Oklahoma Hills
Encyclopedia
"Oklahoma Hills" is a song written by Woody Guthrie
.
Jack Guthrie
, Woody's cousin, later changed the lyrics and music and in 1945 recorded a Western swing
version which he took to number one on the Juke Box Folk Records charts . The B-side of the song, entitled, "I'm Brandin' My Darlin' With My Heart" peaked at number five on the same chart.
Country singer Hank Thompson
, joined by His Brazos Valley Boys, also recorded a well-known version of "Oklahoma Hills". Thompson's western swing rendition reached No. 10 on the Billboard magazine Hot C&W Singles chart in 1961.
Woody's son, Arlo Guthrie
, recorded the song for his album Running Down the Road
, released in 1969 by Warner Bros. Records
.
In 2001 the Oklahoma State Legislature declared Woody's version the official state folk song.
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
.
Jack Guthrie
Jack Guthrie
Jack Guthrie was a songwriter and performer whose rewritten version of the Woody Guthrie song "Oklahoma Hills" was a hit in 1945. The two musicians were cousins.-Early life:...
, Woody's cousin, later changed the lyrics and music and in 1945 recorded a Western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
version which he took to number one on the Juke Box Folk Records charts . The B-side of the song, entitled, "I'm Brandin' My Darlin' With My Heart" peaked at number five on the same chart.
Country singer Hank Thompson
Hank Thompson (music)
Henry William Thompson , known professionally as Hank Thompson, was an American country music entertainer whose career spanned seven decades...
, joined by His Brazos Valley Boys, also recorded a well-known version of "Oklahoma Hills". Thompson's western swing rendition reached No. 10 on the Billboard magazine Hot C&W Singles chart in 1961.
Woody's son, Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
, recorded the song for his album Running Down the Road
Running Down the Road
Running Down the Road is a 1969 album by American folk singer Arlo Guthrie. Guthrie's version of the traditional folk tune "Stealin'" was featured in the film Two-Lane Blacktop.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Arlo Guthrie; except where noted...
, released in 1969 by Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
.
In 2001 the Oklahoma State Legislature declared Woody's version the official state folk song.
Chorus
- Way down yonder in the Indian nation
- I rode my pony on the reservation
- In the Oklahoma Hills where I was born
- Way down yonder in the Indian nation
- A cowboy’s life is my occupation
- In the Oklahoma Hills where I was born
Recordings
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- Jack GuthrieJack GuthrieJack Guthrie was a songwriter and performer whose rewritten version of the Woody Guthrie song "Oklahoma Hills" was a hit in 1945. The two musicians were cousins.-Early life:...
- Jimmy LafaveJimmy LaFaveJimmy LaFave is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician born in Wills Point, Texas, a small farming community located near Dallas. At a young age, LaFave's family moved to the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, Texas where he attended junior high and high school. By the early teens LaFave was...
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