Key Contributors

The Original Site

From Elizabeth Drake McDonald:

My heartfelt thanks go primarily to Bob Nolan’s grandson, Calin Coburn, for his assistance and his encouragement. He candidly shared memories of his grandfather and spent countless hours searching, scanning or making database entries for nearly seven hundred items—sheet music, lyric sheets, photos, and letters. I drew regularly on his opinion, his memories, his editorial advice and his patience. 

Above all, I have to thank Calin for keeping me from the common pitfall of romanticizing Bob Nolan. “He was only a man,” he would remind me over and over again. Although I could not agree with this assessment, it did serve to keep me focused on my primary goal - preserving the music. Calin would point out places where I had used his opinion, or my own—“Take it out. Stick to the facts,” he would say. “We are archiving facts, aren’t we?” 

Calin also put me in touch with his cousin, Jean Krygelski, Bob Nolan’s niece, who helped greatly with the biographical end of this project. His mother, Roberta Nolan Mileusnich, gave me copies of Nolan’s later songs and answered my many questions. 

Thanks again to Lawrence Hopper for his help with the original lyric archive in 1999 and for the relentless criticism that kept me on my toes. Thanks to OJ Sikes for his immediate responses to pleas for advice or leads.

Thanks to Dave Bourne for his demos of the unrecorded Nolan compositions from rough lead sheets and sheet music. Dave wrote charts for songs and always found time when it came to preserving Bob Nolan’s work.

Thanks to Michelle Sundin for the Orthacoustic Transcriptions, for help with translating from the Hawaiian, for putting me in touch with people who knew Bob and with sources of the lyrics. And thanks to Jo Stafford Weston, the youngest of the original Stafford Sisters, for graciously sharing her memories of Bob during the earliest days of their shared careers.

Thanks to John Fullerton for sharing his own research and introducing me to Martha Retsch, the Sons of the Pioneers’ first fan club editor who shared memories and snapshots of the very early days. Fred Sopher shared photos and made video clips for the site and Roy Rogers Jr. shared many stills from the movies. Roberto Costa was generous with any recording he had.

Ken Griffis and Laurence Zwisohn were generous with their knowledge and advice. Trent Boyd, Marsha Boyd Mitchell and their grandmother, Elsie Boyd, related their stories of Bob Nolan in his childhood years in New Brunswick. Hal Spencer and Karl Farr of Oregon and Wayne Perryman of California shared memories and photos of their Sons of the Pioneers fathers. Suzette Spencer transcribed the lyrics to two of Bob’s film songs to sheet music. Douglas B. Green sent me typescripts of interviews with Bob Nolan plus regular injections of praise. Wally Smith and Jimmie Willhelm opened their vast collections of Sons of the Pioneers’ music and films. Dick Goodman, Rusty Richards, Fred Goodwin, Robert Wagoner, Don Richardson, Max “Doc” Denning, and Snuff Garrett - all friends of Bob Nolan – spoke freely of their admiration and respect. 

Finally, in alphabetical order, thanks to the following people for much help along the way: Les Adams, Jon Alquist, Chuck Anderson, Wayne Austin, George Bensmiller, Brian Bergquist, Kenneth J. Bindas, Earl Bryant, Polly Mills Burson, Dick Cassidy, Barton Clark, Jeff Conroy, Stan Corliss, Madison Cormick, James D’Arc, Mario de Marco, LaVida Dallugge, Dr. Gene Davenport, Lloyd “Tommy” Doss, Roy Drachman, Bruce Hickey, Tommy and Kathy Hildreth, Rick Huff, Chris Ising, Claire Johnston, Ray Kersaint, Kathy Kirchner, Joe Konnyu, Ray Kraft, Judith Kruse, Katie Lee, Gary Lynch, John McConnell, Hugh McLennan, Boyd Magers, Jim Martin, Jim Nabors, Ed Phillips, Tim Pyatt, Jo Ann Reed, Ronny Robbins, Jill Rossiter, David Rothel, Richard Schrader, Jan Scott, Terry Sevigny Scott, Josie Shapira, Jerry Sooter, Grace Thompson, Jim Bob Tinsley, Jon Tuska, Marilyn and Wesley Tuttle, Eric van Hamersveld and Jeff Wagoner, Steve Weiss.

The Tumbleweed Trail Project

From the Sons of the Pioneers:

First, thanks go to Elizabeth Drake McDonald, without whom none of this would have happened. Elizabeth has continued to provide research, support, and a pair of eagle eyes throughout the creation of the new site. We also echo Elizabeth’s thanks to the contributors to the original Bob Nolan site, because this new site is built on their work as well as hers.

Thanks to Laurence Zwisohn for his ongoing expertise, patience, and time sorting through the extensive Sons of the Pioneers discography.

Thanks to John Fullerton, the Sons of the Pioneers’ resident historian and baritone yodeler, for many hours tracking down details in his personal archives.

This site was created by Paul Elliott, the Sons of the Pioneers’ fiddle player, with editorial support from Pioneers’ bass player Chuck Ervin, and invaluable production work from Rich “Page King” Levine and Kristy Jo Bruce.