Outlaws

Bob Nolan
Original copyright: March 13, 1950

“Outlaw! Outlaw!”

Lobo, lobo, outlaw of your tribe,
Fear not this outlaw, lobo, turn not from my side.
I know you’re lonesome, come show me where you hide.
Just two lonesome outlaws, lobo, wandering far and wide.

Lobo, lobo, what crime did you do?
Are you really outlaw, lobo, are the stories true?
They call you “devil,” a clever devil, too.
Then wait for this outlaw, lobo, and I’ll follow you.

Oo-oo, lobo, Oo-oo, lobo!
Where can we go and never hear,
“Outlaw! Outlaw!”

Lobo, lobo, go you silently
Off to the foothills in the shadow of each tree.
You know there’s danger, the danger I can’t see,
But you’re not the outlaw, lobo, this time they want me.

Oo-oo, lobo, Oo-oo, lobo.
Run! Run! Run, lobo, and hide.
Go hide, don’t wait for me.
Run, lobo, and hide.

The theme of "Outlaws" is the terrifying experience of two outlaws on the run—a man and a wolf. The music is grim, the lyrics stark. The sound of rifle shots, the wolf’s howling plus the voices of the posse shouting “Outlaw!” in the background of the first recording gave us the sense of fear and despair in the heart of the fleeing man. The song was recorded three times with different backgrounds before it was deemed ready to release. This was the first recording Tommy Doss made when he replaced Bob in the trio of the Sons of the Pioneers.

"Bob Nolan burst onto the scene as a writer of great western songs in the early 1930s and a daily radio show, as well as the demands of films a little later on, kept an astonishing and impressive (for both quantity and quality) volume of material flowing from his pen, and that of fellow songwriting genius and Pioneer Tim Spencer. This fifteen-year spate of creativity slowed but never stopped; in fact, Nolan continued to write songs and especially poetry until his death. "Outlaws" is a later song and in many ways a more mature one: rather than bowl the listener over with dense, lush poetry, it tells a starker tale, yet is as effective for its lyrical straightforwardness. The music as we have come to expect from Nolan, is challenging for the singers, unconventional and delightful."
—Douglas B. Green, liner notes to Stampede! Western Music's Late Golden Era, 1996

The song was registered for copyright on March 13, 1950, and sheet music was issued by Bob Nolan Music Inc, 1950.

Outlaws (Bob Nolan Music, Inc.)

SONS OF THE PIONEERS TRANSCRIPTION RECORDINGS

Lucky U Ranch radio shows (courtesy of Larry Hopper)
- Transcriptions disc TR-105/106 (November 20, 1951)
- Transcriptions disc TR-150/151 (December 18, 1951)
- Transcriptions disc TR-276/277 (March 11, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-320/321 (April 10, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-395/396 (June 3, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-473/474 (August 13, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-505/506 (September 4, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-567/568 (November 18, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-668/669 (January 28, 1953)

Smokey the Bear radio show, episode No. 11 (1955)