Donnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley (December 17, 1910 – November 23, 1969) was an American convicted murderer and former

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. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wr ...

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

leader,

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

, and

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

. In 1961 he was arrested and convicted for the April 1961 murder of his second wife, Ella Mae Evans.

Early life

Donnell Clyde Cooley was born in

Grand Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and comm ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. Being part

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

, he was sent to the Chemawa Indian School in Salem,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, in his youth. In 1930, his family moved to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

during the

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) a ...

. It was here that he took the nickname "Spade" after he played a

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game wa ...

game and won three straight

flush Flush may refer to: Places * Flush, Kansas, a community in the United States Architecture, construction and manufacturing * Flush cut, a type of cut made with a French flush-cut saw or diagonal pliers * Flush deck, in naval architecture * Fl ...

hands all in spades.

Music career

Cooley joined a

led by

Jimmy Wakely Jimmy Wakely (February 16, 1914 – September 23, 1982) was an American actor, songwriter, country music vocalist, and one of the last singing cowboys. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, he released records, appeared in several B-Western movies ...

which played at the Venice Pier Ballroom in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

, playing

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

. Several thousand dancers would turn out on Saturday nights to swing and hop: "The hoards ( sic) of people and

jitterbug Jitterbug is a generalized term used to describe swing dancing. It is often synonymous with the lindy hop dance but might include elements of the jive, east coast swing, collegiate shag, charleston, balboa and other swing dances. Swing danc ...

gers loved ooley" When Wakely got a movie contract at

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, Cooley replaced him as bandleader. To capitalize on the pioneering success of the

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...

– Tommy Duncan pairing, Cooley hired vocalist Tex Williams, who was capable of the mellow deep

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the ...

sound made popular by Duncan. Cooley's eighteen-month engagement at the Venice Pier Ballroom was record-breaking for the early half of the 1940s. Cooley wrote and recorded " Shame on You", released by

Okeh Records Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

; recorded in December 1944, it was No. 1 on the country charts for two months, while covers of the song by

Red Foley Clyde Julian "Red" Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968) was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II. For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the gen ...

with

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the '' The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, te ...

, and by Bill Boyd, opened at No. 3 and No. 4 (respectively) on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

s "Most Played Juke Box Folk Records" chart (the chart which evolved into today's Hot Country chart) for 30 August 1945. Soundies Distributing Corp. of America issued one of their "

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

like" film shorts of Cooley's band performing "Shame on You" in the fall of 1945. "Shame on You" was the first in an unbroken string of six Top Ten singles including " Detour" and "You Can't Break My Heart". Cooley appeared in thirty-eight

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

films, both in bit parts and as a stand-in for cowboy actor

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

. Billed as Spade Cooley and His Western Dance Gang, he was featured in the soundie ''Take Me Back To Tulsa'' released July 31, 1944, along with Williams and Carolina Cotton. ''Corrine, Corrina'' was released August 28, 1944 minus Cotton. The film short ''Spade Cooley: King of Western Swing'' was filmed in May 1945 and released September 1, 1945. It was followed by ''Melody Stampede'' released on November 8, 1945. ''Spade Cooley & His Orchestra'' came out in 1949. In 1950, Cooley had significant roles in several films. 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) "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" is a Western swing novelty song written by Merle Travis and Tex Williams, for Williams and his talking blues style of singing. Travis wrote the bulk of the song. The original Williams version went to numbe ...

" 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 KTLA-TV in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, broadcast from the Santa Monica Ballroom, on the pier. The show won local

Emmy award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s in 1952 and 1953. Guests included

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

and

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

. ''The Spade Cooley Show'' was viewed coast-to-coast via the

Paramount Television Network Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

. KTLA eventually cancelled Cooley's program by 1956 and replaced it with a competing show brought over from

KCOP KCOP-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KTTV (channel 11). Both stations ...

, '' Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree''. Cooley was in a so-called " battle of the bands," the date of which has not been documented, with

Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...

at the Venice Pier Ballroom. Afterward, Cooley claimed he won and began to promote himself as the King of Western Swing. Some music aficionados insist Wills deserved the title "King of Western Swing", and Fort Worth's Milton Brown should be called "Father of Western Swing". But apparently the first documented use of ''Western swing'' for this style of music was in 1942 by Cooley's promoter at the time, Forman Phillips. Cooley was honored by the installation of a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

. The foundation was laid on February 8, 1960.

Personal life

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

in 1952 or 1953. She soon asked Cooley - who had had many of his own affairs - for a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving th ...

. On March 23, Cooley filed for divorce, citing "incompatibility" and seeking custody of their three children, Melody, Donnell Jr. and John. On April 26, 1961, Cooley was

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of ...

by a

Kern County Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield. Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...

grand jury for the murder of his wife on April 3 at the couple's home near Willow Springs. 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. Cooley claimed his wife had been injured by falling in the shower. Cooley was defended by attorney P. Basil Lambros, in what was the longest case in county history at the time, and was convicted of

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially t ...

by a Kern County jury on August 21, 1961, after unexpectedly withdrawing an

insanity plea The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic psychiatric disease at the time of the cri ...

. Facing a maximum sentence of death in the gas chamber, Cooley was sentenced to

life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

, eligible for parole after serving 7 years. Cooley had a parole hearing after serving 8 years, in August 1969. His friends in Hollywood had been lobbying

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

, 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. However, Cooley died before his parole took effect.

Death

On August 5, 1968, the California State Adult Authority voted unanimously to

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

Cooley on February 22, 1970. He had served less than nine years of a life sentence and was in poor health from heart trouble. On November 23, 1969, he received a 72-hour furlough from the prison hospital unit at Vacaville to play a

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

for the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Alameda County at the Oakland Auditorium (now known as the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center) in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

. During the

intermission An intermission, also known as an interval in British and Indian English, is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening. It should not be confused with an entr'acte ( ...

, after a standing ovation, Cooley suffered a fatal heart attack backstage. He is interred at Chapel of the Chimes cemetery in Hayward.

In popular culture

John Gilmore John Gilmore may refer to: * John Gilmore (activist) (born 1955), co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Cygnus Solutions * John Gilmore (musician) (1931–1995), American jazz saxophonist * John Gilmore (representative) (1780–1845) ...

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 Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, s ...

's fiction, including in the story "Dick Contino's Blues", which appeared in issue No. 46 of ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

'' magazine (Winter 1994) and was anthologized in ''

Hollywood Nocturnes ''Hollywood Nocturnes'' is a 1994 collection of short stories by James Ellroy. Like many of Ellroy's novels, the majority of the stories are set in 1940s and 1950s. The collection was inspired by Ellroy's having seen the film Daddy-O and findin ...

''. Ellroy also features a fictionalized version of Cooley in his 1990 novel ''

L.A. Confidential ''L.A. Confidential'' (1990) is a neo-noir novel by James Ellroy and the third of his L.A. Quartet series. It is dedicated to Mary Doherty Ellroy. The epigraph is "A glory that costs everything and means nothing"—Steve Erickson. Plot The s ...

''. 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 ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fo ...

'' episodes, "My Aching Back (1956)" (from Art 'Ed Norton' Carney to Jackie 'Ralph Kramden' Gleason): "They wouldn't-a won he National Raccoon Mambo Championshipexcept some guy slipped in a Spade Cooley record". In the 1956 episode " Rochester Falls Asleep, Misses Program" (''

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...

''), Benny talks about how he is not afraid to play his violin in front of an audience, saying to Mary Livingstone, "I'm certainly no Heifetz, or

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

, or

Mischa Elman Mischa (Mikhail Saulovich) Elman (russian: Михаил Саулович Эльман; January 20, 1891April 5, 1967) was a Russian-born American violinist famed for his passionate style, beautiful tone, and impeccable artistry and musicality. E ...

." Guest star

Bob Crosby George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the young ...

then jokes, "You can throw Spade Cooley in there too." 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 Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, a ...

's 2008 album ''

I, Flathead ''I, Flathead: The Songs of Kash Buk and the Klowns'' is the fourteenth studio album by Ry Cooder. It is the final concept album by Ry Cooder. It is the third in his "California trilogy", which began with '' Chávez Ravine'' (2005) and '' My Nam ...

'' 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 Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Amer ...

series ''Tabloid''. In 2017, Tyler Mahan Coe's podcast "

Cocaine & Rhinestones ''Cocaine & Rhinestones'' is a podcast about country music history by Tyler Mahan Coe. The 14-episode first season debuted in October 2017. The show received acclaim, and in early 2018 was the top music podcast on iTunes. Each episode focuses o ...

" profiles Spade Cooley in the third episode of season one. In 2018, Jake Brennan's podcast "Disgraceland" profiled Spade Cooley in the 12th episode of the season.

Discography

* ''Sagebrush Swing'' (

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

H-9 -disc 78rpm album set HL-9007 0" LP 1949) * ''Square Dances'' (

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

P-249 -disc 78rpm album set 1949) * ''

& Spade Cooley: Skip To My Lou and Other Square Dances'' (RCA Victor P-259 -disc 78rpm album set 1949) * ''Spade Cooley Plays Billy Hill For Dancing'' (RCA Victor P-275 -disc 78rpm album set 1950) * ''Spade Cooley & His Square Dance Six: Square Dance Jamboree'' (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

1-245/1-246/1-247/1-248 -disc 78rpm album set 1953) * ''Spade Cooley & His Buckle-Busters: Country and Western Dance-O-Rama, No. 3'' (Decca DL-5563 0" LP 1955) * ''Fidoodlin' ''(Ray Note RN-5007, 1959; reissue:

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

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) * ''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 CD 2003) * ''Shame On You – Singles Collection 1945–1952'' (

Jasmine Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely culti ...

JASMCD-3704, 2019) * ''The Spade Cooley Collection 1945–1952'' ( Acrobat ADDCD-3308 CD 2019)

Notes

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. *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.

External links

* * * *
A Swing King Reemerges
Los Angeles Times, By Shana Ting Lipton (July 9, 2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooley, Spade 1910 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American singers American country singer-songwriters American people convicted of murder American people of Cherokee descent American people who died in prison custody Burials in Alameda County, California Charly Records artists Country musicians from Oklahoma Musicians who died on stage People convicted of murder by California People from Ellis County, Oklahoma Prisoners who died in California detention RCA Victor artists Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma Western swing performers American country fiddlers American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California