“All day, I face the barren waste, without a taste of water….”

At 4:45 a.m. this morning, a 12 inch water main broke on Connecticut Avenue, a block or two from our house.

Back to the song (which will be in my head all day). Written in 1936, it was first recorded, they say, in 1941 by the Sons of the Pioneers. It was later recorded by Vaughn Monroe, Frankie Laine, Marty Robbins, and others.

When I think of Vaughn Monroe, I think of “Riders in the Sky”. When I think of Frankie Laine, it’s “Mule Train”. The Sons of the Pioneers brings me to Roy Rogers and “Happy Trails”. It was also recorded by Hank Williams and Eddy Arnold.

These are all country cowboy singers. But Marty Robbins? I know he was a country guy, but all I think of is “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation” (“Once you told me long ago, to the prom with me you’d go…”), recorded in 1957, and the travails of high school dating. If it is true that high school kids don’t date any more……good for them.

Now, all this information comes from Wikipedia, of course, and I take it as gospel. But another site, Genius.com, tells me it was first recorded by Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue Eyes. The year before the Sons of the Pioneers. I don’t really care about Bob Atcher, but who was Bonnie Blue Eyes? Maybe an Indian princess? A German refugee whose name was Bonnie Blau-augen? I must find out.

It turns out that her name was Loete Applegate, and for three years, 1939 to 1942, she sang duets with

Atcher. And even though I don’t care about Bob Atcher,  B.B.E. did because she married him.

You may know that, besides singing about his lost prom date and his thirst, Marty Robbins was a Nascar racer. You may know the Gene Autry (how did he get in this mix?) became a very wealthy and overweight oil tycoon. But did you know that Kentucky born Bob Atcher became the long time mayor of Schaumburg Illinois? Go figure

You can see a list of songs recorded by Atcher on Wikipedia, but “Cool Water” is not there. This is a mystery.

But who wrote “Cool Water”? Attention must be paid. It was Bob Dolan! I know you might never have heard of him, but he was one of the founders of the Sons of the Pioneers. And, like I am sure  many American country singers, he was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. And he also wrote ” Tumbling Tumbleweeds”. Attention must be paid.

Are you one of the few who read this post all the way to the end? Wow!

I am going to check on our water main.