The song was composed by Hoagy Carmichael (1899–1981), and Jack Brooks (1912–1971),[1] and introduced by Carmichael[2] in the Western film Canyon Passage (1946), starring Dana Andrews, Brian Donlevy, Susan Hayward, Patricia Roc, Ward Bond and Andy Devine, (with a bit appearance by Hoagy Carmichael, singing the song himself).
"Ole Buttermilk Sky" was primarily written as a cowboy song to set the scene where the character meets his lover.
[3] The song also used jazz music for the lyric "can't you see my little donkey and me".
[4] It was recorded in the December 14 issue of The Billboard magazine that "Ole Buttermilk Sky" by big band / orchestra leader and old-time radio personality Kay Kyser was at #1 in the Best Selling Popular Retail Records section.
[6] "Ole Buttermilk Sky" was nominated for an "Oscar" as the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 19th Academy Awards ceremonies / show at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California in March 1947.