Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)

Subject: Tune Add: TUMBLING TUMBLEWEEDS
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 17 Nov 98 - 10:08 PM

This is a complete indulgence, but I love the chromatic runs in this tune, and think it's a great sing. Just thought I'd contribute the tune first.

Regards John

MIDI file: tumbl_nu.mid

Timebase: 120

TimeSig: 4/4 24 8
Key: C
Tempo: 113 (526316 microsec/crotchet)
Name: Tumbling Tumbleweeds
Start
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End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:Treble Clef
M:4/4
Q:1/4=113
K:C
E5FGA|G4E4|A4AcBA|G8|D5EFG|F8|E5FGA|G8|A2AAccBA|
G8|A2AAccBA|B8|c4c5/4c3/4c3/4B/2^A3/4|A8|
B4B3/4B/2B3/4B3/4^A/2A3/4|^G8|A4A3/4A/2A3/4A3/4G/2F3/4|
E8|G11/4G/2G3/4G3/4F/2F3/4E3/4^D/2D3/4|E3/2D/2C6|
c4c3/4c/2c3/4c3/4B/2^A3/4|A8|B4B3/4B/2B3/4B3/4^A/2A3/4|
^G8|A19/4A/2A3/4A3/4G/2F3/4|E8|G11/4G/2G3/4G3/4^F/2F3/4E3/4D/2D3/4|
E3/2D/2C6|D5EF3/2E/2|G6E3/2E/2|^G4F^GA3/2^A/2|
B8|c21/4c3/4c3/4B/2^A3/4|A8|B4B3/4B/2B3/4B3/4^A/2A3/4|
^G8|A4A3/4A/2A3/4A3/4G/2F3/4|E8|G11/4G/2G3/4G3/4^F/2F3/4E3/4^D/2D3/4|
E3/2D/2C4||

Subject: Song Lyrics
From:
Date: 03 Jun 99 - 02:55 PM

You know how it is when a tune keeps running through your mind and you can't get rid of it and you can't really remember it? Drives you nutz doesn't it> So help me out here, okay?

I think it's sort of a cowboy song. The name of it might be "Tumbling Tumbleweeds."

The only line of the whole song I can remember is:

"Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds."

Anybody know the words to that song? Thanks.

Subject: RE: Song Lyrics
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 03 Jun 99 - 03:34 PM

Snowbird,

Welcome to the Mudcat. Yes, I know that feeling very well. We feel your pain, let us ease it. Tumbling Tumbleweeds is the name of the song. Here are the lyrics:

TUMBLING TUMBLEWEEDS
By Bob Nolan

PRELUDE:
I'm a roaming cowboy, riding all day long
Tumbleweeds around me sing their lonely song.
Nights underneath a prairie moon,
I ride alone and sing a tune.

CHORUS:
See them tumbling down,
Pledging their love to the ground,
Lonely but free I'll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

Cares of the past are behind,
Nowhere to go but I'll find
Just where the trail will wind,
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

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 tumbleweeds.

REPEAT FROM CHORUS TO END

LAST TIME ADD:
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

Snowbird, you must be new here, so let me show you some of the ropes. This was an easy request. I believe Roy Rogers did this with the Sons of the Pioneers. That led me to seek the lyrics on a website that has a great database of Country and Western songs called COWPIE. I looked for Tumbleweeds and it came right up.

When you want help with a song, you get better responses if your thread title talks about the song (alleged title, artist, or keywords). This draws the interest of those who might not otherwise look at your thread. For your request I would have used the title "LYR REQ: Tumblin' Tumbleweeds".

The Mudcat has a database of over 6,000+ songs in the folk or blues vein. You can search this database by going to the upper-right-hand corner of this page and using the search engine. I was not surprised that this song is not in the database, to me it is pure country.

Again, welcome to the Mudcat. You might want to browse some of the other threads. We think Max has provided a nice place for us here.

Enjoy the music!

Roger in Baltimore

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 9-Aug-02.

Subject: RE: Song Lyrics
From: Hi Roger and Snowbird
Date: 03 Jun 99 - 06:44 PM

This subject has me a little puzzled. I believe that I submitted the tune late last year, and had presumed that this was to fill a gap in the DT database. I can;t find it there, so suspect the words were posted to a thread, but I can't find that either. No great drama, just a teaser for my memory - did I really post that tune, or didn't I finish working on it?

Regards
John

Subject: RE: Song Lyrics
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 04 Jun 99 - 05:16 AM

John,

Posting lyrics onto a thread is no guarantee that they will enter the DT database. Dick and Susan (and whomever else there may be) make some editorial determinations. For example, I am not much of a Folk Nazi, but this song clearly falls into Country & Western to my way of thinking.

And Snowbird,

The worst of our fears have been fulfilled. Greg549, in all innocence, thinks he should post any old song request on this thread. It's gonna take days to kill it

Greg549

I have posted your request on a separate thread LYR REQ: Christmas by candlelight. If anyone answers your request I believe they will do so there.

WARNING!!!

Start new requests on a separate thread

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Song Lyrics
From: Ferrara
Date: 04 Jun 99 - 06:59 AM

Roger, since when has Dick excluded songs because they're pure country? His philosphy is pretty much, if lots of people sing 'em, then they're folk songs. I think that sheer lack of time contributes more to the problem. Dick still has a day job, unfortunately, and some social and family life, fortunately.

Subject: RE: Song Lyrics
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 04 Jun 99 - 08:28 AM

Ferrara,

Perhaps I spoke out of turn. I just finished my first year here. I thought I had read from Dick that lyrics do not get in the DT simply because someone posted them, that he does make some editorial judgement. If I am wrong, I stand corrected and I truly apologize to Dick. I stand in awe of the amount of work he has put in and continues to put in to keep the database chock full.

NOI.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: Mr Happy
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 04:08 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UiSMyyj-Ac

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: Mr Happy
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 04:13 AM

.............& here's Roy Rogers with SOP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37vqyQ8CIgU

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: open mike
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 12:04 PM

Who or What is SOP--oh, sons of the pioneers...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of_the_Pioneers

www.sonsofthepioneers.org

ooh...roy rogers name was actually Leonard Slye?
no wonder he changed it!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 04:39 PM

Mr. Happy - on the 4:13 posting with the Roy Rogers/SoP link, Roy didn't sing on that particular recording. He was a major cowboy star in the late 40's and the Pioneers were recording without him.

They did appear in his movies, though.

Seamus

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 04:53 PM

Roy Rogers (once, Leonard Slye from Missouri)was a founding member of the Sons of the Pioneers, but left to pursue a movie career. Bob Nolan, composer of a number of their best songs, was another founder. Actor Ken Curtis (formerly Curtis Wain Gates of Colorado), who played the role of "Festus" on "Gunsmoke," was a later replacement member. The group, with various members, was active, I believe, into the late 1900's in some form. The current comedy western singing act, "Riders in the Sky" is, at least partly, an homage to the Sons.

Being a former agriculturist (I grew up on a cattle ranch), I can share an ironic anecdote. The "tumbleweed" in the song, is an annual bush that can grow to as much as 36 inches or more in height. When it dries out, it forms a rather stiff, rounded mass which breaks off from the stem, allowing the wind to propel it, rolling over and over and broadcasting its seeds along the way. The western U.S. has many regions where the weed is prolific. The irony is that the plant was imported from Russia along with some wheat by immigrants during the mid to late 19th century. Though it has become a symbol for the far western U.S. in cowboy mythology, it's popular name is "Russian Thistle."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 09:55 PM

The Sons of the pioneers is the oldest,or rather,longest established musical group in North America....Formed around 1934 by Roy Rogers,Bob Nolan,Tim Spencer and Hugh Farr,there have been roughly forty members in the band;several of the recent configurations,from the eighties up to the present,have included sons and sons-in-law of existing and retired members.The longest serving member was Dale Warren,who joined in 1952 in his late twenties,and became leader upon the death of LLoyd Perryman in 1977....Warren lead the group from 1977 to 2008;he died about a year ago at the age of 82.
   Presently lead by Luther Nallie,who joined in 1968 and has been in and out of the group on two or three occasions,the vocal trio is now Nallie,Gary LeMaster and Ken Lattimore[guessing a bit on the last one],augmented by Ricky Bohen,Mark Abbott and Randy Rudd.
   They have just released a brand new 75th anniversary CD,available on their website www.sonsofthepioneers.org
   The most polished of all the Pioneer trios,in the opinion of many,was that of LLoyd Perryman,Dale Waren and Tommy Doss[1949-1967].
Doss,who replaced Bob Nolan in 1949,retired in the late sixties and returned to Oregon,where he is happily retired,hale and hearty at the age of 88.....a very kind and gracious gentleman who corresponded briefly with me a few years back,and was able to give me some interesting details....sorry to ramble on at such length,but I do feel the SOP have been a somewhat underappreciated group,considering their longevity and the incredible body of work they've produced....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 12:22 AM

Guest - not by me, they haven't! I always appreciated their music.

One amazing thing about the group was when Bob Nolan retired, Tommy Doss's voice was so remarkably similar to Nolan's that a lot of people thought Bob Nolan was still with the group.

And Lloyd Perryman who did most of their arranging was brilliant.

BTW, in my not so humble opinion, Bob Nolan should have been a Singing Cowboy star, along with Roy, Gene, Rex Allen at al.

Seamus

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: Genie
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 12:35 AM

Well, Seamus, he was -- sort of.   According to Wikipedia, Bob Nolan dubbed Ken Maynard's voice in one movie and appeared as himself in several others:

Bob Nolan

"Bob was the singing voice for Ken Maynard in the 1934 film, In Old Santa Fe and appeared in at least 88 low-budget Western films, first for Columbia Pictures and later with cowboy stars Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. With the Sons of the Pioneers, he made guest appearances in high-budget A-movies like Hollywood Canteen, with Bing Crosby in Rhythm on the Range and in the Walt Disney short, Melody Time."

Wiki also says that Tumbling Tumbleweeds was a song that Nolan reworked from an earlier song he had written that was not a "western" song:

"Tumbling Tumbleweeds" is a song composed by Bob Nolan, one of the founding (albeit reluctant) members of the Sons of the Pioneers. Although one of the most famous songs associated with cowboys, the song was composed by Nolan back in the 1930s while he was working as a caddy and living in Los Angeles. Originally titled "Tumbling Tumble Leaves", the song was reworked into the title "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and into fame with the Gene Autry film of the same name.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: GUEST,Iona
Date: 07 Jan 12 - 02:06 AM

Even Elvis sang it as a warm up, and did a pretty good job of it too. :)

Hear it HERE.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: GUEST,Iona
Date: 07 Jan 12 - 02:56 AM

Oh, I'm sorry, that was a faulty link. Try again:

Hear it HERE

and hear the SOP version HERE.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Jan 12 - 05:03 PM

Tumbling Tumbleweeds: BMI Work # 1555841
Songwriter/Composer:
Bob Nolan, BMI CAE/IPI # 22495102

Publisher- Music of the West, BMI CAE/IPI # 233403605

Licensed Artists:
Alshire Singers
Gene Autrey
Sons of the Pioneers
Boston Pops Orch.
and many others.

Subject: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: Genie
Date: 07 Jan 12 - 09:19 PM

And, FWIW, Suze Spencer Marshall, who is Tim (Sons Of The Pioneers) Marshall's granddaughter, lives very near me, in Vancouver Washington, and is doing a LOT to carry on and promulgate the musical genius of her grandfather and Bob Nolan and the other "Sons Of The Pioneers."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: pdq
Date: 07 Jan 12 - 09:51 PM

Thanks for the tip on Suze Spencer Marshall.

Her CD has no less than three songs with Nevada in the title so it should be a "must have" for me. Problem is, I ain't paying anyone $20 for a recent CD, don't care who it is.

BTW, her grandfather was Tim Spencer, not somebody named Marshall.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: GUEST,Iona
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 02:04 AM

This site has a lot of lyrics and other resources, an invaluable site!
http://bobnolan-sop.net/index.htm

Bob Nolan was definitely a Cowboy great. He should have had more fame than he did......but of course he didn't want it, so it all turned out in the end. :) I think he was the best Cowboy composer, anyway.

Subject: Suze Spencer Marshall (Tim Spencer's grandkid)
From: Genie
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 03:29 PM

Thanks for correcting my brain fart, pdq. I know Suze's grandfather was Tim Spencer. Marshall is her married surname.
(If a Mudelf sees this and can correct Tim's name in my post, it might help prevent that mistake from spreading.)

A lot of what Suze has been doing over the past decade or so is working to reclaim and record some of the songs that Bob Nolan wrote or co-wrote and performed with the Sons Of The Pioneers for the movie studio (RKO?) but were not allowed to either release as records or to perform professionally, because the studio that owned the rights did not release some of those movies and would not release their rights to the music.   So some of what Suze has recorded consists of never-before publicly released Bob Nolan/Sons Of The Pioneers songs.   

I almost never pay $20 for a newly released CD (unless it's a double), but in this case I think it's probably worth it. And you're not likely to find this CD at thrift stores or used record/CD stores.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: saulgoldie
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 05:20 PM

I don't think I ever heard of this song before. But I saw "The Big Lebowski" the other night, and it featured this song.

Saul

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)
From: GUEST,Iona
Date: 31 Jan 12 - 01:56 AM

From what I've seen, I think Cool Water and Tumbleweeds are/were Bob's best known songs. For a good reason, but I think he did a stellar job on almost *all* of his songs!