Colorado

The official state song of Colorado, Where the Columbines Grow,  happens to be a waltz, although with its scored variations in tempo it is more of a waltz to be sung than to be danced. It was composed by A.J. Fynn in 1911 and adopted as the official state song in 1915. The story behind this song is extraordinarily well documented in this twenty-five page monograph by Robert Natelson. From Professor Natelson's monograph you will learn that Fynn was born in 1857 in Salisbury, N.Y. and died in 1930. He was not a professional musician although he did play the fiddle (and probably the piano) and published two other pieces of music. Fynn was an educator, serving as principal in several Colorado schools, and he eventually was granted a PhD from the University of Colorado.  He was also a serious archaeologist who published two books on his studies of the American Indian.

There are a number of videos of performances of Where the Columbines Grow.  None of them seem to capture early twentieth century Colorado, but the one below by Melanie may be the closest. It closely follows the original sheet music which can be found here. A simplified score and lyrics (including an elusive fourth verse) are included at the end of this blog.

There are a number of other waltzes celebrating the state of Colorado which are submitted below in chronological order.

The earliest recording of a waltz celebrating Colorado is the song titled Colorado written by Walter Hirsch (lyrics) and Harold Dellon (music).  It was quite popular at the time as evidenced by the availability of sheet music and the fact that it was recorded at least four times by four different artists on four different labels in 1924.  A copy of the Victor recording by the two tenors, Henry Burr and Albert Campbell, accompanied by an orchestra led by Rosario Bourdon has been preserved and is available from the "jukebox" at the U.S. Library of Congress or you can listen to it in the video below.

In 1950, Shorty Long and the Sante Fe Rangers recorded Waltz of Colorado on RCA Victor 48-0347.
The song was popular enough to receive a review in Cash Box Magazine, July 15, 1950. Shorty Long was Italian (his birth name was Emidio Vagnoni) with no known connections to Colorado.  Long was a classically trained violinist who played in the Reading, PA symphony but made his mark as a performer and club owner in the country music world.  He was the owner of the Sante Fe Ranch club (hence the name of his band) in Exeter, Pennsylvania. You can hear Shorty Long's waltz below.

In 1951 or 1952, Dave Spielman and the Rhythm Rangers released Colorado Waltz on the Ranger label headquartered in Colorado Springs.  The tune was written by Dave, his wife Billie, and W.S. Stephenson.  Curiously, the 1949 copyright refers to Bruce Romack's name rather than Stephenson's. I think the photo used in the video below comes from a vintage postcard of the band.

In 1968, Cal Tjader wrote Colorado Waltz, probably with the Red Onion Club in Aspen, Colorado in mind.  He recorded it at that club with his quintet on the album Latin + Jazz = Cal Tjader. One of the more interesting covers Tjader's Colorado Waltz is by Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica Quintet in an arrangement by Brian O'Neill. You can find O'Neill's version on YouTube here and you can listen to the original below.

In 1988, a twelve year old Vi Wickham, wrote the first half of a tune he called Colorado Waltz, his dad, also a fiddler, added the last half.  Vi grew up to be a well known fiddler and three fiddle champ of Colorado.  In 2012, he put the tune on YouTube as part of his popular Fiddle Tune a Day series where you can find it today.

In 1995, Roz Brown released an album titled My Best to You which contains a Colorado Waltz which he sings and accompanies himself on the autoharp. The song was written by his friend, Wes Sharp. If you ask for it, you can probably hear him sing it at the Buckhorn Exchange in Denver - he has been there Thursday through Saturday for thirty years. You can hear Roz sing his Colorado Waltz below. If you want to make your own version, lyrics and chords are here.

Jody Adam's Colorado Mountain Waltz is found on this 2013 album Deep Roots.  This is perhaps the most relaxed and beautiful of all the Colorado waltzes. In contrast to most of the others, this is strictly an instrumental.

In 2014, Marshall Bailey and the Silver Bullets released their own Colorado Waltz on the Night Rider album. While the Silver Bullets are from Kansas, not Colorado, this version sounds like a real Colorado waltz to me.

There are several examples of waltzes celebrating Colorado which were recorded but for which on-line examples have not been found.  Those include:

In 1950, Shorty Joe (Quartuccio) and Bob Simas wrote Colorado Waltz which was released on the Golden West label performed by Shorty Joe and the Red Rock Canyon Cowboys.

In 1951, Skip Graves recorded a 45 rpm record version of Colorado Waltz on the Hornet label. The song was written by John Wesley (Wes) Sharp and copyrighted  in an arrangement by Leland Louis Goeman.

Some time in the  50's, a group called the Midwesterners (Jack, Bud, Don and Scrappy) recorded their Waltz of the Colorado Hills on the Ranger label. The vocalist was Bud Walker but Jack, Don and Scrappy are not further identified.

Bobby Beers and the Buddy Leet trio recorded  Colorado Waltz on the Silver State label probably in the 1950's.

A search of copyright records available through the Internet Archives found the following additional examples of waltzes celebrating Colorado.  No evidence was found that these were ever recorded or published as sheet music.

Colorado Waltz, copyright 1918 to M. Laughlin
Silv'ry Colorado: waltz, copyright 1920 words to Allan Flynn and music to Jack Egan.
Beautiful Colorado Waltz, copyright 1921 to G.W. Oles
Colorado Waltz, copyright 1924 to A.R. Michel
Happy Colorado: waltz, copyright 1926 words to William O. Rogers and music to L.W. Cowles.
Beautiful Colorado: waltz, copyright 1930 to A. Molitor
Colorado: waltz song, copyright 1933 to Selma Esther Leopold.
In the Hills of Colorado: waltz, copyright 1934 words and music to Harry Leon and Leo Towers
The Colorado Waltz, copyright 1946, words to Celeste H. Sollo and music to Harry Andrew Sollo
Colorado Waltz, copyright 1948, words and music to Joseph Albert Quartuccio
The Colorado Waltz, copyright 1949, words and music to Harold Lee Summers.
Colorado Waltz, copyright, 1951, words and music to Dorothy F. Takabayashi in an arrangement by Melba Pennington.
Colorado Waltz, copyright, 1951, words and music to Richard May Kiser.
The Colorado Waltz, copyright, 1951, words and music to Medwin Theodore Cox.
Colorado (waltz), copyright 1951, three different arrangements of a piece composed in the 1920's by Walter Hirsch and Harold Dellon. Was recorded on Columbia 139 in 1924. Also on Brunswick 2771 in 1925
Colorado Waltz, copyright, 1952, words to Allen Wilder and music to Ray Perkins
The Colorado Waltz, copyright, 1952, words and music to Bernard Charles Wingert.
Whisp'ring Colorado Waltz, copyright 1953, words to Imogene Bloomfield and music to George W. Brueker and Chaw Mank.
Colorado Waltz, copyright 1954, words to Philomena Marie Tubbs and music to James Collachia
Colorado Waltz, copyright 1955, words and music to Jack Lewis Roney.
The Colorado Waltz, copyright 1974, words and music to Eddie Thompson, pseud. of Edwin J. Beattes.

What is not included in this blog:

In 1930, Robert King composed Moonlight on the Colorado which was incorrectly titled as Colorado Waltz on a recording by Fred Bergin which you can hear here. This is a great old song recorded by many people ranging from The Platters to the Sons of the Pioneers but it is not the Colorado Waltz and the lyrics make it clear that it refers to the river, not the state.

In 2014, the children at the Blue Grass Camp in Crested Butte, CO wrote and performed their own version of Colorado Waltz.  You may enjoy their performance of the tune here.

In 2015, the Meanwells released a digital demo album which contained their garage band version of Colorado Waltz. You can here it here.

There are no doubt other Colorado Waltzes that have been overlooked.  If you know one, please leave a comment.

And, finally, here is that promised version of Where the Columbines Grow.

Lyrics for Where the Columbines Grow

Where the snowy peaks gleam in the moonlight,

Above the dark forests of pine,

And the wild foaming waters dash onward,

Toward lands where the tropic stars shine;

Where the scream of the bold mountain eagle

Responds to the notes of the dove

Is the purple robed West, the land that is best,

The pioneer land that we love.

CHORUS

Tis the land where the columbines grow,

Overlooking the plains far below,

While the cool summer breeze in the evergreen trees

Softly sings where the columbines grow.

VERSE 2

The bison is gone from the upland,

The deer from the canyon has fled,

The home of the wolf is deserted,

The antelope moans for his dead,

The war whoop re-echoes no longer,

The Indian's only a name,

And the nymphs of the grove in their loneliness rove,

But the columbine blooms just the same.

VERSE 3

Let the violet brighten the brookside,

In sunlight of earlier spring,

Let the fair clover bedeck the green meadow,

In days when the orioles sing,

Let the golden rod herald the autumn,

But, under the midsummer sky,

In its fair Western home, may the columbine bloom

Till our great mountain rivers run dry.

In 1921, to answer complaints that the song never mentioned Colorado, Fynn added a fourth verse.  It never caught on and if it were not for the efforts of Professor Natalson, it might have been lost.

VERSE 4

From the far eastern prairie and lakeland,
From still farther lands by the sea,
Over perilous paths to our mountains, Came
the pioneers, fearless and free.
They came with the bold resolution A
commonwealth here to create,
And the watchword they bore was the name we
adore, “Colorado,” the columbine state.

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