|
Bob Nolan was born in Canada.
He was a founding member of the Sons of the Pioneers western
singing group along with Leonard Slye (Roy Rogers) and Tim
Spencer, and the group’s original, but short-lived name was
the “Pioneer Trio.” Their first recording contract was with
Decca records in 1934.
Nolan was a prolific songwriter and several of his most
memorable tunes are “Cool Water” and “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.”
In the mid 1930s, he and the Sons of the Pioneers signed with
Columbia Pictures as helpers and tunesmiths for the Charles
Starrett series. And in 1941, Nolan and the group saddled up
at Republic to assist Roy Rogers.
It was during their days at
Republic Pictures that the billing credit changed from “The
Sons of the Pioneers” to “Bob Nolan and the Sons of the
Pioneers.” Nolan often had dialog and screen time as one of
Roy’s helpers/sidekicks. In the earlier films, it was Roy
being assisted by George “Gabby” Hayes and Nolan, while the
later entries featured Andy Devine and Nolan.
Their last work in a
B-western series --- for Bob Nolan as well as the Sons of
the Pioneers --- was NIGHTTIME IN NEVADA (Republic, 1948),
another of the Roy Rogers Trucolor adventures. (The group ---
sans Nolan --- did appear in a few other films such as the
cavalry regimental singers in RIO GRANDE (1950) which was
directed by John Ford and starred John Wayne.)
Some folks have asked why Nolan and the group left the Roy
Rogers films (and were replaced by Foy Willing and the Riders
of the Purple Sage). Two reasons are often mentioned in books
and articles. Both Nolan and Spencer were tired of the
touring, and Spencer had a publishing business to maintain.
They both decided to exit at or around the time when the SOP
contract with Republic was ending. The other variation is
that the Riders of the Purple Sage were less expensive to the
ever-thrifty Republic Pictures.
Les Adams has Nolan identified in 90+ movies, and this
includes his work with the Sons of the Pioneers and films such
as Ken Maynard’s IN OLD SANTA FE (Mascot, 1934) where he
dubbed the singin’ voice for Maynard at the opening of the
film. Nolan’s film total includes 79 westerns, 6 other films
and 7 shorts. Nolan didn’t appear in any cliffhangers.
Bob Nolan passed away on June
16, 1980.
Surfnetinc.com
Sons of the Pioneers
|
