Don Swander and “Deep in the Heart of Texas”

Don Swander (March 25, 1905-July 28, 1996), was an American songwriter who more than a half century ago said he was “ashamed” that he had written the musical classic “Deep in the Heart of Texas.”  Swander was born March 25, 1905, in Marshal Town, Iowa. Raised in Washington state, he played piano professionally at age 12.  When he was 16, he moved to Los Angeles, where he studied at UCLA and at a musical conservatory.  He married June Hershey, and they had a son, Steven.

In 1941 Swander and his wife, June, who provided the lyrics , wrote a song entitled “Deep in the Heart of Texas,” an American popular song about Texas.  The first recording was made by Alvino Rey and his Orchestra with vocal by Bill Schallen and Skeets Herfurt, on November 21, 1941, for Bluebird ; this topped the Billboard charts in 1942 during a ten-week stay.  Bing Crosby made the song a hit in 1942, and the song was one of the popular American ballads during World War II. There were no fewer than five versions in the Billboard charts in 1942. “Deep in the Heart of Texas” spent five weeks at the top of Your Hit Parade in 1942 during its twelve weeks stay.

In 1942 the song’s title was borrowed for the name of a 1942 Western film of the same name starring Johnny Mack Brown as a man instrumental in restoring Texas to the United States following the American Civil War. It featured Tex Ritter and the Jimmy Wakely Trio singing the title song. Over the years, the song has been recorded by every major artist from Bing Crosby to Tex Ritter. It is estimated the song has been played on the radio more than a million times throughout the world. The songwriter composed more than 3,000 other tunes during his life, but only “Deep in the Heart of Texas” became a big hit. Swander and his wife moved to Las Vegas in 1960.   In the early 1970s, Swander took a weekend piano-playing job at the Bonnie Springs Ranch because he didn’t want to retire. He died at the age of 91 on Sunday, July 28, 1996, in Las Vegas, NV, where he had lived for the past 36 years.

The following work by Don Swander is contained in my collection:

Deep in the Heart of Texas (1941).