Moonlight on the Prairie

Bob Nolan/Vernon Spencer
Original copyright: 1934

Into the sky to his throne on high
Comes the moon on his midnight ride,
To cover the trail with a silver veil
Over the great divide:

Refrain:
Moonlight on the prairie, campfires burning low,
Moonlight on the prairie, soft winds gently blow.
Into the night, stars shining bright,
I’ll ride o’er the silver sea,
Jogging along, singing a song,
Moonlight on the prairie.

Twilight will come at each set of sun
Again my trail will wind,
Out on the plains where moonlight reigns
Leaving all cares behind.

One of Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer's few collaborations, "Moonlight on the Prairie" was also one of their earliest publications, first by Sunset Music in 1934 and later that year by M. Witmark and Sons. An immediate hit, the Sons of the Pioneers recorded it for Decca on August 8, 1934 and shortly afterward for the Standard Radio Transcriptions.

The following year, 1935, it was picked up for a Warner Brothers short film Radio Scout featuring comedian, El Brendel. The Sons of the Pioneers, aka as the Gold Star Rangers at that time, sang "Moonlight in the Valley", a simple variation of the original "Moonlight on the Prairie":

Moonlight in the valley, campfires burning low,
Moonlight in the valley, soft winds gently blow.
Into the sky to his throne on high,
Comes the moon on his midnight ride.
To cover the trail with a silver veil
Moonlight in the valley.

Warner Brothers also used it as the title song for a Dick Foran western at the end of 1935 although the Pioneers did not appear in the film with him this time. On a 10-2-4 Ranch radio show in August 1945 and another time in 1946, Martha Mears and Bob Nolan discuss the song's origin.

The song was picked up by Shug Fisher and his Ranch Boys, Sonny Dawson, The Beverly Hill Billies, Foy Willing & the Riders of the Purple Sage, Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys as well as modern groups such as The Tumbling Tumbleweeds.

Moonlight on the Prairie (M. Witmark & Sons, N.Y.)

SONS OF THE PIONEERS TRANSCRIPTION RECORDINGS

Standard Radio transcriptions, No. 1682

NBC Thesaurus transcriptions, side A G7-MM-9550-B (1981)

10-2-4 Time radio shows
-(01) (March 17, 1944)
-No. 389 (37646-04) (July 12, 1944)
-(02) August 23, 1945

Lucky U Ranch radio shows (courtesy of Larry Hopper)
- Transcriptions disc TR-166/167 (December 27, 1951
- Transcriptions disc TR-489/490 (August 23, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-654/655 (January 19, 1953)