In the spring of 1931, Ohio-born Leonard Slye, the cowboy singer who would later change his name to Roy Rogers, arrived in California and found work as a truck driver, and later as a fruit picker for the Del Monte company in California's Central Valley. He entered an amateur singing contest on a Los Angeles radio show called Midnight Frolics and a few days later got an invitation to join a group called the Rocky Mountaineers.
In September 1931, Canadian-born Bob Nolan answered a classified ad in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner that read, "Yodeler for old-time act, to travel. Tenor preferred." The band was The Rocky Mountaineers, by then led by Leonard Slye. After listening to the tall, slender, tanned Nolan sing and yodel, Slye hired Nolan on the spot. Although Nolan stayed with the group only a short time, he stayed in touch with Slye. Nolan was replaced by Tim Spencer, who had been working in a Safeway Stores warehouse.
In the spring of 1932, Slye, Spencer, and another singer, Slumber Nichols, left the Rocky Mountaineers to form a trio, which soon failed. Throughout most of 1932, Slye and Spencer moved through a series of short-lived groups like the International Cowboys and the O-Bar-O Cowboys. Spencer left the O-Bar-O Cowboys and quit music for a while. Slye joined Jack LeFevre and His Texas Outlaws, who were a popular act on a local Los Angeles radio station.
In early 1933, Slye, Nolan, and Spencer formed a group called the Pioneer Trio. The three young singers rehearsed for weeks honing their singing. While Slye continued to work with his radio singing group, Spencer and Nolan began writing songs for the group
By early 1934, the group consisted of Leonard Slye, Bob Nolan, and Tim Spencer on vocals, with Nolan playing string bass and Slye playing rhythm guitar. During that time, fiddle player Hugh Farr joined the group, adding a bass voice to the group's vocal arrangements. He also sang lead on some songs. Later that year, the "Pioneers Trio" became the "Sons of the Pioneers" through a radio station announcer's chance remark. Asked why he'd changed their name, the announcer said they were too young to have been pioneers, but that they could be sons of pioneers. The name was received well and fit the group, who were no longer a trio.
By the summer of 1934, the Sons of the Pioneers' popularity and fame extended beyond the Los Angeles area and quickly spread across the United States through short syndicated radio segments that were rebroadcast all over the country. They signed a recording contract with the newly founded Decca label, and on August 8, 1934, the Sons of the Pioneers made their first commercial recording. That same day, the immensely popular crooner Bing Crosby also made his first Decca session.
One of the first songs recorded by the Sons of the Pioneers during that first August session was written by Bob Nolan, "Tumbling Tumbleweeds", that would soon become a staple in their repertoire. The original title "Tumbling Leaves"[was changed to give the song a western character. Over the next two years the group would record 32 songs for Decca
1 Cool Water
Songwriter – Bob Nolan
2 The Timber Trail
Songwriter – Tim Spencer
3 Cowboy Camp Meetin'
Songwriter – Tim Spencer
4 Tumbling Tumbleweeds
Songwriter – Bob Nolan
5 The Everlasting Hills Of Oklahoma
Songwriter – Tim Spencer
6 Blue Prairie
Songwriter – Bob Nolan, Tim Spencer
7 Cigarettes, Whisky And Wild Women
Songwriter – Tim Spencer
8 Chant Of The Wanderer
Songwriter – Bob Nolan
9 Out California Way
Songwriter – Carling*, Meakin*
10 Out In Pioneer Town
Songwriter – Tim Spencer
11 160 Acres
Songwriter – Kapp*
12 The Last Round Up
Songwriter – Hill*, Brown*
13 Cowboy Country
Songwriter – Tim Spencer
14 Santa Fe, New Mexico
Songwriter – Tim Spencer
15 Down Where The Rio Flows
Songwriter – Carson*
16 Red River Valley
Songwriter – Traditional
17 Serenade To A Coyote
Songwriter – Parker*
18 Riders In The Sky
Songwriter – Jones*
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FILE LIST
Filename
Size
01 Sons of the Pioneers - Cool Water.mp3
3.3 MB
02 Sons of the Pioneers - The Timber Trail.mp3
3.3 MB
03 Sons of the Pioneers - Cowboy Camp Meetin'.mp3
3 MB
04 Sons of the Pioneers - Tumbling Tumbleweeds.mp3
3.4 MB
05 Sons of the Pioneers - The Everlasting Hills of Oklahoma.mp3
3.5 MB
06 Sons of the Pioneers - Blue Prairie.mp3
3.8 MB
07 Sons of the Pioneers - Cigarettes, Whisky and Wild Women.mp3
3.5 MB
08 Sons of the Pioneers - Chant of the Wanderer.mp3
3.7 MB
09 Sons of the Pioneers - Out California Way.mp3
3.8 MB
10 Sons of the Pioneers - Out in Pioneer Town.mp3
2.9 MB
11 Sons of the Pioneers - 160 Acres.mp3
2.9 MB
12 Sons of the Pioneers - The Last Round Up.mp3
3.1 MB
13 Sons of the Pioneers - Cowboy Country.mp3
3.2 MB
14 Sons of the Pioneers - Santa Fe, New Mexico.mp3
3.2 MB
15 Sons of the Pioneers - Down Where the Rio Flows.mp3
3.6 MB
16 Sons of the Pioneers - Red River Valley.mp3
3 MB
17 Sons of the Pioneers - Serenade to a Coyote.mp3
3.1 MB
18 Sons of the Pioneers - Riders in the Sky.mp3
4.2 MB
Sons Of The Pioneers - Sons Of The Pioneers a (800x688).jpg
333.9 KB
Sons Of The Pioneers - Sons Of The Pioneers b (800x704).jpg