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)
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