"Tumbling Tumbleweeds" is a song composed by Bob Nolan

Bob Nolan

Bob Nolan was a Canadian-born American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a founding member of the Sons of the Pioneers, and composer of numerous Country music and Western music songs, including the standards "Cool Water" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds." He is generally regarded as one of the...

, one of the founding (albeit reluctant) members of the Sons of the Pioneers

Sons of the Pioneers

The Sons of the Pioneers are one of America's earliest Western singing groups whose classic recordings set a new standard for performers of Western music. Known for the high quality of their vocal performances, musicianship, and songwriting, they produced finely-crafted and innovative recordings...

. Although one of the most famous songs associated with cowboys, the song was composed by Nolan back in the 1930s while he was working as a caddy and living in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. Originally titled "Tumbling Tumble Leaves", the song was reworked into the title "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and into fame with the Gene Autry

Gene Autry

Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...

 film of the same name

Tumbling Tumbleweeds (1935 film)

Tumbling Tumbleweeds is a 1935 American musical Western film scripted by Ford Beebe, directed by Joseph Kane, and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Gabby Hayes.-Cast:Gene Autry ... Gene Autry Smiley Burnette ... Smiley...

.
The song is featured in an episode of The Odd Couple

The Odd Couple (TV series)

The Odd Couple is a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to July 4, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. It was based upon the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon.Felix and Oscar are two divorced men....

TV show and it is also used at the start of the film The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski, an unemployed Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler, who is referred to as "The Dude". After a case of mistaken identity, The Dude is introduced to a millionaire also named...

while the camera follows a tumbleweed

Tumbleweed

A tumbleweed is the above-ground part of a plant that, once mature and dry, disengages from the root and tumbles away in the wind. Usually, the tumbleweed is the entire plant apart from the roots, but in a few species it is a flower cluster. The tumbleweed habit is most common in steppe and desert...

 rolling into Los Angeles as well as being featured in the film Two of Us

Two of Us (2000 television)

Two of Us is a 2000 television drama which offers a dramatized account of April 24, 1976 , the day in which Lorne Michaels made a statement on Saturday Night Live offering The Beatles $3,000 to reunite on his program.It was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg Two of Us is a 2000 television drama (and...

, with John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 and Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 shown singing it together in one touching scene.

Kate Smith

Kate Smith

Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia...

 made a popular recording of the song, available on her CD 16 Most Requested Songs. The Supremes

The Supremes

The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...

 covered the song on their 1965 album The Supremes Sing Country, Western & Pop, although it was recorded two years earlier. Diana Ross

Diana Ross

Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...

 sings lead.

The song also appears on Michael Nesmith and the First National Band's

Michael Nesmith

Robert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the musical group The Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name...

 album Nevada Fighter

Nevada Fighter

Nevada Fighter is the third solo album by American singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith during his post-Monkees career. The album is also the third and final album with the First National Band. Released in 1971, it peaked at No...

and The Meat Puppets' 1982 album Meat Puppets

Meat Puppets (album)

Meat Puppets is the first LP by the Meat Puppets, released in 1982. The album is unlike their later, more well-known releases due to its hardcore punk sound....

.

Jack Palance

Jack Palance

Jack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr...

, in his Oscar

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

-winning role as a cowboy named Curly, recites "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" in the movie City Slickers

City Slickers

City Slickers is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, Helen Slater and Jack Palance. Palance won an Academy Award for his performance....

while Mitch (Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal

William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...

) accompanies him on the harmonica

Harmonica

The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

. The song is also prominently used in the movie The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski, an unemployed Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler, who is referred to as "The Dude". After a case of mistaken identity, The Dude is introduced to a millionaire also named...

.

Col. Potter plays it for Dr. Sydney Freedman in an episode of the TV show M*A*S*H.

The Sons of the Pioneers' recording of "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" was selected by the Library of Congress

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

 as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry

National Recording Registry

The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording...

, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".