Memories from the Homestead: Celebrating 40 years in the Grammy Hall of Fame — 'Cool Water’

Around the first of the year one of our long-time friends in the Western music business pointed out to me that this year was the anniversary for the Pioneers' Decca recording of "Cool Water." That's right, forty years ago, "Cool Water' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

This recording from March 27, 1941, was recorded by the Sons of the Pioneers during a temporary stay in Chicago, where the group was a regular feature on an NBC radio broadcast, and they spent a considerable amount of time recording a 211-song collection known as the "Symphonies of the Sage."

The group was under contract with Columbia Pictures where they had wrapped up a five-year series of films with Western superstar Charles Starrett. Their contract was not renewed. Roy Rogers jumped on this opportunity and was able to persuade Herbert Yates at Republic Pictures to sign the group to a seven-year contract, where they would back Roy in his films. Going back to California was the perfect move, and it not only increased the Pioneers' popularity, but it improved the overall flow and production of Roy's films. The Pioneers were all actors too; this allowed them more screen time, and the fans noticed a great improvement in Roy's features.  

 "Cool Water" was written when Bob Nolan was attending Tucson High School, but he wrote it as a poem originally. There was no intention of turning it into a song. But in 1936 as the Pioneers were on radio coast to coast, the need for more material was very evident, so with assistance from the rest of the fellas, Bob put a melody and music to the lyrics. It was officially registered for copyright at that time.

 There was a slight problem after the printing of the sheet music made its way into the hands of fans and performers. American Music Company accidentally switched two words around in a phrase at the end of the refrain. Bob originally wrote the last phrase as "Dan can you see that big green tree where the water's running free and it's waiting there for me and you." American Music changed it to "you and me." Bob was not happy about this at all, as it took away from the poetic rhyme he intended to present. He demanded that all sheet music copies be pulled from store shelves and destroyed. This was a massive undertaking, but American Music fixed their mistake, destroyed all copies with the error and reprinted it correctly. 

A number individuals learned it wrong and never knew it. Marty Robbins, Rex Allen and others all recorded it the way they saw it on the original sheet music release. By that time, the song was such a success, Nolan didn't fuss about it. 

The Pioneers' 1941 recording had done so well in sales that it was reissued in 1948 and later 45 rpm singles were released. Occasionally it would end up on LP as a reissue and in the 1980s, cassette releases were a huge success. In 1991 MCA (who took over ownership of Decca Records in 1962) did a CD release and this is where I heard that original "Cool Water" cut for the first time at age 15 in 1993.

Now fast forward to twenty years ago, 2006. I was researching some new details on Bob Nolan's life and career through a website organized by a long-time fan, and fellow researcher, Elizabeth McDonald. Her research was impressive; she uncovered quite an amount of lost facts that never would have surfaced otherwise. Elizabeth introduced me to Nolan's only grandson, Calin Coburn, the son of Bob's only daughter (Roberta). Together Elizabeth and Calin gathered anything and everything that had to do with Bob Nolan and organized it for the public to see on their website. It would soon become the most comprehensive collection ever assembled on the Sons of the Pioneers. I was honored to assist with their project for over a decade.

In 2018, Calin passed away, and in recent times Elizabeth has downsized her collection of Bob Nolan and Pioneers items that were used for their original website. A few weeks ago, Elizabeth sent me an email asking if I would be interested in a becoming the new caretaker of some of the awards that Bob had received years ago. I replied to let her know that I was definitely interested. 

Last week I picked up an oversized flat package at our post office here. Inside was the forty- year-old certificate designating that "Cool Water" was elected into what is known today as the Grammy Hall of Fame. Also included in the package were two more awards that Bob received at award ceremonies in the early 1970s, plus a folder full of movie stills from the Charles Starrett films at Columbia, and the Roy Rogers films at Republic, among other things. Quite the treasure trove!

Forty years in the Grammy Hall of Fame for a ninety-year-old song is just awesome. The 1941 recording is easy to find on YouTube. Check it out.

Happy trails, everyone!