As official state songs go, Oklahoma’s got it pretty good.
My home state of Pennsylvania has a rather unremarkable anthem.
New York’s official song is memorable… but perhaps just a bit dated.
New Jersey doesn’t even have a state song. (How is that still possible?)
But Oklahoma has a great one:
Woody Guthrie wrote “Oklahoma Hills,” but it was his cousin Jack who made it famous when the lesser-known Guthrie recorded a Western swing version and topped the charts with it for six weeks in 1945.
More than a half-century later, Woody’s son performed “Oklahoma Hills” at a tribute concert for Woody, sponsored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Bruce Springsteen and Joe Ely joined Arlo for the performance, with each singer taking lead vocals for a verse–a one-time-only team-up that was thankfully captured on video.
Jimmy LaFave was also there that night, but he didn’t take part in that particular song. Bruce rectified that almost a decade later, when he invited LaFave to join him on stage during the encore set of his solo acoustic show in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Bruce and Jimmy’s performance of “Oklahoma Hills” was a brighter and stronger one than the Hall of Fame performance a decade earlier, with the two singers’ guitars and voices blending nicely.
Other than one other performance in 2006 (where Bruce was one of about 20 guitar players on stage), these are Bruce’s only two known performances of “Oklahoma Hills.”
Oklahoma Hills
First performed: September 29, 1996 (Cleveland, OH)
Last performed: January 15, 2006 (New York City, NY)
Thanks Ken. I appreciate the coincidental timing of this post featuring the late, great Jimmy Lafave. May 19th will by me and my wife’s 20th wedding anniversary. Our wedding song was “If I Should Fall Behind” and our 1st dance was to Jimmy’s “ Only One Angel”. We were lucky enough to see him perform many shows in Austin and San Antonio over the years. I look forward to you posting about his various covers of Bruce’s songs. His cover of LOHAD is one of my favorite covers ever. He was also a great interpreter of Bob Dylan songs as well as a fine songwriter himself. Sadly, the other coincidence is this week (May 21) will be the fourth anniversary of his passing. May he Rest In Peace. He will never be forgotten in our household…
This was the 2nd time I had seen Bruce perform live and I loved this duet.
Jimmy was a rare gift to so many of us. It’s difficult to listen to his music without becoming emotional, even 4 years after he left us. I was fortunate to have been at The Paramount that night in May 2017 and it will remain with me for the rest of my days. Jimmy is missed so, so much.