The King Of Western Swing

Spade Cooley got raised down in Oklahoma Fiddle in his hand, good ole country boy persona In the dirty Dust Bowl, he moved to California A young Okie boy, natural born performer The man was an ace with a face you could trust Fiddlin' his was out of the dirty bowl dust And down in L.A. well, Spade was getting paid Fiddling out a living on the Venice Ballroom Stage Everybody in town would come down to see him A crowd of three thousand on any given weekend Well soon enough Spade had his very own band Playing the Down Home Rag on the biggest bandstands Building a brand on the backs of his hands He'd come a long way from Oklahoma, Grand Spade took a liking to booze and money He had number one hits right across the country Well, you take what you can while the getting is good And he got himself a show out in Hollywood Everybody in town would tune into see The King of Western Swing live on TV Live on TV Spade was riding high on a horse called fame Everybody in the country knew his first and last name He played for the cops and he played for politicians He'd paid away the babies of ten or more women Spade had a wife by the name of Ann She can tell you first-hand how fame can change a man 'Cause Spade was a drunk, and Spade was mean But he had the hottest band in the country scene And everybody in town knew Spade was insane But nobody came around while there was money to be made Spade met a singer by the name of Ella Mae She had a pretty good voice but a prettier face He asked Ella Mae if she would sing in his band And later that year he divorced his wife Ann Spade and Ella Mae, they got married straight away But Ella Mae caught Spade having a roll in the hay So she packed all her bags went to her sister's to stay Spade tracked down and made a mess of her face Everybody in town, they knew what went down But nobody came around, the cops were nowhere to be found Well Melody got born in 1946 A year after Spade and Ella Mae got hitched And later that year, a son named John Momma stayed home while Spade rambled on By '58 the family moved out of L.A. Spade was getting onto his glory days But when he wasn't on stage, the man could fly into a rage He'd always take it out on the lovely Ella Mae Everybody into town, could see her black eyes But nobody came around, nobody even tried Well the years grew long and money grew tight Spade would end up drinking almost every single night When he'd get drunk, he would get suspicious Thinkin' his wife was getting up to funny business But she'd never cheat, no she'd never lie Even though Spade would say she'd been with other guys And everybody in town, they all knew the truth But when Spade was around, oh they didn't have a clue April 3rd, 1961 Spade would beat his wife 'till she could no longer run Melody walked in, stepped through the broken glass Found her mother on the floor next to an empty flask Though Melody tried, Ella Mae closed her eyes Spade made her watch as he took her mother's life Melody ran out the door and escaped Spade put in on his boots and tried to clean up the place Everyone in town, knew what went down When the Sheriff came around, Spade was standing proud It took a long dark month to get a conviction Spade got life without parole in state prison He spent just 9 years living life behind bars When he got out early thanks to his Hollywood star. The first show he played when he was released Was a benefit gig for the local police And that very same day Spade's old friend The governor of California, Ronald Reagan, Came to offer him life as a free man again Spade Cooley received a full pardon A full pardon But before he could taste the freedom he'd found He had a heart attack, the Lord struck him down Everybody in the crowd covered their mouths and gasped The King of Western Swing brought to justice at last Long long last