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Spade Cooley




Cooley made many b-westerns, usually playing bit parts, and starred in his own syndicated television
show from 1949 until 1959 . John Gilmore has written an indepth portrait of Spade Cooley's life and tragic end in ''Shame on You'', a segment of Gilmore's nonfiction work, ''L.A. Despair''. Cooley is also a recurring character in James Ellroy 's fiction.

He would often bill himself as the 'king of western swing'. His sound was closer to conventional dance-oriented pop orchestras than that of Bob Wills or others in the genre, which accounts for his work
having been more popular with mainstream audiences during his 1940s and 1950s heyday, but
at the same time not having enjoyed the continuing popularity of Wills.

He died of a heart attack while on temporary release from prison, where he had been serving time for the murder of his wife. The state of California had given him the temporary release in order to play a Benefit Concert for the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Alameda County at the Paramount Theater in Oakland .

It has been reported that Dennis Quaid plans to make a bio-pic about Cooley.


EXTERNAL LINKS

  • A Swing King Reemerges, LA Times article

  • [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6948 Find-A-Grave profile for Spade Cooley]


  • [http://www.johngilmore.com/Books/preview_spade_cooley.html Shame on You]

  • http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/spadecooley.txt


  • http://www.bakersfield.com/static/FP/baksound/spade.htm


  • http://www.countryworks.com/artist_full.asp?KEY=COOLEY


  • http://www.surfnetinc.com/chuck/cooley.htm