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Burton
                      Cummings & Neil Young 1987


BOB  NOLAN


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TUMBLING TUMBLEWEEDS
As performed by The Sons of the Pioneers



Bob Nolan
Bob Nolan was born Clarence Robert Nobles in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on April 13, 1908.  His parents separated in 1915, and one year later, Bob was sent to New Brunswick, Canada - ostensibly a temporary measure - to reside with his grandparents on his father's side. 

His father, Harry Nobles, had enlisted in the US military and assumed the name of Harry Nolan.  By 1919, Bob was living with an aunt in Boston and had taken his father's new name of Nolan.  He remained in Boston until 1921, when he joined his father in Tucson, Arizona before settling in California in 1929.

Bob was hired by Leonard Slye (later known as Roy Rogers) in 1931 to sing with a group called The Rocky Mountaineers.  Bob Nolan’s most famous song, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, originally titled Tumbling Leaves, was written during this period.  Nolan and Rogers briefly parted ways, but reconnected in a new band in 1933 - The Sons of the Pioneers.  Tumbling Tumbleweeds became their signature song and was one of the first songs they recorded with Decca Records.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Nolan appeared in over 90 movies.  Bob Nolan retired from active show business in 1949, opting instead to concentrate on songwriting. 

Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971, he was one of the most prolific writers of traditional country music, having penned more than 1200 songs.  His last album, Bob Nolan: The Sound of a Pioneer, was released on Electra Records in 1979.

Bob Nolan passed away in Newport Beach, Orange County, California on June 16, 1980.




Honours and Awards

1971 Western Heritage Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame
1971 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
1972 BMI Special Citation of Achievement for Cool Water
1976 Gene Autry Award
1976 Hollywood Walk of Fame Award
1977 William F. Cody Award
1979 National Western Film Heritage Award
1980 Country Music Hall of Fame Country Music Association Award
1984 New Brunswick Country Music Hall of Fame Award
1986 Grammy Award for Cool Water
1993 Canadian Country Music Association Hall of Fame
1994 Western Music Association Hall of Fame Award
2005 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Award for Tumbling Tumbleweeds
2005 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Award for Cool Water
2012 Manitoba Country Music Association Hall of Fame Award

Bob Nolan,
                              Dale Evans, Roy Rogers

L-R:  Bob Nolan, Dale Evans, Roy Rogers
Bob Nolan: The
                              Sound of a Pioneer

Back cover of Bob Nolan's last album -
Bob Nolan:  The Sound of a Pioneer



Compiled from the following sources:
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