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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 328 items (0.5 linear feet) |
| Abstract | Born in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, in 1943, Elizabeth Drake McDonald grew up in British Columbia's southern interior and taught school on the north coast. The collection centers around Elizabeth Drake McDonald's in-depth study and compilation of the lyrics of songwriter and musician Bob Nolan, who is best known for his work with the singing cowboy group, the Sons of the Pioneers. He penned many trademark songs of the cowboy song genre, including "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," "Cool Water," and "Way Out There." McDonald has transcribed nearly 200 of Nolan's songs into a self-published book, "Lyrics: The Song Poems of Bob Nolan." Paul Lawrence Hopper worked with McDonald on the project, writing annotations to Nolan's song lyrics. Hopper also self-published a companion volume, "Bob Nolan: A Biographical Guide and Annotations to the Lyric Archive," which contains transcription recording information and a filmography for the Sons of the Pioneers and is included in the collection. Also included is material McDonald gathered during conversations with Nolan's daughter, Roberta Nolan Mileusnich, and his grandson, Calin Coburn. Mileusnich provided McDonald with lyrics from unreleased recordings, which are compiled in "Bob Nolan, Volume Two: The Last Song Poems." Calin Coburn donated 274 high-quality scans of documents, letters, manuscripts, and photographs from the Nolan family album, along with a CD-R of the images in electronic format. Printed versions of these are included in the collection as are McDonald's annotations of these materials. Also included are copies of Nolan's song lead sheets, sheet music, and lyric sheets from Brigham Young University. |
| Creator | McDonald, Elizabeth Drake, 1943- |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
Born in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, in 1943, Elizabeth Drake McDonald grew up in British Columbia's southern interior and taught school on the north coast. In 1965, she married Ralph McDonald, and they raised four daughters in Chase, British Columbia. McDonald first became acquainted with Bob Nolan's song lyrics in 1954 when she purchased his two songbooks of Original Cowboy Classics. Since that time, she has searched for the lyrics for the nearly 1500 songs that Nolan is said to have written. Her self-published collection, "Lyrics: The Song Poems of Bob Nolan," contains nearly 200 of Nolan's songs. McDonald also researched Nolan's life thoroughly and gathered much information about Nolan with the help of his daughter, Roberta Nolan Mileusnich, and grandson, Calin Coburn.
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Scope and Content
The collection centers around Elizabeth Drake McDonald's in-depth study and compilation of the lyrics of songwriter and musician Bob Nolan. Nolan is best known for his work with the singing cowboy group, the Sons of the Pioneers. He penned many trademark songs of the cowboy song genre, including "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," "Cool Water," and "Way Out There." McDonald has transcribed nearly 200 of Nolan's songs (he referred to them as "song poems") into a self-published book, "Lyrics: The Song Poems of Bob Nolan." Paul Lawrence Hopper worked with McDonald on the project, writing annotations to Nolan's song lyrics. Hopper also self-published a companion volume, "Bob Nolan: A Biographical Guide and Annotations to the Lyric Archive," which contains transcription recording information and a filmography for the Sons of the Pioneers and is included in the collection.
The collection includes material McDonald gathered during conversations with Nolan's daughter, Roberta Nolan Mileusnich, and his grandson, Calin Coburn. Mileusnich provided McDonald with lyrics from unreleased recordings, which are compiled in "Bob Nolan, Volume Two: The Last Song Poems." Calin Coburn donated 274 high-quality scans of documents, letters, manuscripts, and photographs from the Nolan family album, along with a CD-R of the images in electronic format. Printed versions of these are included in the collection as are McDonald's annotations of these materials. Also included are copies of Nolan's song lead sheets, sheet music, and lyric sheets from Brigham Young University.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Biography of Bob Nolan, 2000.
"Bob Nolan: A Biographical Guide and Annotations to the Lyric Archive" is a self-published book by Paul Lawrence Hopper. Hopper provided annotations to the volume of Bob Nolan's lyrics collected by Elizabeth Drake McDonald (see series 2), and the biography grew from that project. Hopper's book charts Bob Nolan's life and is illustrated with photographs from Nolan's grandson, Calin Coburn. It also includes complete lists of Nolan's songs that are recorded on transcription discs; recording session dates for Nolan; and a filmography for his group, the Sons of the Pioneers.
| Folder 1 |
"Bob Nolan: A Biographical Guide and Annotations to the Lyric Archive" #20355, Series: "1. Biography of Bob Nolan, 2000. " Folder 1 |
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Series 2. Song Lyrics of Bob Nolan, 1934-2000.
Includes a self-published book, "Lyrics: The Song Poems of Bob Nolan," consisting of lyrics for nearly 200 of Bob Nolan's songs compiled by Elizabeth Drake McDonald, with annotations by Paul Lawrence Hopper. Another book, "Bob Nolan, Volume Two: The Last Song Poems," is a volume of lyrics and sheet music from the collection of Nolan's daughter, Roberta Nolan Mileusnich. There is also a cassette tape of Nolan's recordings belonging to Mileusnich that accompanies this volume. Only three of these recordings have been commercially released. Also included are copies of lyric sheets, lead sheets, and sheet music by Nolan given to Elizabeth Drake McDonald by Brigham Young University.
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Series 3. Photographs and Related Materials, 1927-2000.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly prints of 274 high-resolution scans on photographic paper of manuscripts, letters, and photographs from Nolan's grandson, Calin Coburn. The photos range from family snapshots to movie stills and publicity photos of the Sons of the Pioneers. Coburn inherited the family album from his mother, Roberta Nolan Mileusnich, the daughter of Nolan and his first wife Pearl. An index by Elizabeth Drake McDonald provides annotations to Coburn's photographs. Also included is a small collection of color copy photographs from Dick Goodman, a close friend of Bob Nolan, of visits to Robert Wagoner in 1978 and of a fishing trip in 1979.
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Items Separated
Items separated include an audio cassette (FS-5548), notes to the cassette (SFC vertical field notes files), and a CD-R (CD-1190).
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