Spade Cooley
Spade Cooley | |
---|---|
First-degree murder | |
Penalty | Life in prison |
Details | |
Victims | Ella Mae Cooley (née Evans) |
Date | April 3, 1961 |
Musical career | |
Genres | Western swing |
Occupation(s) | Big band leader, actor, television personality |
Instrument(s) | Fiddle, vocals |
Years active |
|
Labels | Westernair, Columbia, RCA, Decca, OKeh |
Donnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley (December 17, 1910 – November 23, 1969) was an American
Early life
Donnell Clyde Cooley was born in
Music career
This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2022) |
Cooley joined a
Cooley wrote and recorded "
Spade Cooley hung around Republic Pictures, ultimately sneaking onto a Gene Autry set. He was caught, but Autry noticed his resemblance to Roy Rogers and his talent for playing the fiddle and introduced him to Rogers.
In the summer of 1946, the Cooley band fragmented after the bandleader fired Williams, who had offers to record on his own. A number of key sidemen, including guitarist Johnny Weis, left with Williams, who formed the Western Caravan, which incorporated a sound similar to Cooley's. Williams had his hit recording of "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" in 1948. Cooley reconstituted his band with former Bob Wills sidemen, including steel guitarist Noel Boggs and the guitar ensemble of Jimmy Wyble and Cameron Hill. He also added full brass and reed sections to the band.
Beginning in June 1948, Cooley began hosting The Spade Cooley Show, a variety show on
Cooley was in a so-called "
Personal life
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Murder of Ella Mae Evans
Cooley's second wife, Ella Mae Cooley (née Evans), had been a singer in his band before they married in 1945; he was 34, she was 21. During their marriage, Cooley suspected Ella Mae of repeatedly being unfaithful. In March 1961, she told a friend she had had an affair with Roy Rogers in 1952 or 1953.[1][22] She soon asked Cooley - who had had many of his own affairs - for a divorce. On March 23, he filed for divorce, citing "incompatibility" and seeking custody of their three children, Melody, Donnell Jr. and John.[23]
On April 26, 1961, Cooley was indicted by a Kern County grand jury for the murder of his wife on April 3 at the couple's home near Willow Springs.[24] Cooley's then 14-year-old daughter, Melody, recounted to the jury how she was forced by her father to watch in terror as he beat her mother's head against the floor, stomped on her stomach, then crushed a lit cigarette against her skin to see whether she was dead.[25] Cooley claimed his wife had been injured by falling in the shower.
Cooley was defended by attorney P. Basil Lambros,
Cooley had a parole hearing after serving eight years, in August 1969. His friends in Hollywood had been lobbying Governor Ronald Reagan, who threw his support behind Cooley being released on parole; the state review board voted to grant Cooley a release on parole, effective February 1970.[28] Cooley died before his parole took effect.
Cooley had been awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, before the murder conviction, which has not been removed.[29]
Death
On August 5, 1968, the California State Adult Authority voted unanimously to parole Cooley on February 22, 1970.[2] He had served less than nine years of a life sentence and was in poor health from heart trouble.[30]
On November 23, 1969, he received a 72-hour furlough from the prison hospital unit at Vacaville to play a
In popular culture
This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2022) |
John Gilmore has written an in-depth portrait of Cooley's life and death in Shame on You, a segment of Gilmore's non-fiction work, L.A. Despair: A Landscape of Crimes & Bad Times.
Cooley is a recurring character in James Ellroy's fiction, including in the story "Dick Contino's Blues", which appeared in issue No. 46 of Granta magazine (Winter 1994) and was anthologized in Hollywood Nocturnes. Ellroy also features a fictionalized version of Cooley in his 1990 novel L.A. Confidential.
Country historian Rich Kienzle, who specializes in the history of West Coast country music and western swing, profiled Cooley in his 2003 book Southwest Shuffle.
He is referenced in one of The Honeymooners episodes, "My Aching Back (1956)" (from Art 'Ed Norton' Carney to Jackie 'Ralph Kramden' Gleason): "They wouldn't-a won [the National Raccoon Mambo Championship] except some guy slipped in a Spade Cooley record".[citation needed]
In the 1956 episode "
The Longmire novel Junkyard Dogs, by Craig Johnson, has Walt Longmire and Deputy Vic entering a truck stop that Vic refers to as "the Disneyland Redneck Ride". Music playing when they enter is "scratching the paint off the inside of the place". Vic: "What the hell is that?" Walt: "That'd be 'Three Way Boogie', Spade Cooley" He then gives the salacious bits of the above history.
Ry Cooder's 2008 album I, Flathead features a reference to Cooley on the track "Steel Guitar Heaven" ("There ain't no bosses up in heaven / I heard Spade Cooley didn't make the grade"), as well as a track named "Spayed Kooley", the name of the singer's dog.
In 2015, the Ella Mae Evans murder was profiled in the episode "Fame and Misfortune" of the Investigation Discovery series Tabloid.[32]
In 2017, Tyler Mahan Coe's podcast "Cocaine & Rhinestones" profiles Spade Cooley in the third episode of season one.[33]
In 2018, Jake Brennan's podcast "Disgraceland" profiled Spade Cooley in the 12th episode of the season.[34]
In September 2023, Winnipeg musician Boy Golden released a single titled "The King of Western Swing" covering Spade's story and crime.[35]
Discography
- Sagebrush Swing (Columbia H-9 [4-disc 78rpm album set], HL-9007 [10" LP], 1949)
- Square Dances (RCA VictorP-249 [3-disc 78rpm album set], 1949)
- Roy Rogers & Spade Cooley: Skip To My Lou and Other Square Dances (RCA Victor P-259 [3-disc 78rpm album set], 1949)
- Spade Cooley Plays Billy Hill For Dancing (RCA Victor P-275 [3-disc 78rpm album set], 1950)
- Spade Cooley & His Square Dance Six: Square Dance Jamboree (Decca 1-245/1-246/1-247/1-248 [4-disc 78rpm album set], 1953)
- Spade Cooley & His Buckle-Busters: Country and Western Dance-O-Rama, No. 3 (Decca DL-5563 [10" LP], 1955)
- Fidoodlin' (Ray Note RN-5007, 1959; reissue: Roulette SR-25145, 1961; CD reissue: Collectors' Choice Music CCM-431, 2004)
- The Best of The Spade Cooley Transcribed Shows (The Club of Spade 00101, 1978)
- The King of Western Swing (The Club of Spade 00102, 1978)
- The King of Western Music (The Club of Spade 00103, 1978)
- Mr. Music Himself, Volume One (The Club of Spade 00104, 1978)
- Mr. Music Himself, Volume Two (The Club of Spade 00105, 1978)
- Mr. Music Himself, Volume Three (The Club of Spade 00106, 1978)
- Spade Cooley & Tex Williams: As They Were (The Club of Spade CS-208, 1981)
- Spade Cooley & Tex Williams: Oklahoma Stomp (The Club of Spade CS-209, 1981)
- Spade Cooley: Spade Cooley (Columbia Historic Edition FC37467, Mono, 1982)
- Swinging the Devil's Dream (Charly CR-30239, 1985)
- Spadella! The Essential Spade Cooley (Columbia/Legacy CK-57392, 1994)
- King of Western Swing (Collectors' Choice Music CCM-039, 1997)
- Swingin' the Devil's Dream (Proper PVCD-127 [2CD], 2003)
- Shame On You – Singles Collection 1945–1952 (Jasmine JASMCD-3704, 2019)
- The Spade Cooley Collection 1945–1952 (AcrobatADDCD-3308 [2CD], 2019)
Selected Singles Discography | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | Title | Label | |
1942 | "Tell Me Why" [Cal Shrum] | Westernair 801 | |
05/03/46 | "Oklahoma Stomp" | Columbia 37237 | |
05/03/46 | "Steel Guitar Rag" | Columbia 38054 | |
06/06/46 | "Spadella" | Columbia 37585 | |
06/06/46 | "Swingin' the Devil's Dream" | Columbia 20571 | |
01/31/47 | "Minuet in Swing" | RCA 20-2181 | |
04/25/47 | "All Aboard for Oklahoma" | RCA 20-2552 | |
05/09/47 | "You Can't Take Texas out of Me" | RCA 20-3547 | |
11/17/47 | "Spanish Fandango" | RCA 20-2668 | |
03/30/49 | "Arizona Waltz" | RCA 20-3496 | |
04/11/50 | "Hillbilly Fever" | RCA 21-0330 | |
03/09/51 | "Chew Tobacco Rag" | Decca 46310 | |
05/29/52 | "Carmen's Boogie" | Decca 28344 |
Top 40 Hits[36] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Position | Title | Label |
1945 | 1 | " Shame On You "
|
OKeh 6731 |
8 | "A Pair of Broken Hearts" | " | |
4 | "I've Taken All I'm Gonna Take from You" | OKeh 6746 | |
1946 | 2 | "Detour" | Columbia 36935 |
3 | "You Can't Break My Heart" | " | |
1947 | 4 | "Crazy 'Cause I Love You" | Columbia 37058 |
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c "Spade Cooley, King of Western Swing, killed his wife -- the Crime Library - The Crime library". 11 May 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 0-85112-726-6.
- ^ "Donnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley (1910-1969)". Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ISBN 1878923161
- .
- ^ "Most Played Juke Box Folk Records | Week Ending Aug 30, 1945". Billboard. Vol. 57, no. 35. 1945-09-08. p. 27. Retrieved 2022-05-13 – via Google Books.
- ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [C] Group 3. Dramatic Composition and ... By Library of Congress. Copyright Office. 1945. page 5334.
- ^ "5 Smash Hit Tunes on One Program". Billboard. Vol. 57, no. 40. 1945-10-13. p. 81. Retrieved 2022-05-13 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-1-58182-370-7.
- ISBN 0-89950-578-3
- ISBN 0-89950-578-3
- ^ "WB Live Action Shorts". Fan.tcm.com.
- ^ "Universal and Universal-International Short Subjects 1945-1947". Fan.tcm.com.
- ^ "Spade Cooley and His Orchestra". IMDb.com.
- ^ Southwest Shuffle pages 17, 21
- ^ Swingin' the Devil's Dream. Liner Notes. Adam Komorowski. 2003. page 9
- ^ "Spade Cooley (left, seated) watches "The Spade Cooley Show" on television". Billboard. Vol. 62, no. 21. 1950-05-27. p. Cover Page. Retrieved 2022-05-13 – via Google Books.
- ^ Swingin' the Devil's Dream. Liner Notes. Adam Komorowski. 2003. page 910
- ^ Komorowski, Spade Cooley, p.4.
- ^ Logsdon, "The Cowboy's Bawdy Music," p.137.
- ^ a b Ting Tipton, Shana (report on Nov. 24, 1969); Staff writers (update on July 9, 2005). "Hollywood Star Walk | Spade Cooley". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Roy Rogers: a biography, radio history, television career chronicle. Robert W. Phillips. p. 47
- ^ "Spade Cooley Seeks Divorce" (March 24, 1961), Los Angeles Times, p. 2
- ^ LeMucchi, Timothy (2015-06-12). "In his own words: The Spade Cooley interrogation". The Bakersfield Californian. Archived from the original on 2021-05-10. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ^ "Spade Cooley Indicted in Murder of His Wife" (April 26, 1961), Los Angeles Times, p. 2
- ^ McLellan, Dennis (2010-10-18). "P. Basil Lambros dies at 86; prominent L.A. defense lawyer was known as a sharp dresser". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2014-07-31. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
- ^ a b "Spade Cooley Sentenced to Life in Prison". The Desert Sun. United Press International. 1961-08-23. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-05-12 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ Lemucchi, Timothy (2015-06-12). "Bakersfield's trial of the century: The talented and tormented Spade Cooley". The Bakersfield Californian. Archived from the original on 2019-11-08. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
- ^ "Nobody's ever lost their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Will Trump be the first?". Los Angeles Times. 2023-12-27. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
- ^ The Bakersfield Californian (UPI), "Cooley to Get Parole next Feb. 22.", Metropolitan News Section page 11
- ^ "Rochester Falls Asleep, Misses Program". The Jack Benny Program. Season 6. Episode 12. 1956-02-26. CBS. Retrieved 2022-05-11 – via epguides.
- ^ "Fame and Misfortune". Tabloid. Season 2. Episode 8. 2015-06-20. Investigation Discovery. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
- ^ Coe, Tyler Mahan (November 7, 2017). "CR003 The Murder Ballad of Spade Cooley". Cocaine & Rhinestones. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
- ^ Brennan, Jake (2018-10-30). "S2E12 Spade Cooley". disgracelandpod.com. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ^ Boy Golden - The King of Western Swing [Official Audio], retrieved 2024-01-24
- ^ Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits, p. 89.
References
- Logsdon, Guy. "The Cowboy's Bawdy Music." The Cowboy: Six-Shooters, Songs, and Sex (pp. 139–138) edited by Charles W. Harris and Buck Rainey. University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8061-1341-3
- Komorowski, Adam. Spade Cooley: Swingin' The Devil's Dream. (Proper PVCD 127, 2003) booklet.
- Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books, 2006. ISBN 0-8230-8291-1
External links
- Spade Cooley at AllMusic
- Spade Cooley discography at Discogs
- Spade Cooley at IMDb
- Spade Cooley at Find a Grave
- A Swing King Reemerges, Los Angeles Times, By Shana Ting Lipton (July 9, 2005)