A child was born 109 years ago today in Winnipeg, Canada, and his life touched countless others. It's been said that he and Tim Spencer invented true Western music,* and this alone would be reason for a "Bob Nolan salute" today. But Bob Nolan did more than introduce the West through music; he wrote songs---words and music---from a perspective that captures the mind and heart of the listener and pulls them into a world that is really not that different today than when Bob was alive writing about it.
He wrote about the land—deserts, trees, the wind, the ocean—and the spirit of the land in man.
Even if he was just cranking out a song for a Charles Starrett or Roy Rogers movie, this perspective was still there and would worm its way into the lyrics or melody. Bob himself didn't think too highly of the songs he wrote on that kind of deadline. Although they may or may not contain the same amount of "Bob Nolan" as "He Walks With the Wild and the Lonely," or "The Mystery of His Way," songs like "Open Range Ahead," "Trail Herdin' Cowboy," and "Bound for the Rio Grande" are worth just as much to many of his fans. Even a person who doesn't listen to Western music has probably heard his two most famous songs, "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," and "Cool Water."
Bob co-founded the Sons of the Pioneers with Roy Rogers and Tim Spencer in 1933, and he sang and toured with the Pioneers until he retired in 1949; in 1955, due to contract issues, some members of the then-current Pioneers could not record for RCA Victor, and Bob returned and recorded with them through 1957.
After Bob retired in 1949, he was replaced by Tommy Doss, whose voice was amazingly similar to Bob's. Their unusual, "vibrating" voices are essential to the Pioneer sound.
Everything about Bob was unique, and few people think as much as Bob thought. He scorned "established," "church" religion, finding his God in nature (his religious beliefs are expressed in his songs, "Relative Man," and "Three Friends Have I," for example). His daughter, Roberta, saw something in him that few, if any, others saw; she saw him searching for that one last piece of the puzzle, the rest of the Answer, which he never seemed to find.
Maybe Bob was just a man who wanted two different lives; maybe he wanted to believe some things, but just couldn't quite bring himself to; maybe he had so many conflicting ideas that he never could understand himself, despite being so in-tune with human nature. Maybe he would be glad that some people wonder. I don't know.
What I do know is that he would be pleased with the interest in his music today.
During the early 1950's, the Pioneers (Lloyd Perryman, Ken Curtis, Tommy Doss, Hugh Farr, Karl Farr, and Shug Fisher) had their own radio show called The Lucky U Ranch, and on December 14, 1951, they invited Bob to be a guest on their program. They saluted Bob that day with songs and a special gift, and today, on the anniversary of his birthday, I would like to salute the man whose music means so much to me.
May his music never be forgotten.
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Hugh Farr, Karl Farr, Pat Brady, Tim Spencer,
Lloyd Perryman, and Bob Nolan
New York, 1942
Photo courtesy of Karl E. Farr |
*Cowboy music was quite common long before Bob Nolan, Tim Spencer, and Stan Jones (writer of
Riders in the Sky, The Searchers, etc.) came along. Whether or not Bob and Tim "invented" Western music (i.e. music about the West itself, not as influenced by European and Spanish music as cowboy music) is personal opinion, but their influence on it cannot be denied. Surely, Western music would have been a much smaller part of history if it weren't for Nolan, Spencer, Jones. . . and the Sons of the Pioneers.
Bob Nolan was born April 13, 1908, and died on June 16, 1980.
For more information on Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers, check out
this website created and maintained by Calin Coburn (Bob's grandson), and Elizabeth Drake McDonald.
