I grew from small boy to young man on a ranch near a small town in which a rodeo was THE singular social event of the year. In the 1940's and early 1950's, I heard a lot of cowboy songs - some of them even clean, though I committed few to memory then. My friends and I rode horses, "played cowboys" and saw a lot of cowboy movies. Many of our childhood heroes were from that genre.

If you look back at a typical western movie, particularly those made from the 1930's through the early '50's, you will see many cowboys, outlaws, townspeople and others portrayed by actors in their forties and fifties - and older. They wore very stylized outfits, many made by "Nudie," the old Hollywood tailor to the western stars.

In the real west, older people were fairly scarce. Women were scarcer. Most cowboys were likely well under 25; many were in their teens. Many outlaws were the same. Young, wild, full of piss and vinegar - and, often, bad alcohol - they were frequently lonely and melancholy, being far from family and on their own. They smelled like horse sweat and harness leather and were usually covered with dust.

They saw a good deal of premature death and likely brooded on it. Many of the songs reflect that uncomfortable truth. Theirs was a hazardous and lonely line of work. While cowboy poets speak of the grand spaces, freedom and starry skies, the reality was often bad food, long stretches of grinding boredom and physical discomforts most of us can't imagine, relieved only by moments of sheer terror.
Of such stuff are these songs made.