Biography
A musician and actor whose frequently scandalous personal affairs often eclipsed his achievements as a performer, Spade Cooley billed himself as the King of Western Swing and stood out as an innovator who once directed the biggest ensemble ever gathered in country music. Born Donnell Clyde Cooley in Oklahoma in 1910 into a family of fiddle players spanning several generations, he relocated with his relatives to Oregon at age four. Although raised in poverty, he received formal classical training on the fiddle and, by eight, was already appearing professionally at square dances alongside his father John. In 1930 the future bandleader—whose nickname stemmed from his poker prowess—settled in Los Angeles and performed with various western-leaning groups. By the middle of the decade he had taken on acting work, securing small roles in Western films and serving as Roy Rogers’ stand-in at Republic Studios; he also traveled with Rogers as a fiddler and sang with the Riders of the Purple Sage.
Cooley’s recording career began only in 1941, when he entered the studio as a member of Cal Shrum’s band. The following year he assumed leadership of Jimmy Wakely’s ensemble, then the house band at the Venice Pier Ballroom in Santa Monica, California, where their Western swing drew thousands of dancers every Saturday night. The expansive orchestra, which at times featured three vocalists and three fiddlers simultaneously, included singer Tex Williams along with guitarists Joaquin Murphey and John O. Weis. In 1945 Spade Cooley & His Orchestra released its debut single, “Shame on You,” which held the top spot on Billboard’s country chart for nine weeks; the first of six consecutive Top Ten hits that also encompassed “Detour” and “You Can’t Break My Heart,” the song served as Cooley’s signature theme for years afterward. That same year he wed his second wife, Ella Mae Evans, a backup singer with the orchestra.
The group’s rising success ultimately fractured its most celebrated roster: in 1946 Williams, who had sung on every hit, demanded a larger salary that Cooley declined to grant, prompting Williams to depart with many of the musicians and establish the Western Caravan. In 1947 Cooley launched a television career by hosting The Hoffman Hayride in Los Angeles; within months the program reached an estimated 75 percent of the city’s television sets each Saturday evening. He simultaneously revived his screen career with more prominent parts in several Westerns and lead roles in the 1949 short films King of Western Swing and Spade Cooley & His Orchestra.
Throughout the early 1950s he kept recording, yet changing public tastes eroded the orchestra’s popularity; at one point he dismissed the entire ensemble and replaced it with an all-female lineup. A habitual heavy drinker, Cooley descended further into alcoholism amid his waning fortunes and endured a series of minor heart attacks. Compounding these troubles, he faced mounting debts tied to an uncompleted water theme park project in the Mojave Desert. In 1961 his wife Ella Mae departed; following an argument on April 3, he stomped her to death as their fourteen-year-old daughter Melody watched. The ensuing trial, a media spectacle during which Cooley suffered another heart attack, ended with a life sentence. He proved a model inmate and was permitted to perform at a sheriff’s benefit concert in Oakland, California, on November 23, 1969. After entertaining more than three thousand spectators, he returned to his dressing room, suffered a fatal heart attack, and died.
Cooley’s recording career began only in 1941, when he entered the studio as a member of Cal Shrum’s band. The following year he assumed leadership of Jimmy Wakely’s ensemble, then the house band at the Venice Pier Ballroom in Santa Monica, California, where their Western swing drew thousands of dancers every Saturday night. The expansive orchestra, which at times featured three vocalists and three fiddlers simultaneously, included singer Tex Williams along with guitarists Joaquin Murphey and John O. Weis. In 1945 Spade Cooley & His Orchestra released its debut single, “Shame on You,” which held the top spot on Billboard’s country chart for nine weeks; the first of six consecutive Top Ten hits that also encompassed “Detour” and “You Can’t Break My Heart,” the song served as Cooley’s signature theme for years afterward. That same year he wed his second wife, Ella Mae Evans, a backup singer with the orchestra.
The group’s rising success ultimately fractured its most celebrated roster: in 1946 Williams, who had sung on every hit, demanded a larger salary that Cooley declined to grant, prompting Williams to depart with many of the musicians and establish the Western Caravan. In 1947 Cooley launched a television career by hosting The Hoffman Hayride in Los Angeles; within months the program reached an estimated 75 percent of the city’s television sets each Saturday evening. He simultaneously revived his screen career with more prominent parts in several Westerns and lead roles in the 1949 short films King of Western Swing and Spade Cooley & His Orchestra.
Throughout the early 1950s he kept recording, yet changing public tastes eroded the orchestra’s popularity; at one point he dismissed the entire ensemble and replaced it with an all-female lineup. A habitual heavy drinker, Cooley descended further into alcoholism amid his waning fortunes and endured a series of minor heart attacks. Compounding these troubles, he faced mounting debts tied to an uncompleted water theme park project in the Mojave Desert. In 1961 his wife Ella Mae departed; following an argument on April 3, he stomped her to death as their fourteen-year-old daughter Melody watched. The ensuing trial, a media spectacle during which Cooley suffered another heart attack, ended with a life sentence. He proved a model inmate and was permitted to perform at a sheriff’s benefit concert in Oakland, California, on November 23, 1969. After entertaining more than three thousand spectators, he returned to his dressing room, suffered a fatal heart attack, and died.
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