have an awful lot of material, and that’s where we beat everybody else to the top spot because we had a repertoire at the time (after we had taken the job at KFWB) of at least three thousand songs, all committed to memory, both words and harmony. No other group in town could match us. I would take the lower register and Roy would take the lead, and Tim would take the top. Sometimes we were infringing on each other; like the tenor would be the high baritone and I would come up into the low tenor. We just felt the thing as we went along. It was a wonderful group to work with when it was young, when we were all working on it real hard.
At the invitation of Texas Governor James V Allred, the Pioneers made their first public appearance outside of California during a three-week engagement at the Texas Exposition. Dale Evans remembers seeing them there, "I was walking through the Centennial there at Dallas and here was this huge exhibit by Gulf Oil and a bunch of boys standing behind a glass performing, just almost non-stop."
(Karl E. Farr Collection)
(Courtesy of John Fullerton)
Part of the film they were currently appearing in with Gene Autry, The Big Show, was filmed on site. At the same exposition, they had their first taste of rubbing shoulders with the federal government when they had their photograph taken with Vice President Garner. They also recorded two sides for Decca while they were in Dallas.
Newspaper clipping from the Hollywood Citizen-News, 1936
Left to right: Bob Nolan, Hugh Farr, Tim Spencer, “’CACTUS JACK’ AND COWBOY CROONERS – Vice-President Garner flatly refused to pose for ‘gag’ pictures at the Texas Centennial Exposition. Rangerettes, fishing in the world’s fair lagoon, and a dozen other stunts were spurned but – well, cowboys are different and so he put on his ten-gallon hat for the photographer.”
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Shortly after the Sons of the Pioneers returned from the Texas Centennial, Tim Spencer left the group and did not return until early in 1939. Wesley Tuttle and Charlie Quirk took his place for a few weeks and then nineteen-year-old Lloyd Perryman, with his beautiful lyrical voice, was hired in his place. They were still singing on radio both as The Sons of the Pioneers and Farley's Gold Star Rangers.
The sound of the trio had been built around Nolan’s distinctive vibrato, laughingly referred to by Tim as ‘our bubbling baritone.’ They experimented with each man moving from position to position in front of the mike. After Perryman joined, the trio harmony became more exacting, and Nolan noticed that when he was in the middle, he found Spencer and Perryman listening to his voice and he could more easily hear theirs. Bob remembered their smiles as they acknowledged their approval of the new arrangement. Tim said that Nolan’s voice appeared to overlap and lock in all three voices.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
In 1936 with Chief White Eagle and Princess Starlight with their baby, Ne Ha Nee, for whom Bob wrote one of his songs.
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
With Bing Crosby and Leo Spencer in Rhythm on the Range publicity still, 1936.
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
Bob told Bill Bowen that a lecture from Ernest Hemingway in 1937 was one of the greatest things that had ever happened to him. Hemingway had just returned from the war in Spain and was much sought after. Robert Ruark, a writer friend of Bob's, persuaded him to attend a six-hour seminar given by Hemingway at UCLA. Ruark was a protégé of Hemingway’s and knew that Bob, a lyricist, would learn much from him. The lecture was to be limited to forty writers under thirty years of age and cost $500 [other sources quote Bob as saying $50]. Bob said this amount was a fortune to him in 1937, but he took some savings out of the bank and borrowed the rest.
I would have stolen to get that $500 to spend that time with Ernest Hemingway. We went in at 3:30 in the afternoon and left after 9:00. We had two meals with him…and he was one of the most gracious persons I ever met. He treated us like his children and the things he taught us that afternoon I will remember for the rest of my life. He taught us what it was to write and make our writing readable…re-editing until you got the words to mean exactly what you wanted them to mean. I’ve always had that in the back of my mind. I would write a song and go home and live with it and re-edit it and re-edit it until the words became a—what did he call it? --a sword, not a word—a cutting sword. That’s the key to the whole thing—the proper word. Re-edit and re-edit until the proper words are in their proper place. Understand you didn’t have to go to the dictionary. One thing I never did was make my listener go to the dictionary to find out what I was writing about. I spoke his language.
1937 saw the Pioneers moving to KHJ where they had a spot on Peter Potter's Hollywood Barn Dance with the Four Squires and the Stafford Sisters, etc. The voices of the Sons of the Pioneers and the Stafford Sisters blended beautifully and Bob conceived the idea of joining the two groups and calling themselves The Sons and Daughters of the Pioneers. He put together a pilot radio show, The Open Spaces, with Harry Hall as MC and it was aired at least once. For some reason, the show was dropped. Jo Stafford remembers the fun they had together building the program and even now she cannot understand why it did not catch on. The Pioneers and the Stafford Sisters were friends off-stage, as well, and Bob and Christine saw a lot of each other. In fact, one night on a beach in Oregon with Christine Stafford Bob composed his famous song, Wind.
Wally Smith clearly recalls listening to the Sons of the Pioneers when they were
first on Hollywood Barn Dance. He noticed that Bob avoided saying too much about
his younger days because he had trouble choking back tears when he did,
something he did not want to do on air.
Wesley Tuttle agreed that Bob was very sentimental. He also remembered going to Bob Nolan's apartment to record a song, Juanita, for Wesley's mother. Bob had a new home recorder and the records were heavy paper with a chemical coating that deteriorated each time it was played. Bob was intrigued and delighted with his machine and used it a lot. Of course, the "records" he made are long since gone. Bob, Wesley said, couldn't read a note in the early days and didn't know the names of the chords he played. He also used a capo if he wanted to change out of the key of C.
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I chose western music as a career from listening to the North Texas stations in the mid-30s and it wasn't long before I began to hear the great transcriptions of the Sons of the Pioneers. We were so impressed with the Pioneer harmony that our first trio of Jimmy Wakely, Scotty Harrel and myself patterned ourselves after them. I sang "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" when I auditioned for my first radio job. (Johnny Bond)
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COLUMBIA PICTURES (for a complete list, see Filmography)
At the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Apple Valley, Laurence Zwisohn copied the particulars from the contract between Columbia and the Sons of the Pioneers contract dated August 1, 1937. "[They were] paid $8,000.00 for eight films. Two weeks later they began working on Old Wyoming Trail. The next film didn't begin until October 22 by which time Len had been signed by Republic."
When Roy left for Republic on October 13, 1937, he had to resign from the Sons of the Pioneers who had been newly signed by Columbia Pictures. The contract specified a certain number of members of the group but not which ones, so Len suggested his friend, Bob O'Brady, as his replacement. Because there was already one "Bob" in the group, O'Brady changed his name to "Pat Brady". Pat took Roy's place as "toby" or comic, a part to which he was perfectly suited but his voice did not fit into the trio and Tim Spencer was invited back. Here's how Bob put it.
We knew Pat could sing, but he couldn’t harmonize, see. His voice would not---we could not harmonize with him at all. He’d been singing comedy so darn long, see, that he had no way of knowing what we were talking about when we said, "Blend."
It was in 1937 that the Sons of the Pioneers were showcased in the early Charles Starrett movies, beginning with The Old Wyoming Trail. They had supporting parts as a group of cowhands, etc, and provided at least two and often four songs for each film. Bob's parts improved as the studio recognized his potential. When second lead Donald Grayson left the series due to a botched nose job, Bob was moved up into his place.
Donald Grayson
The studio insisted that Bob, too, have his handsome aquiline nose trimmed to "star quality" and in August of 1938 he reluctantly underwent the required cosmetic surgery. "I didn't see anything wrong with my perfectly good Roman nose!" But no one argued with the boss, Columbia's Harry Cohn. He was the king, the star-maker, and a lowly actor did as he was told or he was out. The new nose was nowhere near as handsome as the original but the boss was satisfied and the studio continued to groom Nolan for better parts.
Before and after the cosmetic nose surgery
(Digital comparison by Larry Hopper)
The studio had Bob dress like George O'Brien, one the most popular western action stars of the '30s. Older than Nolan by nine years, O'Brien was a natural athlete, a heavyweight boxer and a man with a powerful physique who worked for Fox Studios and then RKO. O'Brien objected to having singers in his films although some members of the Sons of the Pioneers did appear in them.
Bob Nolan and George O'Brien
Bob sought to improve his acting skills without benefit of formal theatrical lessons, depending instead on the director and the other actors for tips. His roles as Charles Starrett's right hand man were better than any role he had in the later Roy Rogers / Republic films. Also, when Tim left the group in 1937, the entire songwriting load for each film fell on Bob's shoulders. He composed new songs and selected some of his old poetry to put to music. "There wasn't a day," he said, "that I wasn't working on at least two songs at one time." Ray Whitley took over the management of the group. Gerald Vaughn, Ray Whitley's biographer described Ray's involvement in the Pioneers' career -
Ray met the Pioneers at the Texas Centennial in Dallas in 1936. Ray and his musical group, the Six Bar Cowboys, were featured there for several months extending into the summer and the Pioneers came in from Los Angeles for a special three-week engagement in July-August.
Friendships naturally grew between Ray and the members of the Pioneers, becoming closer when Ray went to Hollywood that summer to appear in his first western movie feature, Hopalong Cassidy Returns, starring William Boyd. Staying in Hollywood, Ray's career and the activity of the Pioneers were sort of parallel at that time. They all were well-known recording artists, all trying to get a break into Western movies, and all doing a lot of radio and personal appearances around Los Angeles. When Ray was a regular on the popular Hollywood Barn Dance radio show, he suggested to its producers that they acquire the services of the Pioneers at the first opportune time. The boys became available and Hollywood Barn Dance grabbed 'em.
In this way the careers of Ray and the Pioneers were touching each other. Also as friends they all were increasingly buddying together. Ray always enjoyed scuffling around and laughs about their pastime of wrestling on the beaches. Ray later managed light heavyweight wrestling champion Red Barry and at a private party in Texas, Ray once wrestled non other than boxing immortal Jack Dempsey. But Ray recalls he never could get a hold on the athletic Bob Nolan.
Ray had been managing the business affairs of his own Six Bar Cowboys for some years and when Tim Spencer left the Pioneers for a year in 1936-1937, the boys asked Ray to manage them. Ray's managerial arrangement began around February or March 1937 and continued until he went under contract to RKO movie studio seven or eight months later, about October. As the Pioneers' manager, Ray would book them for engagements. A theater in Covina and a party in Bakersfield specifically come to his mind. He recalls that by 1937 the Pioneers had their arrangements and blend of harmony so perfect that they needed to rehearse very seldom between jobs. Though present at their rehearsals, he offered no suggestions on what they were doing because it was so perfect.
The Pioneers had been recording for Decca since 1934. In addition, Ray approached Uncle Art Satherly suggesting the mutual benefits if the Pioneers recorded for Uncle Art's American Record Company as well. As a result, in October and December 1937, the boys cut a number of great sides for ARC.
In 1935 and 1936 the Pioneers had appeared in a couple of western movies starring Charles Starrett at Columbia studio. In 1937 they asked Ray to attempt to negotiate a contract with Harry Cohn, Columbia's chief executive, whereby the Pioneers would become the regular musical group in Starrett's westerns. Cohn was one of the hardest-nosed businessmen in Hollywood. Ray made it clear that if Cohn wanted the best, he wanted the Sons of the Pioneers. The negotiating got pretty hot with Ray trying to get the boys what he knew they were worth. Reaching an impasse, Ray finally agreed to take Cohn's contract offer back tot he Pioneers but he told Cohn he wouldn't sign it himself and wouldn't recommend it to the Pioneers. The Pioneers made their decision democratically, took a vote and, despite Ray's reservations, decided to accept the contract.
Although Ray actually felt ashamed of the contract as he felt it was grossly underpaying the Pioneers, he agrees that their acceptance of it was best after all. The movies usually took only one week to film; instead, he got the Pioneers a two-week guarantee on each movie. Each member received about one-half as much as he deserved. The studio demanded first call so Ray got the fellas a bonus to pay for purchasing electrical transcriptions to replace themselves on radio while busy making pictures. In addition, Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer as songwriters were able to supplement their incomes still further by selling songs to the studio for use in the movies. This was on top of earnings from radio, recordings, and personal appearances where the Pioneers continued to be active as before.
The long-term benefits for the Pioneers came through the greater exposure they obtained via the Starrett movies. Starrett moved steadily upward among the top ten western stars, from 9th in 1937 to 4th in 1941 when the Pioneers' last movies with him were released and the boys teamed up again with Roy Rogers. Ray appeared in one film with the Pioneers, The Old Wyoming Trail, before he was contracted to RKO.
The Pioneers sang Tumbling Tumbleweeds over the opening and closing credits of each film and each member was paid a small weekly salary. Bob received very little money for the use of his songs and Tim reportedly sued the studio for nonpayment before their contract was up. Ten or fifteen dollars per song was all he and Tim received at best.
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Tim and Bob were assigned songs to write for the movies and it was pretty much done in a 'let's get down to it' mode. But the other songs that they created - I can remember them stopping in the middle of dinners, parties or doing things together, and they would get an idea and go off and finish a song or start a song. They'd do that together a lot and they would do it separately, too. (Hal Spencer)
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Although Bob's voice was perfectly acceptable to Warner Brothers when it was dubbed in for a villain singing Vengeance in a Dick Foran flick, Song of the Saddle, and it was acceptable to Mascot when it was dubbed in for Ken Maynard, someone on the Columbia staff didn't care for his unique vibrato so they, in turn, dubbed in a trained baritone for Bob's solo parts. If you go to the Lyrics page, you can hear one of these dubbed baritones in Bob's song, Bronco Pal, from the movie Rio Grande. If the Columbia powers-that-be didn't like his voice, the public did and they demanded it back. They were quite familiar with his voice from his years on radio and loved it. After a few films, Columbia bowed to their requests and Bob sang his own songs from then on. But, while Bob was miming to the pre-recorded voice of the unidentified baritone, the Sons of the Pioneers had difficulty restraining their laughter on screen. Bob himself could not resist hamming it up just a little.
It was during these years that Bob found he had to distance himself from the rest of the cast and crew to focus on his songwriting. As any writer knows, a lot of socializing is not conducive to creativity. Always a loner by inclination, Bob would now move out of earshot, in sight and available but away from the activity of the set or location. "You could tell from a lot of his songs that there was a guy who did a lot of tall thinking," considered Roy Rogers. Karl Farr Jr. recalls, "Bob was always off doing his own thing like one time on location in Kernville, California on a picture he took a tube and floated down the Kern River. He kept to himself a lot." Although the Pioneers understood, others did not and he became known as a bit of a recluse.
Karl E. Farr Collection
From "Rio Grande", 1938
(Karl E. Farr Collection)
In those early years as second lead to Charles Starrett, Bob obviously did his best to improve his acting skills and he was comfortable in his role. He knew his lines and threw himself into his parts with an energy that matched Starrett's. Practice perfected a quick draw that would impress any movie gunfighter and no one was checking to see if he could hit a target. In the fight scene in Texas Stagecoach, he gave a believable performance and needed no stunt man to improve on it. One viewer, after watching the scene, observed, "If it had been a real fight, Bob would have won!"
In 1939, while Columbia's Harry Cohn was producing the film, Golden Boy, with William Holden, he was also planning a series built on the story. One day, he watched Bob Nolan crossing the studio yard and thought he had found his man. Here's how Bob tells the story –
When Harry Cohn (when we were working at Columbia) was going out to lunch and we was just coming back, he stopped his whole entourage and pointed a finger at me and said, "There’s my "Golden Boy!" It scared me, so I went out and got drunk and stayed drunk for a week until he gave up on me! I never wanted that responsibility.
Left: Harry Cohn Right: Bob in his Columbia costume.
While Bob had convinced himself that staying drunk for a week proved to Cohn how unreliable he would be for a series of his own, in actual fact he was a very reliable actor. He was the only one of the Sons of the Pioneers who appeared in every film. He enjoyed working in those early movies although he lacked the ambition to be a star. He was content to be a supporting actor because it gave him time to write his music and it freed him from the social obligations that burden a star. Still, the public loved him and he found himself titular leader of the Sons of the Pioneers. He always denied that he was the leader, that there was no leader, but Bob could not deny that he was forced into fronting the group. He had a pleasant speaking voice, a contagious smile and, of a group of handsome men, he was by far the best-looking.
Charles Starrett had nothing but good to say about Bob. He told Mario de Marco, "I enjoyed working with Bob as much as any person I had ever worked with, whether it was theater, radio, television, or anything. Bob was a wonderful person. A strong person and a good musician and a very poetic sort of a person. He saw into people, too. He was a loner."
Always the beach for relaxation. Here with Flash Whiting and friends.
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
Bob at the right.
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
The Sons of the Pioneers during the late 1930s were also guests on the popular Community Sing ten-minute short films, singing mostly public domain music. These shorts were directed by Sam Nelson and often included Donald Grayson singing off-screen. They were seen on screen only briefly as most of the film was karaoke-style lyric sheets for the audience to sing along with.
(Jan Scott Collection)
During the shooting of one of the Starrett movies on location at Big Bear Lake, Bob found and leased a little cabin that was to be his summer retreat for the rest of his life. A lonely spot I know where no man will go where the shadows have all the room.
Well, it’s just a little shack that was built by a seventeen-year-old kid in 1925. This doggone little cabin, it has no frame at all, just boards straight up and down. But that wood is so hard and you’d swear and be damned---there’s so much weight on that roof---you’d just swear it would just buckle---the porch would go out from under it. But it don’t. It just stands there. And you can’t drive a nail in it. I have to take my electric drill and bore a hole in it just to drive a nail in it.
I talked to the man that built it and he built it in 1925 when he was seventeen. In 1925, how old was I? I was born in 1908. I thought we were just about the same age. I never asked him how old he was, but I figured he was about the same age as me. You see, his mother was the agent for the government that handed out the leases for the government up there and she had this one lot that she couldn’t get rid of. It was a son-of-a-gun to get to, see, so she gave it to her son if he’d build a cabin on it. She knew that if he could build a cabin on it, then she could sell it!
So he built this little cabin and it’s just right for me. It’s eighteen foot long, just about the length of this room and about twelve wide. Twelve by eighteen. And he set that doggone thing so that there’s four areas in it. It’s the perfectest laid out little place that you ever seen. There’s the kitchen area here and the sitting area here, the dining area here and the sleeping area. And there’s no walls between them, just an area. And I kept it just in the way he laid it out. Of course, I’ve done paneling and work and everything on it.
Now, from the outside it looks so rustic. You go to the inside and here I’ve got this beech wood paneling! I’ve got cubbyholes cut in the wall and cupolas on the outside where my electric ovens are. My ovens fit on the outside because I couldn’t find no room for it on the inside. I spend four months of every year there and I tried to stretch it into five months but I got caught in the snow a couple of times and got snowed in so I didn’t try it any more.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Every Spring, as soon as the snow left the mountains and roads were passable, Bob would load up his Jeep or pickup and drive to Big Bear Lake. He lived simply for the next four months, cooked his own meals, and caught just one fish a day because one fish was all he could eat. He continued his swimming in the cold lake. This is where he wrote many of his songs and where he regained the serenity he lost in the crowds he entertained. For the first few years, his wife P-Nuts accompanied him and worked in a little restaurant close by. But P-Nuts was a social person and eventually stayed behind in their home at Studio City.
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He was so very quiet and he didn't talk much at all but, after you knew him, you really liked Bob. He was very honest. But he was just so bashful all the time. We were like brothers. (Roy Rogers)
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In 1939, the Pioneers began a new syndicated radio show, Sunshine Ranch, originally aired over KNX and the Mutual Broadcasting System and recorded by Allied Phonograph and Record Manufacturing Co. in Hollywood. "And now we turn for awhile from the busy highway of life, and down the winding lane that leads to Sunshine Ranch for a visit with our old friends, Bob Nolan, Tim Spencer, Pat Brady, Lloyd Perryman and the Farr Brothers - Hugh and Karl. Here they are all set to bring us once again the songs and sentiments of the open range, songs in the distinctive style of the Sons of the Pioneers!" Karl took the part of an educated man in love with large words. Each man was Foreman for a Day and there was a lot of good-natured banter and music.
By July, 1940, the Pioneers had procured their release from Columbia and were considering three options after their planned tour to Chicago: their own series of movies, a series of shorts or joining Roy Rogers at Republic. "Lots o' deals on right now...." (Tumbleweed Topics p. 2, Vol. 1, No. 9, July, 1940)
But first came their planned tour east. From July 21, 1940 to September 1941 the
Pioneers were away from Hollywood on their first national tour, ending up in
Chicago for a scheduled one-week's appearance on the Uncle Ezra program. They
were so much in demand that they took a vote among themselves and remained for
nearly a year, traveling up to Pennsylvania to appear at the
Sleepy Hollow Ranch,
etc. They were to open in Appalachian, Virginia on July 25, 1940 with these
dates afterward:
August 9-10 Strand, Altoon, PA
August 11-12 Rialto, Lewiston, PA
Next four days "touring".
August 17-18 Himmelreicht Grove, Womelsdorf, PA
August 21 driving
August 22 Waynsboro, Waynesboro, VA
August 23 driving
August 24-25 C-Bar-C Ranch, Elverson, PA
September 29, 1940 Canton, Illinois (their wives were with them)
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
The Uncle Ezra Show
The Aristocrats of the Range
(Courtesy of Kathy Kirchner)
Courtesy of Wayne Perryman
They eventually brought their families who lived with them in Chicago for about nine months. Karl Farr Jr. remembers that they stayed in the North Park Hotel. Bob scribbled the verses to The Wind is Warm Again on hotel stationery.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
In 1940, the Sons of the Pioneers began a fanzine of 8 pages named Tumbleweed Topics. Each of the men plus Roy Rogers had his own column and their fans could keep track of their activities. It was humorously and simply written, appealing to the younger fans as well as adults. Free photographs were offered and their songbooks were advertised. Their manager at that time was Sam Allen and he was in charge of Tumbleweed Topics. 16,000 copies of the 10th issue alone were printed in 1941.
"...the Prairie Prattler was the parent of this publication. It was a one-page mimeographed masterpiece pecked out on a 1904 Oliver typewriter by our mythical man-of-all-work, Snowball. Well, good or bad, hit or miss, and lots of months we missed, you folks just kept right on writin' and askin' for more. We decided loyalty like that was deservin' of a better deal and real printin' on real paper. From the bottom of our hearts we say 'Thank you' and we hope you'll like Tumbleweed Topics." (p. 2, Tumbleweed Topics, Vol 1 No 8, June, 1940)
It was while they were in Chicago that they recorded about 200 songs for NBC's Orthacoustic Recording Division called Symphonies of the Sage. Bob felt that, because the Pioneers could select and arrange the songs and provide their own instrumentation, these transcriptions were the best examples of how the Pioneers sounded at that time.
These recordings of Bob's songs are considered the closest to what he intended when he wrote them and had them published in American Music's song folios, Bob Nolan's Folio of Original Cowboy Classics No. 1 & 2.
After finishing 39 weeks in Chicago with...Uncle Ezra, we hit out for Pennsylvania and points in the East. Had a great time, thanks to such folks as Uncle Jack and Mary Lou at Himmelreich Grove, the Newman gang at Sleepy Hollow, Cousin Lee at Radio Park, Mr. Schwarz at Clown Park, Shorty Fencher and the gang at Valley View and ....friendly crew up on the Lone Star Ranch at Reed's Ferry, New Hampshire. (Hugh Farr, p. 2 Tumbleweed Topics, Vol. 1 No. 10, summer 1941)
Bob Nolan at Kennywood Park, Pittsburgh, PA
(The Martha Retsch Collection)
Photos by fans when the Sons of the Pioneers were on tour. Pennsylvania, 1940 08 04
Left: Bob Nolan Right: Helen Schmuck, Bob Nolan and Karl Farr
(The John Fullerton Collection)
Bob Nolan, Pat Brady, Lloyd Perryman and Karl Farr, Pennsylvania, 1940 08 04
(John Fullerton Collection)
(John Fullerton Collection)
Left: Bob Nolan, Pennsylvania, 1940 08 04 Right: Fan club president, Martha Retsch, with Bob.
(John Fullerton Collection)
Pennsylvania, 1940 08 04
(John Fullerton Collection)
NOTE: There is some disagreement about dates with these snapshots so we have used the dates written on each snapshot. We do not know if the dates were written on the pictures at the time or added later. The clothing is the same.
Back: Bob Nolan, Hugh Farr, Tim Spencer and Pat Brady
Front: Karl Farr, Lloyd Perryman and Sam Allen
July 20, 1941
Back: Hugh and Karl Farr, unidentified (Tony Fiore?), Tim Spencer and Sam Allen
Front: Bob Nolan and Lloyd Perryman
July 20, 1941 Valleyview Park
Sleepy Hollow Ranch, Quakertown, Pennsylvania,1941
(John Fullerton Collection)
Sam Allen and unidentified fan,
Sleepy Hollow Ranch, Quakertown, Pennsylvania,1941
(John Fullerton Collection)
Photo by Francis Bates, 1941
(John Fullerton Collection)
Photo by Francis Bates at Reeds Ferry NH, 1941
Courtesy of Fred Sopher
(John Fullerton Collection)
The option of joining Roy Rogers had been considered by the Pioneers as early as July, 1940 (Tumbleweed Topics p. 2, Vol. 1, No. 9, July, 1940), but it wasn't until a year later that it came to pass.
Tumbleweed Topics Vol 1 No 11, October 1941
(John Fullerton Collection)
"...I got some more news. The Sons of the Pioneers are being set for the first picture at Republic...with Roy Rogers. It will be a picture dealing with the Red River Valley country and present plans call for a closing number written by Tim and called So Long to the Red River Valley. By the way, we took a lot of pictures with Roy and Gabby Hayes on the Republic lot yesterday (September 29, 1941).... Wait till you see the one of Pat pullin' the buggy and being led by Gabby. (Hugh Farr, p. 3, Tumbleweed Topics, October 1941 Vol 1 No. 11)
Back: Tim Spencer, Karl Farr
Front seat of buggy: Hugh Farr, Roy Rogers and Lloyd Perryman
Bob Nolan, holding back on the wheel, Pat Brady in harness with Gabby Hayes leading him.
September 29, 1941
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
September 29, 1941
(Karl E. Farr Collections)
Back with Roy for Red River Valley, September 29, 1941
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
September 29, 1941
On their return from Chicago in the Fall of 1941, they signed with Camel Cigarettes' "Camel Caravan" and toured the west coast military bases, reporting back to Hollywood in late October to made Red River Valley with Roy Rogers. They completed the film in early November and immediately began another, The Man from Cheyenne.
Yes, sir, we joined up with the west coast unit
of the Camel Caravan and have been rollin' up and down the Pacific Coast from
Port Townsend up in northern Washington, down thru the Redwood valleys of Oregon
and California. This rig we've got is a dandy. First, we've got a bus as long as
a movie kiss, a truck that's all rigged up into a collapsible stage. All we do
is roll into the camp, drop down the sides of the truck and there's our stage.
Just like an old time medicine show. Master of ceremonies is Herb Shriner. We
are waiting for a call from Republic studios which we think will tell us to
report about the 23rd for our first picture...with Roy Rogers. The plan is to
fill our spot on the Camel Caravan temporarily with...Nora Lu and the Pals of
the Golden West. (by Hugh Farr, written in Tacoma, WA, Oct 17, 1941 1:00AM, p.
3, Tumbleweed Topics, Vol 1 No. 12 November 1941)
Thanks to Republic and our director, Joe Kane, the boys and I finally got to make a series of pictures together. The boys just got under the wire on the first one which was Red River Valley...it was already written before we knew they would be able to appear in it. As the magazine goes to press, we're shootin' the second one. Not titled yet. (Roy Rogers, p. 3 Tumbleweed Topics, Vol 1 No. 13, December 1941)
Got a call the 21st of October (we were up in Seattle) to
check in at Republic on the 23rd. Had to give up the Camel Caravan, with which
we were playing the army camps, and like the migratory birds we are, we flew
south. Made Red River Valley with Roy...worked day and night and finished around
the 10th of November... On the 21st of November we started our second picture
with Roy. Don't know the title of it as yet. Bob and Tim wrote the songs (six of
them) and Karl and yours truly wrote the instrumentals. (Hugh Farr, p. 3
Tumbleweed Topics, Vol 1 No. 13, December 1941)
In December 1941 another contract was negotiated with Mutual for a series of Saturday night radio programs called Radio Rodeo. These were extremely busy years because the Pioneers were also appearing at rodeos, benefits, bond sales activities, base hospitals, children's hospitals, and in programs like Hollywood Canteen where they performed free of charge as their patriotic duty.
On Saturday, November 22 [1941], we began a coast-to-coast broadcast from Long Beach, California, to the Mutual Broadcasting System. It's released from WOR (in the east) at 11:30PM. It is our understanding that WGN (Chicago) transcribes the show and releases it the following Sunday morning. This is an audience show and we follow it with 45 minutes on the stage. The doors open at 7:30PM. Charley Lung (photo on p. 7), who portrays the part of Dad Cody, is known as the man of a thousand voices...he does a skit in which he takes 17 parts...There's a possibility, motion picture commitments permitting, that we might take this Radio-Rodeo on tour and broadcast each Saturday night from wherever we happen to be. (Hugh Farr, p. 3 Tumbleweed Topics, Vol 1 No. 13, December 1941)
In the Columbia pictures, Bob had a trademark light wool tailored shirt and big white or black hat. He also had two immediately recognizable outfits in the Republic films. A "working cowboy" garb usually included a dark brown leather open vest. A pair of dark pants with a narrow stripe, a black shirt with white piping plus a white silk scarf à la Charles Starrett. The Pioneers were responsible for purchasing their own costumes for all the films.
The move to Republic, although it forever linked Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers with Roy Rogers in the minds of that generation, meant a steady diminution of Bob's roles. His role as second lead was gradually replaced by comedians, George "Gabby" Hayes, Smiley Burnette, Andy Devine, and Pat Brady. Several films became more like "song and dance" Broadway imitations that at times required Bob and the Pioneers to appear with the dance chorus. Tim Spencer's and Jack Elliott's songs were increasingly selected over his own. Tim's songs were catchy tunes, light and cheery, while Jack Elliott's had the stamp of the studio composer. Bob's did not. He remained true to his own strict standards and fewer and fewer of his songs were used. He did write a few light songs during this period but he felt they were phony and he was never happy with them. Still, each one was carefully crafted even if it was a novelty song. In a nutshell, his roles in the Roy Rogers movies were frivolous in comparison to the second lead action parts he'd had with Charles Starrett, and his serious songs were ignored.
Bells of Rosarita gave him his largest role in a Roy Rogers film. He had a lot of amusing dialogue as an actor who played a cowboy singer who didn't like horses. His part called for a showy back flip, part of a choreographed dance scene with Adele Mara. His role in Sunset Serenade was good, particularly at the end where he was responsible for setting off a cherry bomb in Gabby Hayes' pie. That scene should have been redone because Bob was laughing instead of miming his part in the song but, because it was spontaneous and very funny, it was left in. He had a decent role in Sunset on the Desert but in the remainder of the Roy Rogers' films, he was given semi-comedic parts as apposed to the serious roles he had in the Columbia Starrett movies. A seed of disillusionment began to take root.
But all that disappointment and disgruntlement was still in the future. In 1942, his first year with Republic, "Tomorrow" looked bright and challenging. Both on and off-screen the Pioneers were reaching new heights of popularity.
In 1942, the Sons of the Pioneers were now under
contract to Republic Pictures for a series of Western Pictures with Roy Rogers,
Mutual Broadcasting System for coast-to-coast broadcast [Radio Rodeo] each
Saturday night (8:30PM Pacific Coast Time), to Dr. Pepper (soft drink) for a
series of fifteen-minute transcriptions with Martha Mears, as Peggy Pepper, and
Dick Foran. The Dr. Pepper transcriptions were to play on some 70 stations
throughout the country and start around the first part of 1942. The
Pioneers' Motion Picture representatives, Monter-Gray, Hollywood, and their
Business Manager (The Boss) Sam Allen, Hollywood. (p. 2 Tumbleweed Topics, No.
14 January 1942 Vol 1 No. 14)
Bob's usual costume for the "working cowboy" scenes in the Roy Rogers' movies.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
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He was a mighty man. He was stout. He was a man's man, old Bob. He'd take a drink with you or fight or whatever you wanted to do, but he was a genius as far as the stuff he wrote and the way he presented it. (Richard Farnsworth)
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(Karl E. Farr Collection)
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
(The
Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I've often thought, "What a God-given talent it takes to write such a beautiful song as "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" about a thing so ugly and useless as a tumbleweed." (Patsy Montana)
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In 1943, the Sons of the Pioneers' fan club, "The Pioneer Pals-Stetson Gals" led by Martha Retsch and Virginia Gallick, began or rejuvenated a small mimeographed fan publication called Prairie Prattler. Martha and Virginia continued this publication until 1946.
Tumbleweed Topics Vol 1 No 8, June 1940
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Tumbleweed Topics Vol 1 No 13, December, 1941
Bob wrote his verses on whatever was handy wherever he happened to be – in a tiny black book he kept in his shirt pocket or on a napkin in a bar or restaurant. In the July 1940 issue of Tumbleweed Topics, Bob goes into the song-making side of the movies a little more thoroughly and the photos following are pages from one of his little notebooks.
The studio gives Tim and I what they called a rough treatment of the story for the next picture. Tim and I get together and discuss the situation in which the song is to be used. All this is dropped in the hopper and the grind begins, guitars are tuned, and the framework of music and lyric takes shape. Then the rest of the gang are called in and the songs are tested for harmony possibilities and the instrumentation. Out of these sessions come the finished product. Believe it or not, Tim and I have turned out four tunes in twenty-four hours! One time not long ago, Columbia's picture, Outpost of the Mounties, was changed right in the middle of the shooting. We were asked to produce a tune as quickly as possible. We went to work and in two hours had a completely new and original number. It was The Timber Trail and Tim did the trick.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
In a later interview, Bob enlarged on their songwriting:
Tim and I divided the work up and went off and worked separately. In other words, if we had eight songs, it’d be, "I’ll take this one, I’ll take this one," see? That’s the way we divided them." When asked if working under the pressure of getting them out was an aid in writing the songs, Bob replied, "Well, it was an aid to getting them out on time! Whether we were doing good work or not, I don’t know. I happen to know that "Timber Trail" is a beautiful song that Tim wrote but he come up with that in an awful big hurry. I don’t like to write under pressure but I did it because of the double standard they had on us---because we had to do it. It was in our contract. Tim and I were the only songwriters of the group, so we had to do it all." Ken Griffis in Hear My Song quotes Bob as saying that he and Tim worked better alone and wrote few songs together: "Unless I did the major portion of the song, such as Blue Prairie, I wouldn't put my name on it. Over the years I did help Timmy on several tunes.
Bob loved poetry and read and kept a great deal of it. A careful scrutiny of his lyrics does reveal the influence of his favorite British Romantic Poets and Edgar Allan Poe. To read more about this, go to Poetic Influences.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
He had no library. He had his book of philosophers open by his chair most of the time. I can no longer recall what it was, specifically. He read a great deal of poetry. (Roberta Nolan Mileusnich)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
December 1941 issue of Tumbleweed Topics
In the January 1942 issue of Tumbleweed Topics, Hugh Farr gave us the following insight into the making of the Roy Rogers films.
When Tumbleweed Topics last went to press, we were in the middle of the second picture with Roy at Republic. Since then we have finished that picture and one additional – that makes three down the pipe since your combination fiddler-tattler picked up the old goose-quill. Don't have the titles as yet. You know they assign some kind of 'working' title to the film when we start shooting and then later it picks up the title under which it is released.
Lots of folks have been asking for a story on just how they make these westerns. This is as good a time as any, so here we go. First we get rough copies of the story with indications as to where the director wants the songs. Our song writing team (Bob and Tim) get busy and work up songs to fit the situation. There's always the opening song, which is usually a riding tempo as we nearly always ride into the picture. Then another one fitted in someplace to give the audience a little rest from the action of the picture. That's the one they usually cut all to pieces by fading it down and going right ahead with the villain crawling through the bushes with the knife in his mouth, anyway. Then there's usually a campfire song, you know, slow and sweet. Then perhaps a comedy song and the closer. Then Karl and I work out the instrumental interludes or what have you.
When they get ready to start the picture, the first thing is the recording of the songs and music. This is recorded and when the actual shooting of the picture starts they bring it out in a can together with a play-back machine. As the action, to which the music is fitted, commences, they play this music or these songs back and we play and sing in tempo with the music we hear, so that they wind up with the music and the action in sync.
The strictly action shots – that is, the chases and outdoor scenes – are usually the first made. Later comes the inside shots – the interiors. The average western picture runs about 57 minutes and is made up of about 1200 separate scenes. Many of the westerns are made in eight days! "Eight Day Epics" they call them. If you don't think that's stepping just consider that means about 150 scenes per day (8 hours). Republic takes longer, but Republic makes better westerns than the average.
Many of the scenes are taken more than once, some of them as much as a dozen times. Somebody reads a line with the wrong emphasis on the right part or the right emphasis on the wrong part or some mistake is made in wardrobe.
The scenes are not made in the order in which they appear in the completed film as this would require too much setting up and breaking down of sets. When they once get a scene set up, they try to make all the scenes in which that set is used right then and there, even though in the story several days may be supposed to pass between the two scenes.
The finished film usually runs about 5000 feet. They actually take about 20,000 feet. It's up to the director to select the shots of a particular scene that he likes best. When this selection has been made, the cutter takes charge of the film and he trims it down to the actual negative of the film that is sent to your theatre. Of course, there's the editing and a thousand and one other operations but I'm saving them for the day when I get too old to ride and shoot and holler and fiddle. Then maybe I'll start a correspondence course in how to make moving pictures – that is, if I learn how myself.
Bob added to the picture:
For food, they sent catering companies out to wherever we were. Say we were working out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, or just out of Las Vegas up here, why they make all those arrangements before we go out on the location. The new location might be ten miles away from town and they send the trucks out there at a certain time and they allow us only half an hour to eat. What I’m trying to get across here is location work is not as nice and free as sitting around the set where you’re enclosed and you can only go so far and you just sit there and you read or knit. But on a location, time is so valuable that the picture is now costing ten times as much in time than it is if you’re on your own bluff over here, and every minute is just like thousands of dollars going down the drain, see?
And you have to work. And tempers and temperaments are at their highest pitch and I could never see any reason to have anything musical happen out there. The director, the assistant director, the cameraman, everybody is just gritting their teeth all of the time because of the horrible cost of money to take a company out on location. And you’ve got to remember, we were making "B" pictures, see, and when you get out out on location, the price was same as if you were an "A". We tried to keep production time to nine days. A whole picture in nine days! That gives you a little picture of the pressure. We could only shoot until the sun went down. Then we went home and slept—believe me, we did! They just took you back to the motel and put you to bed.
I had one fall and that was my own fault because I shouldn’t have attempted to do the thing that they wanted me to do in South of Santa Fe. The stunt was to rope Gabby Hayes’ Tin Lizzie which was stuck in a mud hole, see. I take my dallies around and pull him out with my horse. My horse, when he turned to go away, stepped over that rope and that’s all she wrote, you know. He broke in two and I went up and down and right under his feet. Now, this horse is tethered to this rope and he can’t get away from it and it’s all over. But he never touched me once. And I could feel the air of his feet, his hooves, going past me. One of those, if it had caught me right in the head, I was through. That’s all. But that put the end of me trying to do any kind of a stunt. I called for a stuntman every time.
Bob was suddenly made aware that an accident could put an end to his career. Acting was only a small part of how he made his living. It may have taken up a lot of his time, but it put very few dollars into his bank account. He was a professional singer - not only in the movies but on radio, on recordings, in personal appearances and shows over the whole country. An injury to Bob would have had a detrimental effect to the salaries of the rest of the Sons of the Pioneers. He was the front man, the best-known member of the group and his voice was the basis of the Sons of the Pioneers' inimitable sound. Rex Allen agreed in a similar situation that his own voice was more important than risking losing it by doing the stunts himself:
I got hit in the Adam’s apple one time. A guy named Bob Cason (a.k.a. John) had me down and was hitting me towards the head. I was laying on my back and evidently didn’t move right or he made a mistake and he hit me in the Adam’s apple. We had to close down the picture for three days because I couldn’t talk. It very well could have been a permanent thing.
Yakima Canutt, stuntman and second unit director par excellence, put it this way:
Many of the stars are capable and willing to do their own stunts, but with a tight schedule and thousands of dollars tied up in a picture, it's too much of a gamble. Should a star break a leg, an arm, or even get his face skinned a little, the overhead goes up while the actor recuperates. Should a stunt man get injured, he can be replaced without any loss of time. A stunt man is always a good insurance policy for any action picture.
Bob had no special riding skills when he started in the movies although he could ride a little. Most people could ride a little in the early 1930s. But to gallop headlong over rugged country again and again in countless chase scenes required more than average skill if both horse and rider were to escape injury. Riding in the close formation required to keep all the Pioneers and Roy in the camera lens was dangerous in itself. So he hired a stuntman to teach him. Thereafter, Bob was easily recognizable in the "posse" when it was galloping after the villains. The lessons from the stuntman (whoever it was) taught him to ride with his elbows out and hands together in front of him. None of the other Pioneers or Roy rode like that but a keen eye will find others who did in the chase scenes . Bob became a more than adequate horseman, learning various skills such as the flying dismount.
Left: Bob's typical riding stance that made him readily recognizable in group scenes.
Right: The flying dismount he made in Utah.
Left to right: Tim, Karl (driving), Bob, Pat, Lloyd and Hugh.
(Karl E. Farr Collection)
I
Roy Rogers, Karl Farr, Cliff
Freeland (judo instructor for the Armed Forces), Bob, Pat Brady, Lloyd Perryman and Tim Spencer.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Bob Nolan was the first to admit that he was a singer, not a stuntman. Although
most of the dangerous stunts were performed by stuntmen, he was still required
to learn some basic fighting and defense techniques for his roles in film. While
Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers look on, Armed Forces judo instructor
Cliff Freeland, gives Bob instruction on how to block and disarm a man with a
knife. You can see from the instructor's face, that Bob is putting a fair amount
of pressure on his arm.
A companion photo shows Bob and the Sons of the Pioneers looking on while Roy gets instruction from the same man - but with a gun instead of a knife.
Roy gets his lesson from Cliff Freeland.
According to historian, Ken Griffis, on November 22, 1941, the Pioneers signed to do a series of fifteen-minute radio transcriptions for the Dr. Pepper Bottling Company featuring Dick Foran (10-2-4 Ranch) and, later, Martha Mears (10-2-4 Time, broadcast from "the 10-2-4 Ranch".) This live show was broadcast from coast to coast on the Mutual Broadcasting System and the Pioneers had a 45-minute stage show for the studio audience directly after it. The last Dr. Pepper program we have access to was August 1, 1945. (The earliest program we have access to was aired on January 8, 1943.)
Although he was announced as "Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers", we hear very little from Bob. Don Forbes, Martha Mears and Hugh Farr had most of the dialogue. Martha sang at least one and often two solos.
Recalling these shows and the Teleways shows in later years to Doc Denning, Bob told him, "Frankie Messina and Ivan Ditmars were fine musicians, and I love and respect them but I just wish the producers had let us do MY songs with just guitars and a fiddle. That's the way I wrote them, and that's the way they should be done."
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The Sons of the Pioneers with fan club president, Martha Retsch.
Sunday, October 10, 1943 at the Astor Hotel, New York City
(John Fullerton Collection)
(John Fullerton Collection)
The Sons of the Pioneers with their fan club, 1943, at Madison Square Garden, New York, in Roy Rogers' dressing room.
Martha Retsch (fan club president) is 2nd from front left. Patsy Linton has her arm around Bob.
The other ladies were members of Roy
Rogers' fan club.
(John Fullerton Collection)
Shug Fisher, Hugh Farr, Bob Nolan, Roy Rogers, Tim Spencer, Karl Farr and Ken Carson, 1944
(The Martha Retsch Collection)
Meanwhile, Bob's daughter, Roberta, was growing up into a beautiful girl. Even though her mother had remarried, she would not allow Bobbie to contact her father whom she had not seen since she was a baby. Bobbie could not remember him at all but she clipped pictures of him from movie magazines and newspapers which she kept in her scrapbook. She also joined the Sons of the Pioneers fan club early in 1944. She had taken her stepfather's name of McEniry and her address was 420-28th St., Oakland, CA.
Roberta "Bobbie" Nolan, 13
A page from Roberta's scrapbook. Her mother, Pearl, on the left, Bob on the right.
Bob married again on June 11, 1942, this time to Clara Brown, a lady so small she was nicknamed "P-Nuts". P-Nuts had come to Hollywood to find stardom but found work instead at the soda fountain in the Columbia Drugstore on Sunset and Gower near the Columbia Studio lot where Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers dropped in frequently for lunch or coffee. Bob reportedly worked on his song lyrics there, too, using any piece of paper handy.
Columbia Drugstore, 1939
They bought a house on a double lot and settled down at 4213 Gentry Avenue, Studio City, California, close to the Republic lot. When Bob was involved in a film, he would walk to the studio and, when he returned home for lunch, he would often have a bunch of small children walking with him. Bob would have a nap and P-Nuts would feed and entertain the children until he was ready to return to work.
Bob and P-Nuts
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
The Pioneers were now appearing everywhere with Roy Rogers, including Washington, DC, Brooklyn, and at Roy's debut at the 17th annual Madison Square Garden Rodeo in New York City. The Sons of the Pioneers signed for 26 performances from October 7 – 24. After 19 days a new attendance record was set. While they were at the Garden, the Pioneers made three weekly broadcasts over station WJZ. Roy presented Mayor La Guardia of New York City with a pair of his silver spurs while the Pioneers and all the female rodeo stuntwomen and competitors in their beautifully tailored garb were in attendance. They were all feted at the Second Annual Convention for Rodeo Fans of America at the Hotel Belvedere on October 17, 1942, and Bob found himself later at a party with the rodeo greats plus Sally Rand who was married to Turk Greenough at the time. New York's famous Stage Door Canteen hosted a performance by the Sons of the Pioneers.
The "airport limo" in New York City.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Yessir, finished a picture out at Republic about 5PM and at 6:15 we were 10,000 feet in the air and sailin' over the high Sierras. Along about midnite we were matching speed with the famous geese that fly so high over Kansas. Passin' up the details of this slow and tedious journey, I can report that 16 hours later (from the time of take-off) we were safe in the wagon yard just a half block off Broadway. (Hugh Farr, p 3 Tumbleweed Topics, Vol 2 No 16, November, 1942)
Performing at Madison Square Garden
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
New York was swell. We did 26 shows from October 7th to the 21st. Not only did we see the world's greatest cowboys in action but we heard Roy Rogers lead 390,000 people in Home on the Range. 15,000 at each performance...and did them Brooklyn buckaroos bust a lung on that famous western ballad. (Hugh Farr, p. 3 Tumbleweed Topics Vol 2 No 16, November, 1942)
IT SEEMS TO ME
(Tim Spencer, 1942)
I stood there on Broadway and gazed
At towers and temples, jumbled maze
Of steel and stone and masonry
I could but think, it seems to me,
With all the boundless lands we own
We're fools to live in cliffs of stone
When there are breezes wild and free
I could but think it, seems to me,
That folks in subways, jammed to death
Just breathin' of each other's breath
Should chuck it all and go and see
The open range – it seems to me.
When there's so much of space and room
Where kids could play, where flowers bloom
On shady carpets 'neath a tree
We've missed the boat, it seems to me.
I stood down where the "forties" roar
And wondered what they're roarin' for
The magic city's symphony
Of clan and bang – it seems to me.
Oh, you New Yorkers with your speed
Your Forty-Second Street stampede
Too much for me – I'd never be
A city guy – it seems to me.
The Sons of the Pioneers' secretary, Nancy Kendall, was good with verse, too. Her descriptions of each member of the group are priceless:
THUS SPEAKS THE SECRETARY
by Nancy Kendall
And now the sissy pioneer
Proceeds to get all set
For typin' up the magazine
Each month (sometimes) you get.
She knows that lots of charmin' girls
Are envious of her
That they would like to have as pals
The gang she's workin' fer.
But life is not all sunshine
I have troubles, too, my dears
It's not a bed of roses
Workin' for the Pioneers.
For Tim will say, "It seems to me
"You're changing what I said.
"I didn't say that there, at all
"I said this here instead."
Then basso-voice Hugh Farr stalks in
Says, "Come on! Show some speed
We've got to get things rollin' here
I mean the Tumbleweed.
Then Karl tunes up and starts to play
Some rattling cowboy conga
And when I ask him what the heck?
He just says, "tonga-tonga".
Then typing Lloyd's letters home
Can be an awful pain
Each time he writes to Blossom
His tears fall just like rain.
And Pat won't get his column in
His disposition's sweet
But when I say, "Let's go to work,"
Old Pat just says: "Let's eat."
And Bob takes all the letters home
He reads them, I suppose,
But when I say, "Let's answer them",
He just looks up his nose.
But still with all my woes and fears
I wouldn't want to change
I wouldn't leave my Pioneers
Or home here on the range.
(Tumbleweed Topics No. 16 November
1942 Vol 2 No. 16)
After New York City, they signed for three weeks in Boston, then a 9-day stand in Buffalo, New York. P-Nuts told Bill and Barbara Bowen that Bob Nolan was a regular "Pied Piper" on the road, too. Young fans would wait for their hero to leave New York's Madison Square Garden, follow him back to the Nolan's hotel room, and while Bob rested between performances at the Rodeo, the youngsters would pass the time till his return by quietly trying on his boots, hat and gun holster while P-Nuts patiently supervised. If playing "Bob Nolan" caused too much noise in the room while Bob napped, P-Nuts would take them to the hotel soda fountain for refreshments until Bob was ready to rejoin the Sons of the Pioneers and the children could follow him back to Madison Square Garden.
Roy Rogers presented New York City mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, with a pair of silver spurs.
They are watched by stuntwomen Polly Burson, Tad Lucas, Berenice Dossey, Mary Parks, Mildred Horner, Bill Clements, Everett Colburn, etc. Thomas Dewey is centre back at the top of the steps.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Close-up of the same
occasion. (The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
New York City mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, with Roy Rogers, the Sons of the Pioneers and the rodeo winners.
Post Banquet party. Left to right: Berenice Dossey, Tad Lucas, Polly Burson, Sally Rand.
Back: Carl Dossey, George Mills, Bob Nolan, Turk Greenough, Bill Liebesing, Harry Knight and Peggy Holmes.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Second Annual Convention for Rodeo Fans of America at the Hotel Belvedere on October 17, 1942
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Bob with Foghorn Clancy, longtime rodeo announcer and promoter.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
As we go to press (November 10th) the Sons of the Pioneers are in Boston makin' with the music for the Beantown Buckaroos at their big Rodeo. From there they shuffle off to Buffalo for 11 days, closing there November 21st. Then, back to Hollywood for two big budget Westerns with Roy Rogers to be called Idaho and King of the Cowboys. They're planning to use Bob's immortal Tumbling Tumbleweeds in one of 'em. (Sam Allen, p 2 Tumbleweed Topics, Vol 2 No 16, November, 1942)
Bob with Hoagy Carmichael. (Courtesy of Josephine Shapira.)
The caption under the clipping reads:
"Bob Nolan, encouraged by composers like Hoagy Carmichael, decided to devote his time to writing songs himself."
Entertaining at New York City's Stage Door Canteen.
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
The Sons of the Pioneers being interviewed by glamorous 1930s star, Adrienne Ames, in 1942 a radio commentator for New York City radio station WHN.
Beginning with the Republic picture, Sunset Serenade, the film credits read "Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers". Tim Spencer told Ken Griffis that the group felt that Nolan should be pushed to the front because he was a handsome, broad-shouldered cowboy type, his signature songs were an integral part of the group's fame and, finally, his unusual voice was probably the best-known of all.
(Courtesy of Fred Sopher)
(Courtesy of Fred Sopher)
Karl E. Farr Collections
1943 Ken has replaced Lloyd and Pat doesn't leave until June.
(Courtesy of Fred Sopher)
And so the war intruded and changed every life. Bob's draft status was 3-A at this point. Although he didn't go into the active military, he did do much for the war effort at home by selling war bonds with the Pioneers and Roy, entertaining the troops freely, donating his time to make radio transcriptions for them, etc. Lloyd left in April of 1943 for the Pacific and was replaced by Ken Carson. Pat Brady left in June for Europe with Patton's Third Army. Deuce Spriggins and then Shug Fisher replaced Pat both on the bull fiddle and as group comic. Lloyd and Pat were sorely missed but the Sons of the Pioneers kept up their paychecks for the duration of the war.
(Back: Hugh and Karl Farr. Front: Ken Carson, Tim, Bob and Shug Fisher)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(John Fullerton Collection)
(John Fullerton Collection)
The following group of photos from the Calin Coburn Collections was taken between April 1943 when Lloyd was called up and June when Pat was drafted. The lady in the first two is unidentified but may be a "local personage" photographed with them on one of their appearances.
On tour somewhere with an unidentified lady.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Back: Ken Carson, Karl Farr
Front: Hugh Farr, Bob Nolan, Deuce Spriggins and Tim Spencer
(John Fullerton Collection)
Bob Nolan
(John Fullerton Collection)
Back: Bob Nolan, Hugh Farr, Karl Farr and Deuce Spriggins.
Front: Tim Spencer, Roy Rogers and Ken Carson
(Courtesy of Fred Sopher)
(The Jan Scott Collection)
(The Jan Scott Collection)
(The Jan Scott Collection)
Back: Hugh, Bob and Ken Carson. Front: Shug, Karl and Tim.
(John Fullerton Collection)
They toured Canada this year (1943) as well as the Eastern USA and continued to work hard on radio, screen and stage but they seem to have made time to play or else it was suggested by the studio photographer for public relations. In any case, Bob loved to sail and kept his own sailboat, named in Spanish for his wife P-Nuts – Maní. Bob kept the next two photos in his photo album. The others are from different sources.
Shug, Ken and Bob, 1945
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
1946
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
1945
Big Bear Lake, California
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
1945
Big Bear Lake, California
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
1945
Their popularity grew with their radio transcriptions, radio shows, recordings, public appearances and the movies. The following is a handout from one of their shows.
Baby shower for Buddie Perryman.
Right to left: Buddie (Mrs Lloyd) Perryman, seated, Velma (Mrs. Tim) Spencer, Mae (Mrs. Karl) Farr,
P-Nuts (Mrs. Bob) Nolan, Rosita (Mrs. Hugh) Farr, Fayetta (Mrs. Pat) Brady, Claudina (Fayetta's twin sister),
Fern (Mrs. Sam) Allen, Peggy (Mrs. Shug) Fisher, Margo (friend of Fern's).
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
The 3 following photos were taken in 1943 at Madison Square Garden, 1943. Read articles from The Prairie Prattler by people who were there and described the Sons of the Pioneers' shows.
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Bob and Tex Wilson.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
During the War, the Armed Forces Radio Services (AFRS) featured a number of Pioneer recordings including cuts from previous radio shows. These programs (Melody Roundup) were hosted by guest stars and dedicated to servicemen. Bob, when asked later what fan mail made the deepest impression on him, answered, "From the Submarine boys during the war, who played our transcriptions while lying on the bottom, waiting for the enemy."
As early as 1940 the War Department was using
short-wave radio broadcasts to inform and educate Americans overseas. In 1941
entertainment was added the mix. Departing troops were issued "B" kits ("B" for
"Buddy") that consisted of radios, phonographs, 10-inch shellac 78-rpm
phonograph records and 12-inch 33-rpm transcription discs of popular radio
shows. Within 3 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the War Department
began producing original variety shows to beef-up troop morale beginning with
Command Performance.
Command Performance had an interesting purpose. The enlisted men would
request entertainers they wanted to hear and the artists were commanded
to record a show for them without pay. The Sons of the Pioneers gave of
their talent freely and gladly to do what they could to encourage and support
the men who were fighting for them.
The Armed Forces Radio Services was formally established 26 May 1942 to generate
additional programming for the troops. Initially AFRS programming included
mostly transcribed commercial network radio shows such as the Kraft Music Hall
with the commercials removed. Soon numerous original AFRS programs such as Mail Call
were added to the mix. At its peak in 1945 the AFRS was generating
about 20 hours of original programming each week. The AFRS could command the
services of the best writers and performers without regard to their network or
studio contractual obligations. It was on Command Performance, for
example, that the Sons of the Pioneers were paired in song with Frank Sinatra.
And the AFRS got these services for free. These programs were broadcast to the
troops overseas, and usually were not heard by Americans at home. (From Command Performance USA!
A Discography
compiled by Harry MacKenzie, Greenwood Press, 1996 and Brass Button Broadcasters
by Trent Christman, Turner Publishing, 1992.)
The range of programs the AFRS covered was immense and during the war years, particularly, the emphasis was on entertainment. Popular and classical music and comedy and drama shows were rebroadcast over AFRS stations all over the world. The AFRS also produced many programs designed to inform and educate.
On March 17, 1944, after Pearl Harbor, Martha Mears and the Pioneers broadcast a show featuring Half Way 'Round the World, the song Bob wrote in 1943 for Lloyd Perryman who would soon be in the Pacific theatre for the duration of the war. Although the song was dedicated to his US Marine brother, Earl Nolan, Bob had written it for Lloyd shortly after he was drafted, understanding how his friend would feel - separated from his wife and new son. Lloyd didn't record the song himself until 1966. He couldn't, he said, because his throat would tighten at the memory of that long, lonely time he spent so far from his little family. Tim Spencer also wrote a song for the absent Lloyd.
In a letter to Michelle Sundin, Ken Carson wrote:
Bob and I got along extremely well. He could not write the music to the songs he composed and that's where I was able to help him, having studied harmony & composition before I joined the group. When he got an idea for a song he had dreamed up, he'd get on the phone & say, "Hey, Carson, bring your guitar & some paper and come on over" even if it was 1:00 a. m. and I had been in bed three hours. "Oh, this won't take long," he'd say. Well, three hours later, we had it down on paper.
One song I especially remember I wrote down for him was "From Half Way Round the World" which Lloyd later recorded ... and what a beautiful rendition he did of the song. Bob was a master of utilizing words that made the perfect marriage of music and lyrics come together.
In later years, Dale Warren related to Hugh McLennan another little story from Ken which had taken place about that time:
Ken Carson came in and took Lloyd's place during the war. They were on location. Ken was sitting down below the road, fooling around with a little prank. Bob was standing up next to the stagecoach and Karl was up on top of the stagecoach. He could take a little pebble and put it between his fingers and he'd flip it. He flipped that thing and he hit Bob right on the back of the head with it. Bob had to turn around and when he turned around, he was looking right up at Karl and Karl had this funny grin on his face. Bob says, "I'm gonna come there and get you!" Of course, you know Bob Nolan was a huge fellow and he started climbing up that stagecoach right at Karl. Karl had a prop guitar in his hands - not a real one, you know - a prop guitar. And as Bob was coming up, he took it and busted it over Bob's head. 'Course it was made out of balsa wood and this hurt Bob a little, but Bob got tickled. He'd always get tickled, so he started laughing.
Bob, Bobbie, Trigger and Roy
1945
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
1944 saw Roberta (Bobbie) reunited with her father at last:
My mother relented when I was 15 years old and took me to meet him when he and the Pioneers were performing at the Oakland Auditorium in Oakland, California. After that meeting, I spent a few weeks at a time a couple times a year with him and P-Nuts. He was not difficult to live with unless someone tried to make unnecessary conversation. He would not discuss events or personalities, only ideas. We had many wonderful philosophical conversations. He was always searching, thought there had to be something out there he hadn’t yet discovered; that there was something more to life if he could only find it.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Bob was still writing for the Republic Roy Rogers movies, though less frequently. Fred Goodwin is in possession of a music non-exclusive license for motion pictures for a song Tim Spencer wrote for Lights of Old Santa Fe - Trigger Hasn't Got a Purty Figger. Tim was paid $200.00 for the song so we must assume that is what Bob Nolan received for his own compositions.
The Roy Rogers Show, sponsored by Goodyear.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
The Roy Rogers Show went on the Mutual Network Tuesday evenings at 8:30 PM beginning November 21, 1944. Sponsored by Goodyear Tires, the show featured Roy and The Sons of the Pioneers in Western favorites like Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Cool Water and Don’t Fence Me In. Much of the show was banter and song, with Roy and songstress Pat Friday doing vocal solos, Perry Botkin leading the Goodyear orchestra and Verne Smith announcing. Dramatic-skits were offered, but leaned to lighter material than what the show used in later years. Eventually, it became primarily a Western thriller show.
Newspaper clipping courtesy of Fred Sopher
(Courtesy of Fred Sopher)
(Courtesy of Fred Sopher)
(Courtesy of Fred Sopher)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
This photo appeared in card vending machines with similar cards of all the movie cowboys.
(The Calin Coburn
Collections ©2004)
Exhibit cards were predominantly found in vending machines in arcades, boardwalks, etc. Featuring primarily athletes, cowboys, movie and TV stars, they were manufactured from the 40s to late 60s. A copy of the performer's signature and "Printed in the U.S.A." are the only words on the card. While most cards are black & white, some are tinted in brown or pink. They measure approximately 3 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches. This one is green.
Exhibit card from the Calin Coburn Collection with a selection of examples below:
Front and side view of a typical exhibit card vending machine. Exhibit card with 4 stars.
Comparing boots with a chorus girl from the film, Utah.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(Courtesy of James d'Arc, Brigham Young University)
Bob, fans and a cougar skin.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Bob Nolan, 1945 10 09 State Theatre, Hartford, Connecticut
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
On a trip to California in 1945, Martha Retsch (President of the Sons of the Pioneers fan club), was treated to several visits to Republic Studios where Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers were making the film, Man from Oklahoma. Here, in her words:
On March 5th, we really
had a treat. Tim arranged for the four of us to visit Republic Studios. That was
something we had all wanted to do and we were really thrilled at the idea. A new
movie was in the making and the boys were recording the songs for it. While on
the set, we had the opportunity of meeting Roy Rogers again and also Dale Evans
and Gabby Hayes. Oh, yes, also met Roy's little daughter, Cheryl, and she's a
little doll.
To get back to the songs now. The new
movie - Roy's last by the way - is titled "Man from Oklahoma". Roy and the
Pioneers did "Prairie Mary", and "Draggin' the Wagon." The Pioneers did
"Cherokee" and the whole cast did "Skies are Bluer" or "Oklahoma USA". Oh, yes,
Roy and Dale did "The Martins and the Coys." It was really very interesting and
a little strange. The songs would be recorded then they'd troupe out of the
recording studio and listen to themselves on the screen then back in to do it a
little better. It took them from about 10:00 am until about 10:30 pm to get the
songs recorded just right. So you can see that things are done right and to a
perfection.
Another day when we were lucky enough
to get on the set, a few of the scenes were being filmed. The setting was the
interior of a City Hall and the discussion was the wagon race which was to be
held. This scene had Dale Evans, Gabby Hayes and Roger Pryor, along with the
Sons and Roy. Quite a lot of rehearsing was done before the scenes were shot,
too. One incident that was really odd - and comic - featured Roy and Dale. Their
families are feudin' throughout the picture and when Dale starts singing, Roy is
motioned to sing with her. They're singing "The Martins and the Coys" and keep
grabbing the mike from each other. Roy got so enthusiastic he pulled the mike
apart. The song was being played back and Roy and Dale were singing a duet with
themselves.
Calin Coburn Collections ©2004
One other day that we got on
the set, we were greeted by six solemn Indians. After taking a second look, we
discovered it was the Pioneers made up in Indian outfits for their song
"Cherokee." Wait until you see them - they look swell. Bob had a chief's
headdress on and I was informed he was "Heap Big Chief Standing Room Only" while
Ken informed me that he was "Little Chief Pushum Up Daisies." They worked on the
set until pretty late and had to rush for their broadcast - in Indian outfits.
Those of you who heard the program on March 27th, may remember all the laughing
that was going on. Everyone was completely surprised, including Roy as he had
been on location that day and came straight to the broadcast, too. (Martha
Retsch, p. 4, Prairie Prattler Vol. 3 No. 1, 1945)
THE CLASSIC SONS OF THE PIONEERS REUNITED AFTER THE WAR
Lloyd returned in early January of 1946 and Pat returned shortly afterward. Ken Carson remained for awhile longer but it was necessary for Shug to leave the group. With the return of Lloyd and Pat, the group became the Classic Sons of the Pioneers again.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
On the Republic lot again, back in working gear.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Between 1943 and 1945, due to wartime restrictions, the Pioneers made no recordings. In 1945, they signed with RCA Victor and recorded several songs into early 1946 with Bob, Tim, Ken Carson, the Farr Brothers and Shug Fisher.
RCA luncheon, Philadelphia PA, September 1946
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
RCA luncheon, Philadelphia PA, September 1946
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
RCA luncheon, Philadelphia PA, September 1946
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
RCA luncheon,
Philadelphia PA, September 1946
The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Rodeo Fans of America Banquet and Party, September 14, 1946
Velma & Tim Spencer, Martha Retsch, Emma Hackett, Hugh Farr, Pat Brady, Karl Farr, Bob Nolan, Lloyd Perryman and Sons of the Pioneers secretary, Terry Sevigny (Roy Rogers on the dais)
(The Martha Retsch Collection)
Phila. Penn. Rodeo, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
September 1946
Lloyd Perryman, Hugh Farr, Bob Nolan and Pat Brady
Chicago Rodeo October 10-27, 1946
Back row: Jack Spaulding (Bareback Bronc Riding Champ), Col. Jim Eskew
(Arena Director), Jess Like (Steer Wrestling Champ), Roy Rogers (Rodeo
Producer), Wayne Loukes (Saddle Bronc Riding Champ), Arthur Wirtz (Exec. VP
Chicago Stadium), Jeff Goodspeed (Calf Roping Champ), Tuffy Williams (Bull
Riding Champ)
Front: Pat Brady, Hugh Farr, Lloyd Perryman, Madonna Eskew, Bob Nolan,
Tim Spencer, Mickey Clements. (Karl had to catch a plane.)
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
The Nelson Eddy Show Sunday, June 2, 1946
(Martha Retsch Collection)
Tim Spencer, Hugh Farr, Bob Nolan, Roy Rogers, Lloyd Perryman and Karl Farr at the Las Vegas, NV, locale for "Heldorado", 1946
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
Grace Purdy's Western Music Corral, 1946
Karl Farr, Tim Spencer, look over Spade Cooley's shoulder (as he looks through Songs of the Songs of the Prairie folio with Bob Nolan), Hugh Farr and Ken Carson
After the war, the Sons of the Pioneers were in even greater demand and, for the first time, hired a booking agent. Up until now, Tim had been able to handle their affairs but now they were getting so many requests for appearances that they had to turn many down. They toured the United States, appearing in almost every state at fairs, rodeos, nightclubs and one-night stands in large and small towns.
Roy Rogers started a Saturday night weekly radio series on NBC, similar in content to the first in 1944. The sponsor was Miles Laboratories. Dale Evans, Gabby Hayes, Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers, Pat Buttram, Country Washburne and his Orchestra were featured on the programs. This show was also canceled at the end of the season.
The Sons of the Pioneers (and other artists) appeared on a series of programs sponsored by the government to inform returning veterans of their rights under the GI Bill - "Here's to Veterans". The group did not appear; one of them would talk about GI rights and then play one of their recordings. These programs continued into, possibly, 1952.
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Often there were a lot of people around the house and P-Nuts would cook for everybody. Bob would sit there and think and, apparently, if he thought about something he wanted to work on, he'd take a chair, go out into the yard and sit in the corner, facing the corner of the yard. It was a silent admonition, "Don't disturb me right now." He'd do that when the house was full of people! (Roberta Nolan Mileusnich)_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1949 Christmas Card
1949 Christmas Card (close)
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
1950 Christmas Card
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
Christmas cards from the (The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
(Courtesy of Fred Sopher)
A magazine ad advertising Fruit of the Loom
(Courtesy of Fred Sopher)
(Courtesy of Fred Sopher)
Bob throwing up clay pigeons for the sharp shooting part of Roy's show at a rodeo. Roy rarely missed.
(Courtesy of Fred Sopher)
In 1947, on location for the shooting of a Republic film (Roll On Texas Moon) the script called for Roy to fall into the Kern River. This scene would be handled by a stunt man but the river was cold and fast and the stunt man decided he needed double pay for the stunt. As the stunt man was putting his case before the director, Bob Nolan came floating down the river on his back with his clothes folded on his chest. He'd been upstream fishing with Lloyd Perryman and chose the quickest way to return to camp. The stunt man lost his case and didn't forget it, retelling the story to Dick Goodman many years later.
Late in 1946 and early in 1947, a series of transcriptions were recorded in conjunction with Teleways Radio Productions Inc of Hollywood, California, and syndicated across the country. The series ran five days a week for about one year - approximately 260 programs. Bob was the host and the others entered into the amusing and good-natured conversation typical of all their programs. Both Lloyd and Ken Carson were part of the recording group until Ken left the Pioneers in late 1947 - two first class tenors.
COMIC BOOKS
Although
there were dozens of editions of Roy Rogers comic books while the Sons of the
Pioneers were appearing with him in the Republic movies, only one issue rated
their photograph - The back cover is a scene from Eyes of Texas, 1948
Front of April 1949 Volume 1 No. 17 Roy Rogers Dell comic.
The back cover is a scene from
Eyes of Texas
1948
The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
On tour in Cheyenne Wyoming for their 1947 Frontier Days celebration, posing with three fans.
(Courtesy of Judith Kruse)
(Courtesy of Judith Kruse)
Back: Lloyd Perryman, Bob Nolan, Pat Brady and Tim Spencer
Front: The Rosalie Allen Show, June 1947, New York City
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
Terry Sevigny and Bob Nolan at the Cowboy Park, Newhall, CA, 1948
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
Bob with unidentified boy in a hospital bed. The Sons of the Pioneers made countless appearances at children's hospitals.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
For Bob, one disappointment followed another and disgruntlement became disillusionment. Bob's roles in the Roy Rogers movies were progressively smaller. Comparatively few of his songs were used although he was still writing full time. More and more he would appear at the Republic lot late, with his lines unlearned. Night Time in Nevada marked the end of the Sons of the Pioneers' Republic film career.
On May 7, 1948, Herbert Yates wrote to Tim Spencer that "because of the foreign market conditions and the shrinkage of domestic box office receipts, the Studio Executive Committee decided to discontinue the services of the Sons of the Pioneers in line with the general economy that we are compelled to pursue in order to stay in business...."
About the same time, Bob had a personal disagreement with Herbert Y. Yates that culminated in the owner of Republic Studios banning Bob from the lot. Bob replied that he would never enter the grounds again and he never did. Many years later, when he still refused to tour the old Republic grounds for "old time's sake", he was asked why he wouldn't. Yates was dead and the area was under new ownership. But to Bob, it was simply a matter of principle and he would not consider it.
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
Yates hired Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage for the next film (The Far Frontier) although the promotions were already in place, complete with photo of the Pioneers. And so the Sons of the Pioneers went on the road again for a year of personal appearances across America.
The first annual "Hoss Opera" took place on November 28, 1948 at Olympic Auditorium, 18th & Grand, L. A. and the guest list of singers and actors was long. The Sons of the Pioneers took their place alongside of William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd, Tex Williams, Hoot Gibson, Allan "Rocky" Lane, Charles Starrett, Roy Rogers, Duncan Renaldo, Andy Parker & the Plainsmen, Cindy Walker, etc. Admission price was $1.00 plus tax, Children 50¢ for a 2PM matinee and evening show at 8PM.
"In honor and in memory of such great western heroes as Art Accord, Harry Carey, Dustin Farnum, William S. Hart, Buck Jones, Tom Mix, Will Rogers, Fred Thompson and others, a cavalcade of stars have banded together to promote a great western show for the purpose of raising funds for the construction of a western museum to be known as the WESTERN HALL OF FAME dedicated to the preservation of the Old West and the private collections of the men who have and will in the future contribute to its history. This museum will be dedicated to the people of the West and will house and display personal properties of the cowboys - past, present, and future - their historical documents, trophies, souvenirs, songs, records and films of the West." (from Tim Spencer, Chairman, to Gordon Browning, Station KRKD, on November 16, 1948, under the letterhead "Western Hall of Fame First Annual Hoss Opera", courtesy of Fred Goodwin.)
Tim Spencer was Chairman, Bill Elliott was Secretary-Treasurer and Russ Hayden Director of Events. The Committee was comprised of (alphabetically): Spade Cooley, Dale Evans, Monte Hale, Red Harper, Susie Hamblen, Bob Nolan, Doye O'Dell, Pat Starling, Glenn Strange, Max Terhune, Jimmy Wakely, Cindy Walker and Tex Williams. On the Advisory Board were: Gene Autry, Bill Boyd, Andy Devine, Hoot Gibson, Stuart Hamblen, Roy Rogers and Charles Starrett. Publicity Director was Don Hix.
First Annual Hoss Opera, 1948.
Left to right back: Tex Terry (heavy), Pat Starling (actress), William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd and Bob Nolan.
Front: Roy Rogers, Ginny Jackson and Spade Cooley.
Bob, Cindy Walker, Max Terhune and William Boyd
A few of the 1948 Hoss Opera performers, courtesy of Tom Owen
Back: Tim Spencer, Tex Terry, Monte Hale, Jan Starling, Hoot Gibson, Russell Hayden, Bob Nolan, (? looks like Pat Brady), Glenn Strange.
Front: Ginny Jackson, Max Terhune, Jimmy Wakely, Cindy Walker, Roy Rogers, William Boyd and Spade Cooley.
The pressure of being the leader of the Sons of the Pioneers was now weighing heavily on Bob. He fronted, or was spokesman for the group in all their appearances and eventually he needed a bracer just to go on stage. Once there, he was fine but he was increasingly reluctant to face the crowds. He began drinking heavily and would occasionally disappear for a day or two. The Sons of the Pioneers were in much demand with a huge audience familiar with them from radio, movies, transcriptions, and recordings.
At the same time, Bob was having trouble keeping the Sons of the Pioneers current with the demands of the public. Some members of the group refused to make the necessary changes to keep up with the times.
The last tour on their 15th anniversary.
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
From the NBC Radio 15th Anniversary kit.
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
15th Anniversary Tour, April 1949
Back: Karl Farr, Tim Spencer, Lou Mitnick (program sales), Bob Nolan
Front: Lloyd Perryman, Hugh Farr and Pat Brady
Sons of the Pioneers 15th Anniversary Tour
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
Sons of the Pioneers during their 15th Anniversary Tour, 1948, with the Canadian trio, The Rhythm Pals
Back: Hugh Farr, Bill Rea (CKNW owner), Bob Nolan, Jack Jensen, Lloyd Perryman and Karl Farr
Front: Marc Wald, Tim Spencer, Pat Brady and Mike Ferbey
(Photo courtesy of Anne & Peter Greb)
Note: In 1948 The Rhythm Pals (Mike, Mark and Jack) were invited to guest on the Spade Cooley Show in the Santa Monica Ballroom in California, making them the first Canadian singing group to appear on U.S. television.
Sons of the Pioneers 15th Anniversary Tour
Martin Wagner (Advanceman), Lloyd Perryman, Bob Nolan, Karl Farr, Manager Gee, Pat Brady
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
Bob and Lloyd with manager Gee (see above) and Velma Spencer.
(Calin Coburn Collection ©2004)
Portland, OR, 1949
Courtesy of Josie Shapira.
Courtesy of Josie Shapira.
Portland, OR, 1949
Photo by Josie Shapira.
Possibly the Cow Palace in San Francisco, 1948
(Jan Scott Collection)
After that long and tiring year of touring, his agent absconded with most of Bob's earnings - over $100,000 - and left for the new country of Israel. He was never heard of again.
The last year I was with the boys, I was only home nine days. Plus the fact that when come the time for income tax, my agent said, ‘We’re going to have to find a way for you to borrow some money.’ Now I’d just had a whale of a year. $179,000! And I had to pay income taxes on it and I didn’t have the money to do it. That dirty son was stealing me blind.
Being naïve and trusting is the reason the shysters are drawn to us, see? We are so darn trusting and they know it. So I’ll tell you it was that old Omar Khayyam deal that I used to accuse the agents of. They’d say, ‘These guys are dumb. They don’t need the money. All they need is enough money to buy a bottle of whiskey a day and enough to buy a roof for the girl they’re shacking up with.’ That’s how most of us got our start, our first heartbreak, to find out that we couldn’t trust those we were supposed to trust.
It was about this time that he lost, in a garage fire, all his notes and the rough copies of his songs and poems that he had kept in his garage in Studio City.
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
The final straw was Tim Spencer's retirement in early 1949. Utterly discouraged, Bob followed him shortly after.
The load was too damn much for me to carry. I was fronting the group, not organizing but fronting, see, which is one hell of a job trying to keep them on their toes. Most of our work at that time was personal appearances and we were doing an awful lot of traveling and that’s a hard job. I was just getting my one-sixth and it was just too much for me. I was carrying the whole damn load.
Once Tim quit, for God’s sake.... I mean, he was the brains behind the whole damn thing, so I just lost interest. I just lost all heart in the whole thing when he left and he left for the same reason I did.
There was just too many people dragging their feet, see, and not giving their utmost. We’d been used to people just contributing everything they could to the improvement of the act. It was a wonderful group to work with when it was young, when we were all working on it real hard. But in later years, as I say, a few of them began to drag their feet and the people who were working hard at it like Tim and I, we got disgusted with it and more or less said, "If that’s the way you want it, you have it. Do it by yourselves. I don’t want no part of it." And I know Tim didn’t, either. Some wouldn’t attend rehearsals for anything. Just thought they knew it all and the result was, well, they thought they were too good to attend rehearsals and ended up doing the same thing ten years after they’d done it, see? This was a little bit tough to take because we was constantly getting new material and we couldn’t get them to attend rehearsals. They were good musicians, of course. They were the very best at that time and people loved them but they just didn’t want to go ahead. They just wanted to sit on their butts and ride along, see?
Well, that didn’t suit Tim at all so he quit and I quit shortly after. I stayed with them with the recordings and everything and presented my new material to them and they liked it and recorded it.
Karl E. Farr Collection
Ken Curtis replaced Tim Spencer in the trio. Pat Brady had joined Roy Rogers for the TV series.
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
An unwell Bob Nolan, escorted at Tim's request by secretary Terry Sevigny to the car.
San Fernando Valley, 1950
(Terry Sevigny Collection)
Historian Laurence Zwisohn tells us that it was on a summer day in 1949, as Bob Nolan and Lloyd Perryman drove over the Cahuenga Pass in Los Angeles, that they found Bob's replacement. Nolan had talked of retiring from the Pioneers but didn’t want to leave the group in a bind. As they drove along that day, they tuned in on a radio broadcast by Ole Rasmussen and his western swing band. When Tommy Doss, the band’s vocalist, began singing, Bob and Lloyd were struck by the remarkable similarity between Doss’s voice and Nolan’s. As they continued to drive, Bob turned to Lloyd and said, “There’s my replacement.” Tommy’s voice was so similar to Bob Nolan’s that for many years many people didn’t realize that he had taken over Bob’s spot in the Pioneer trio. At first it was almost impossible to tell the two apart. But as the years passed, Tommy developed a style slightly different from Bob’s. Still, the unusual timbre that was essential to the classic Sons of the Pioneers sound was virtually the same.
The rest of Bob's life, from 1950 - 1980, is found in The Final Years.
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Bob Nolan was not only the greatest songwriter that ever lived, but a great poet. Bob was a deep-thinking kind of man. When you had Bob for a friend, you had a good one. (Rex Allen)
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