Lyr Req: Rocky Mountain Express (Tobias/Von Tilzer

Subject: Lyr Add: ROCKY MOUNTAIN EXPRESS (Tobias/Von Tilzer
From: GUEST,A Visitor
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 03:19 PM

Just curious to know if there are any additional words to this song and if anyone knows who the original artist was. Apparently it was written in 1935 by Charles and Harry Tobias and Albert von Tilzer. The Sons of the Pioneers recorded it at least twice; the 1941 version on the CD 'Symphonies of the Sage' is terrific. I have a SOP song folio with ads for other songbooks in the back and 'Rocky Mountain Express' is listed as being in a folio by Al Clauser and the Oklahoma Outlaws.

These are the lyrics in the SOP version:

Chorus: I'm going back over the mountains
Through the fields of golden grain
Every scene that I pass brings me nearer at last
To the girl who changed who'll change her name,
My dear old home, I know I'll soon be in it
For this train is going a mile a minute,
Oh, what a treat
Everybody will be there to greet the Rocky Mountain Express.

I'm bound for my land
My happy sky land,
And you can bet I'm gonna choo-choo back,
The folks will meet me,
How they will greet me,
Hey there, clear that track!

[Chorus]

Also, if anybody happens to know the melody line, that would be nice...I have a consistently hard time picking it out of the SOP's close harmony.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rocky Mountain Express
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 08 Nov 10 - 11:12 PM

The sheet music, with chords, can be seen at Images.IndianaHistory.org (or click for a PDF file).

(I don't understand why they are making the images available; they shouldn't be, according to my understanding of copyright law.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rocky Mountain Express (Tobias/Von Tilzer
From: Artful Codger
Date: 08 Nov 10 - 11:29 PM

Would it be in the public domain if the copyright hadn't been properly renewed (according to the laws effective at the time of first copyright expiration)? Or is the Bono extension blanket on all works after 1923? I know the extension retracted many works from the public domain (how they could do this without huge legal battles or public outrage boggles the mind), but I'm unclear on the details.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rocky Mountain Express (Tobias/Von Tilzer
From: GUEST,A visitor
Date: 11 Nov 10 - 10:47 AM

Thanks so much...that answers all my questions. I listened to the SOP recording again and confirmed that I just misheard the lyrics in the fourth line - it is "who'll change her name" rather than "who changed."