ROOTS of Country Music

Antioch, TN 37013

Cooley, Spade

The Professional Work of Spade Cooley

Back Row (L-R) Unknown, Becky Barfield, Unknown, Unknown

Front Row (L-R) Roy Rogers, Ginny Jackson, Spade Cooley

(Dec. 17, 1910 ~ Nov. 23, 1969)

Career Highlights

Grand Ole Opry

Barn Dance Affiliate

Ozark Jubilee
The Hoffman Hayride
Town Hall Party

Band Name:

Spade Cooley & His Orchestra
Spade Cooley and His Western Dance Gang

Film, Night Club, Radio & TV

Corrine, Corrina, 1 -1944
Ernest Tubbs Midnight Jamboree, 3
Spade Cooley: King of Western Swing, 1 -1945
Melody Stampeded, 1-1945
Spade Cooley & His Orchestra, 1 -1949
Take Me Back to Tulsa, 1 -1944
The Spade Cooley Show, 4 -1948
The Tonight Show, 4
Venice Pier Ballroom , 2

1-Film, 2-Night Club, 3-Radio, 4-TV

Billboard Chart Data

No. 1 Singles: 1
Top-10 Singles: 6
Crossover Singles: 0
Charted Singles: 6
Chart Years Active: 1945-1947

Awards: Hollywood Walk of Fame

Career Labels

Okeh Records (1945-1946)
Columbia Records (1946-1947)

Billboard Top-10 Singles

Shame On You, 1#-1945
A Pair of Broken Hearts
I've Taken All I'm Gonna Take from You
Detour -1946
You Can't Break My Heart
Crazy 'Cause I Love You -1947

1-No. 1 Chart Single

#-2nd Biggest Chart Single in 1945

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Professional Workof Western Swing Pioneer Spade Cooley

Donnell Clyde Cooley, better known as Spade Cooley, was a western swing musician, big band leader, actor and television personality. Spade Cooley's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, may be among the most unrecognized of the 2,200 luminaries honored there.

The little man with the catchy moniker is an obscure figure today, decades after his heyday. But in his day, Spade Cooley, an exceptional fiddler was an entertainment phenomenon, with wildly popular TV and radio shows, scads of films appearances, top-selling records and a ballroom orchestra in such demand that it cloned itself several times.

Mr. Cooley, born in Oklahoma, made his way to California during the Depression, arriving with only a fiddle under his arm. Driven to succeed, Spade Cooley managed to acquire the mansion on a hill. Spade Cooley along with Bob Wills and Milton Brown, are credited with creating the sound of western swing. And Spade Cooley briefly claimed the title of King of Western Swing, amassing millions by capitalizing on that music craze on the west coast during the 1940s.

One of the groups which played at the Venice Pier Ballroom in Venice, California was led by Jimmy Wakely with Spade Cooley on fiddle. Several thousand dancers would turn out on Saturday night to swing and hop. The masses of people and jitterbuggers loved him. When Wakely got a movie contract at Universal, Cooley replaced him as bandleader.

To capitalize on the pioneering success of the Bob Wills' Tommy Duncan pairing, Cooley hired vocalist Tex Williams who was capable of the mellow deep baritone sound made popular byTommy Duncan. Cooley's 18-month engagement at Santa Monica's Venice Pier Ballroom was record-breaking for the early half of the 1940s.

Shame on You, released on Columbia's Okeh label, was recorded in December 1944, and was No. 1 on the country charts for two months. Shame on You was the first in an unbroken string of six top-10 singles including Detour and You Can't Break My Heart.

Spade Cooley appeared in 38 Western films, both in bit parts and as a stand-in for cowboy actor Roy Rogers. Billed as Spade Cooley and His Western Dance Gang, he was featured in the sound track, Take Me Back to Tulsa released July 31, 1944 along with Tex Williams and Carolina Cotton.

Spade Cooley: King of Western Swing was filmed in May 1945 and released September 1, 1945. It was followed by Melody Stampede released on November 8, 1945. Spade Cooley & His Orchestra came out in 1949. In 1950, Cooley had significant roles in several films.

Beginning in June 1948, Cooley began hosting a variety show on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, California broadcast from the Santa Monica Pier Ballroom. The show became a mainstay of television in the area, and won local Emmy awards in 1952 and 1953.

The Hoffman Hayride was so popular that an estimated 75 percent of all televisions in the Los Angeles, California (CA) area were tuned into the show each Saturday night. Making use of video transcriptions, The Spade Cooley Show was viewed coast-to-coast via the Paramount Television Network.

After a battle of the bands with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys at the Venice Pier Ballroom, whichSpade Cooley claimed he won, he began to promote himself as the King of Western Swing.

It is worthy toclarify that most historians of western swing agree that Bob Wills and his Texas Playboysare regarded the true King of Western Swing and Fort Worth's Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies is considered the pioneering Father of Western Swing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Shocking and Sad Demise of Spade Cooley

Spade Cooley owned an estate in Los Angeles, a ranch in the Mojave Desert and a 56-foot yacht. When his music was nudged aside by new fads like rock 'n' roll, the resourceful Cooley shifted to land development, planning a Disneyland-style amusement park in the desert that he would call Water Wonderland. Spade seemed poised for a lucrative new career in real estate. And then he lost it.

Mr. Cooley was madly jealous of his beautiful, younger wife, a lithe strawberry blonde named Ella Mae (Evans) Cooley. Spade was paranoid about his wife's social activities. He saw every man as a potential threat. Spade worked himself into a blue rage over suspicions about Ella Mae's infidelity. Cooley's life as a celebrity came crashing down in a bloody domestic rampage on April 3, 1961, a crime so depraved that it shocked even the most blas. Their marriage had been in shambles since 1960.

Spade Cooley was a functioning alcoholic. To boot, he took pills as whiskey chasers. High and delusional, he began imagining sexual motives in every move that his wife made. Spade monitored her phone calls and demanded the details of her most mundane comings and goings. Their marital relationship became so bizarre that Ella Mae sent her children away to live with a friend. She decided that she had had enough and asked Spade for a divorce.

Mr. Cooley trumped her by quickly filing himself, citing incompatibility. But he was soon apologizing, asking his wife to save their marriage. The domestic trauma wore on Ella Mae as she was hospitalized for emotional problems. During that time, she confessed to a nurse friend stating she had had an affair with Roy Rogers.

At the end of March, 1961, Cooley contacted a private detective to check up on his wife, probably to help build his case against a large divorce settlement. In the meantime, Cooley badgered Ella Mae endlessly, insisting that she admit her infidelities. On April 3, Spade had an afternoon meeting about his proposed theme park. Participants said he was drunk and angry. He lashed out at subordinates, before storming out in a huff.

Cooley drove home to continue the interrogation of his wife. After more arguing, she told him she was leaving him, once and for all. And Cooley lost it. In front of his horrified 14 year old daughter Melody, Cooley strangled and stomped Ella Mae to death. Ella Mae Cooley, 37 years old, was declared dead on arrival at Tehachapi Hospital.

Spade Cooley was convicted of murder on Aug. 19, 1961 and sentenced to life in prison. Nine years later, following the will of Ronald Regan, the California state parole board unanimously recommended parole for Cooley, effective Feb. 22, 1970. On Nov. 23, 1969, Cooley was granted a three-day furlough to perform in Oakland at a benefit concert. He walked onstage to applause from an audience of 3,000. Spade played three songs, including San Antonio Rose.

Mr. Cooley then strode into the wings, where he chatted with musician friends and reporters. He said he was looking forward to returning to work but was concerned about whether his fans would welcome him back. "Sure, they will," somebody said. Spade smiled."I think it's gonna work out for me," he said. "I have the feeling that today is the first day of the rest of my life." The smile suddenly left his face. He dropped his fiddle, grimaced, clutched his chest and dropped dead from a heart attack. Cooley would once again seek parole, but from a greater power.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Spade Cooley Recording Sessions: The RCA Discography

Recorded: January 31, 1947, Hollywood, California

Session Personnel: Spade Cooley (Leader-Violin),William. Henry Hill, Carl Henry Hunt
(Violin), Harold Hugh Ehrmann, Wallace Aaron Ruth, Robert D. Riedel (Saxaphone),Joseph V. Cifelli, Arthur Albert Attwell (Trumpet),Elbert S. Amsler (Trombone),John F. Haynes (Piano),Jimmy O. Wyble (Guitar),Noel Edwin Boggs
(Steel Guitar),Stanley P. Puls (Bass),John Melvin Mountjoy (Drums),

It's Dark Outside*
Who Dug This Hole I'm In*
Minuet In Swing
Texas Playboy Rag