“Don’t Fence Me In” is a popular American song written in 1934, with music by Cole Porter and lyrics by Robert Fletcher and Cole Porter. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. Cole Porter was credited with sole authorship when the song was published, but he had essentially re-worked a poem written earlier by Robert Fletcher. Fletcher, who worked for the Dept. of Highways in Helena, MT, is the one who wrote the “roadside history” placques that were seen along the state’s highways until the 1980s. Fletcher sold the poem/song to Porter for a small sum when Porter was asked to write a cowboy song for the film. Porter wanted to give Fletcher co-authorship credit, but his publishers would not allow that. Later, after the song got so popular, Fletcher hired legal advice and his attorneys negotiated his being given proper co-authorship credit in subsequent publications.
Songs with Banjo from Harold Hagler
