Enter the Brooklyn (New York) Cowboy

Howdy, pardner!

OK, I live in Queens, not Brooklyn, and I'm not a cowboy. But I was born in Brooklyn, I lived there 1968-1969, I spent most of my working life there until I got unceremoniously laid off five years ago, and I still work there one day a week.

As for the cowboy stuff, well I used to go riding horses on a dude ranch until advancing age and a couple of bouts with an inflamed prostate got the best of me. So now I have to settle for singing cowboy songs. In fact, I finally recorded one, and it's a real rootin' shootin' humdinger called The Santa Fe Trail. It will be on my new CD, Low Rent District, which should be ready by the end of the month. Right now you can hear a sneak preview on-line. You can even download it and it won't cost you one shiny silver dime. Just mosey on down to my SoundClick music page by clicking here and it will be the first one at the top.

But first, here's a little background. James Grafton Rogers and John H. Gower wrote The Santa Fe Trail and they had it published it in 1911. I first heard the song from my good buddy Anne Price, and I immediately stole it. Yet, in spite of this brazen act of musicial thievery, she was gracious enough to sing back-up on the refrains. Anne, by the way, had already recorded her version of The Santa Fe Trail on her Rember Me CD few years back. It's available from CD Baby.

In case you find a couple of the terms puzzling, please be advised that tow headed means blonde, while a quirt is a small whip for prodding a horse.

Oh, here is some credit where credit is due. That's me on the guitar, Allen Hopkins is on the harmonica, and Ray Korona did the mixing and mastering. Enjoy the preview while you can. I reckon I'll be taking it down once my new CD is in hand.

That's about all for now. The Old Woman (my wife Marilyn) is out rustling up some grub for dinner, and should be back at any moment.

--- Steve