The Sons of the Pioneers

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Roy Rogers & The Sons Of The Pioneers: Little Joe The Wrangler (1947)

The Sons of the Pioneers are an American western music group that originated in Los Angeles in the 1930s and became known for their cowboy songs.

In 1933, Leonard Slye, later known as Roy Rogers , Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer met in Los Angeles and founded the forerunner of the Sons of the Pioneers, the Pioneer Trio. The musical head was Bob Nolan, who also wrote the first songs. In 1934, the group was expanded by the fiddle player Hugh Farr. In the same year, the name Sons of the Pioneers emerged from the slip of the tongue of a radio announcer .

In 1934 the group signed a recording deal with Decca Records . One of her first songs was the Nolan composition Tumbling Tumbleweeds . Hugh Farr's brother, Karl, joined the Pioneers in 1935. Shortly thereafter, Tim Spencer left the group and was replaced by Lloyd Perryman, who had already stood in as a replacement several times. It shouldn't be the last change in personnel. Slye, Nolan, Spencer, the Farr Brothers and Perryman are now referred to as the "Original Sons of the Pioneers". This constellation received the highest honor in country music in 1980 , they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame .

In 1938 Slye left the group to start an acting career under the name Roy Rogers. He was replaced by Pat Brady. Tim Spencer returned that same year. Shortly after the US entered World War II, Perryman and Brady were drafted and had to be replaced. Nevertheless, the Pioneers accompanied the "King of the Singing Cowboys" Roy Rogers in numerous westerns for Republic Pictures . During this time he also appeared in the music film Hollywood Canteen . In 1944 the Pioneers switched to RCA and took part again and again. a. together with Roy Rogers on numerous records. Their sound was modernized and the old songs were replayed. There were further personnel changes at short intervals. For a time, for example, Ken Curtis was part of the party, who later played "Festus" in the television series Smoking Colts ("Gunsmoke"). Spencer left in 1949, Nolan followed shortly afterwards.

In 1946, a group of actors and investors, including the Sons of the Pioneers , founded the Pioneertown settlement northwest of the Yucca Valley . This should serve as a backdrop for western films , but it should still be able to be used by the film crews after the end of shooting. For this purpose, buildings were erected that looked like a typical western town from the 19th century. Inside, however, they housed modern facilities such as ice cream parlors , a bowling alley or motels . Originally the new place was to be named after Roy Rogers Rogersville . Ultimately, however, it was named after the Sons of the Pioneers . Tim Spencer wrote a song called Out in Pioneertown , which the group released on RCA Victor in October 1948 .

In 1952 the first album was recorded. Even Bob Nolan came back a few times for studio recordings. For a while there were two versions of the Sons of the Pioneers: a studio and a concert crew. In 1958 another founding member retired, Hugh Farr. His brother Karl died of a heart attack three years later during a concert. New people were hired and the Pioneers carried on. None of the original cast was there. The longest serving member was Pat Brady, who held out until 1967. In 1972 Roy Rogers, Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer got together again for a reunion session.

Tim Spencer died in 1976, Lloyd Perryman in 1977 and Bob Nolan in 1980. A year before his death, he recorded a solo album that was full of memories of the old days. The Sons of the Pioneers still exist today, but have lost much of their earlier meaning. The high status that the Sons of the Pioneers enjoy is due on the one hand to their musical quality and on the other hand to their longevity. Her oeuvre includes hundreds of western songs and more than twenty albums. Numerous CD boxes of historical recordings (1930s – 1950s) have been re-released by the German label Bear Family Records .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alyson Krueger: Pioneertown Wants to Be the New Old West , The New York Times , May 18, 2016
  2. ↑ www.pioneertownsun.com
  3. ↑ Out in Pioneertown on www.pioneertownsun.com (with the various recordings and notes)