Tumbleweed Trail
Bob Nolan
Original copyright: September 10, 1963
Barren plains where cattle used to low,
Wind and dust and not a thing will grow.
Don’t know what to do, this ain’t the west I knew,
Guess my work is thru today.
See that tumbleweed go rollin’ by?
What can his hurry be? Why don’t he wait for me?
He knows I’m goin’ his way.
Gone are the plains where cattle were lowin’,
Gone are the fields where clover was growin’,
Nothing is left and soon I’ll be goin’
Down the tumbleweed trail.
Where is the gal I knew in Wyomin’?
Where are the songs she sang in the gloamin’ ?
Gone with the wind that started her roamin’
Down the tumbleweed trail.
Sweetheart of mine, I’ll find you;
I know you passed this way
And I’m not far behind you.
I’ll meet you some sweet day
And I will linger, part from you never,
Just as we promised, always together,
Glad that we found this land of forever
Down the tumbleweed trail.
ABOUT THIS SONG
Although "Tumbleweed Trail" was a staple Sons of the Pioneers' song as far back as 1940, Bob Nolan didn't get around to registering it for copyright it until September 10, 1963, two years after they recorded it for RCA Victor (April 19, 1961). It was recorded twenty years before that by Decca on September 16, 1941. We have found no sheet music other than a lead sheet from American Music, Inc (1963). The song was included in nearly all the major Sons of the Pioneers' radio transcriptions.
In 1976, Bob Nolan and several members of the Reinsmen travelled up to Robert Wagoner's where they hiked, fished and sang in Wagoner's studio. They sang some of Bob's songs, including "Tumbleweed Trail" and you can hear Bob's baritone booming out.
"All songwriters recycle their best work and Bob Nolan was no exception. Nearly identical in structure to his best known song, “Tumbling Tumbleweeds”, this composition takes several different lyrical turns: it is a love song, not a celebration of freedom and the west; it is melancholy rather than hopeful, and its ecology-oriented introduction, all too real in the dust bowl era of the 1930s, resonates strongly to this day. This cut also highlights, in addition to the Pioneers’ trademark harmony, the contrast between Nolan’s powerful, distinctive baritone and Lloyd Perryman’s soaring tenor. Unlike brother and sister groups, which rely on their vocal (and pronunciation) similarities to achieve a seamless blend, the Pioneers achieved similar results with these very distinctly different voices. Improbably, it worked, and worked magnificently." (Douglas B. Green, liner notes to Don’t Fence Me In, Rounder C 1102, 1996)
SHEET MUSIC
We do not have any sheet music for this song just a lead sheet.
RECORDINGS
SONS OF THE PIONEERS TRANSCRIPTION RECORDINGS
Orthacoustic Symphonies of the Sage, transcription (064452)
Teleways Radio Productions transcriptions, Nos. 30, 71, 126, 177, and 241 (c. 1947-48)
Lucky U Ranch radio shows (courtesy of Larry Hopper)
- Transcriptions disc TR-145 Special Bob Nolan program (December 14, 1951)
- Transcriptions disc TR-242/243 (February 15, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-318/319 (April 9, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-383/384 (May 26, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-479/480 (August 18, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-533/534 (October 24, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-642/643 (January 9, 1953)