Ken Carson
Bob Nolan and Ken Carson
The song on this page, Song of the Rover by Bob Nolan, features Ken's whistling. Bob sings the verses and Ken sings the bridge.
When Lloyd Perryman was called into service during World War II, Ken Carson took his place in the Sons of the Pioneers. Ken stayed with the group until 1946 when Lloyd returned and then continued recording with them until late in 1947. His career continued on radio and then television, culminating in his own TV program in New York. Portions of a letter from Ken to Michelle Sundin on April 15, 1990 are printed here with her permission.
I received your nice letter recently and therefore I'm forwarding a few thoughts & trivia that you might enjoy. The man: Bob Nolan!! To know Bob Nolan was to know a very special piece of history. Those of us who were privileged to know him and be as close as I was to him is a most treasured period I shall long cherish.
Bob was a special "one of a kind" man, a loner to some who really never knew him. A silent man, thoughtful in every respect toward his fellow man. Never once did I ever hear an unkind, malicious word from the man who composed two of the greatest all-time western songs, "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and "Cool Water".
One thing I discovered about Nolan; he had no aspirations toward becoming a great Star though I know he had at one time been considered ... as a potential candidate for a series of his own.
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.
There won't we another Bob Nolan around in this or any future lifetime. He truly was one of a kind. I still treasure a picture taken in Madison Square Garden on one of our trips to the rodeo there, of Bob and myself. Ah, memories.
Scan of original photocopy from Ken Carson, courtesy of Michelle Sundin.
