Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan added words and music to the melody of the traditional fiddle tune "Walkin' Georgia Rose" in 1940.
[6] Though Wills did not know its origin, the couplet actually derives from a 19th century song of enslaved African Americans, a version of which also appeared in print in the 1880 novel My Southern Home by William Wells Brown.
Spade Cooley's Western Dance Gang also performed it in their 1944 short movie titled for the song, Take Me Back to Tulsa.
Al Dexter is sometimes erroneously credited with writing "Take Me Back to Tulsa", perhaps due to his musically similar hit song "Pistol Packin' Mama".
[9][10] Merle Haggard recorded a cover of the song for his 1970 album A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills).