Cool Water (Bob Nolan)

written 1936

Sources:

GEMA, Wikipedia...

Sheet Music:

American-Division-E-Presley-Rumbale

Recordings:

1940 - Bob Atcher

1941 - The Sons of the Pioneers

1946 - Foy Willing and The Riders of the Purple Sage - Majestic

1948 - Vaughan Monroe and The Sons of the Pioneers - RCA Victor 20-2923 - (Tim Spencer, Bob Nolan...)

1948 - Nellie Lutcher and Her Rhythm

1949 - Tex Ritter with The Dinning Sisters

1949 - Hank Williams - 1949 -- Shreveport LA - 55-S-362 (55-XY-256) MGM unissued, Mercury 536084-2, on: The Complete Hank Williams (released 1998) - Hank Williams (v,g)

1951 - Hank Williams - 1951 -- Nashville TN - Time-Life 80031, on: The Unreleased Recordings (released 2008) - Hank Williams (v,g), Jerry Rivers (fid), Sammy Pruett (eg), Don Helms (sg), Howard "Cedric Rainwater" Watts (b)

1952 - Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters - Decca

1955 - Frankie Laine

1955 - Norman Luboff Choir - on: Songs of the West

1959 - Johnny Ray

1959 - Jimmie Rodgers - Roulette, on: Twilight on the Trail

1959 - Marty Robbins - Columbia, on: Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs

1960 - Jack Scott

1961 - Burl Ives - Decca, on: Songs of the West

1961/62? The Sons of the Pioneers:

1962 - Ramblin' Jack Elliott - Fantasy, on: Country Style/Live (released 1999)

1963 - Eddy Arnold - RCA, on: Cattle Call

1963 - Odetta - Vanguard, on: One Grain of Sand

1964 - The Rooftop Singers

1965 - Hank Snow - RCA, on: Heartbreak Trail

1966 - Teresa Brewer

1966 - Lorne Greene - RCA, on: Lorne Greene's American West

1967 - Bob Dylan - 1967 -- Woodstock or West Saugerties NY - Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson - unissued

1967 - Tom Jones - Decca, on: Green, Green Grass of Home

1967 - The Shadows

1976 - Johnny Bond, The Willis Brothers

1976 - Eddie Dean

1978 - Leo Kottke - Chrysalis, on: Burnt Lips

1980 - Bob Nolan - on: The Sound Of A Pioneer

1982 - Fleetwood Mac

1983 - Riders In the Sky

1988 - Joni Mitchell, Willie Nelson - Geffen, on: Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm

1992 - Mercy River - on: Coyote Moon

1996 - Bar-J Wranglers - on: Wyoming Wind

2001 - Nick Shannon - on: Destiny Rides Again

2003 - Johnny Cash - American, on: American VI: Ain't No Grave (released 2010) - Johnny Cash, Mike Campbell, Smokey Hormel, Pat McLaughlin, Johnny Polonsky, Matt Sweeney, Benmont Tench

 

 

All day I face the barren waste without the taste of water,
cool water.
Old Dan and I with throats burned dry and souls that cry
for water, cool, clear water.

Keep a movin' Dan, don't you listen to him Dan, he's a devil not a man
and he spreads the burnin' sand with water.
Dan can't you see that big green tree where the waters runnin' free
and it's waiting there for me and you, clear water.
[or: and it's waiting there for you and me and water, cool, clear water]

The nights are cool and I'm a fool, each stars a pool of water,
cool water.
But with the dawn I'll wake and yawn and carry on
to water, cool, clear water.

Keep a movin' Dan...

The shadows sway and seem to say tonight we pray for water,
cool water.
And way up there he'll hear our prayer and show us where
there's water, cool, clear Water.

Keep a movin' Dan...

Dan's feet are sore he's yearning for just one thing more than water,
cool water.
Like me, I guess, he'd like to rest where there's no quest
for water, cool, clear water.

 

Version Joni Mitchell:

All day I faced the barren waste without a taste of water,
cool water.
Old Dan and I, our throats slate dry, our spirits cry out for water,
cool, clear water.

Keep on movin' Dan, some devils had a plan
buried poison in the sand, don't drink it man
it's in the water, cool, clear water.
In my mind I see a big green tree and a river flowin' free
waitin' up ahead for you and me
cool, clear water.

The nights are cool and I'm a fool, each star is a pool of water,
cool water.
But come the dawn we carry on, we won't last long without water,
cool, clear water.

Keep on movin' Dan...

The shadows sway, they seem to say tonight we pray for water,
cool water.
And way up there if you care
please show us where there's good water
cool, clear water.