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Favourite cowboy songs
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: katlaughing Date: 02 Sep 99 - 11:25 PM Would that be wid an Irish acksent, Dan?*BG* Shall we start a Part Two? Watch for it coming to a thread near you! Click here for part 2 of this thread |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Liam's Brother Date: 02 Sep 99 - 11:18 PM Well, Pudner, I ain't no cowboy song afisheyanado but I sure do love to hear Harry Jackson's "I Ride an Old Paint." |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: DougR Date: 02 Sep 99 - 10:47 PM The Sons of the Pioneers are still going strong. They are based in Tucson, Arizona now. DougR |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: DougR Date: 02 Sep 99 - 02:46 AM Kat: I had no idea they played volleyball in Wyoming! Do they play with really volley balls, or hmmmmm? Anyway, those men type volleyball players in Wyoming must have a lot of glistening chest hairs because you did a marvelous job of reporting your obserations. I'm doing Ok, Kat. You have to learn to cope, one day at a time. DougR |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs; REQ from lyrics From: Date: 01 Sep 99 - 09:50 AM I'm an old, long-time cowboy-songs fan, and I'm looking for the names of a couple of songs I heard many years ago. I believe the singer on the radio was Marty Robbins. My memory is not what it used to be, but the lyrics of the first song ended like this:
...Rangers have gathered and circled around... The second one was played, for me, from a record an Air Force friend had bought overseas and was called (I think) The Night Hawk. The refrain contained these two lines:
"go light on the night hawk, If anybody has any idea about either of these, please let me know. I would be deeply obliged. Also -- about that request for a Marty Robbins recording about the Little Box of Pine on the 7.59 -- you can buy a boxed set containing that -- it's called Portrait of Marty, and I saw it listed at Amazon.com under music on a search for "Marty Robbins".
Thank you all. |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: John Hindsill Date: 31 Aug 99 - 10:28 PM Anybody liking the works of Bob Nolan sung by others really ought to listen to reissues of the original Sons of the Pioneers' recordings, many still available on CD.
For the record, "Blue Prairie" was written by Tim Spencer, Bob Nolan's singing mate. Nolan helped in putting the finishing touches on the song, according to the liner notes on Empty Saddles, MCA-1563 (vinyl) by Laurence J. Zwisohn. Bob is given a co-writing credit on this album. The album contains 14 songs from 1935/36, including "I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)" by that great cowboy songwriter, Johnny Mercer(!). The Sons were together for so long [is there still an incarnation] that it is interesting to hear versions of many of their songs recorded years apart when musical tastes and group personnel had changed.---John
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Stoney Date: 31 Aug 99 - 07:12 PM Bob Nolan! Now we are getting into some really good cowboy stuff. "Cool Water", "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" etc. My favourite always was "One More Ride." So proud that he was a Canadian. |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: kendall morse (don't use) Date: 31 Aug 99 - 02:53 PM my favorite cowboy song is still Billy Vanero. He was my kind of guy. In fact, maybe he WAS me.. who knows? |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: SandyBob Date: 31 Aug 99 - 02:17 PM Sandy Paton: yep, that was me. Buster and I were pretty well oiled up that night and the devil wasn't bein' exactly generous. You should have heard him holler. Still makes me chuckle :-) Sandy Bob |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: M Date: 31 Aug 99 - 01:59 PM "Blue Prairie" by Bob Nolan, performed by Sons of the San Joaquim. I know they're new, but they're pure cowboy. Their singing is…heavenly…transports me the way Alison Krauss' voice does. This song is wonderful--I had it on my answering machine for quite a while--people would call just to listen. |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: katlaughing Date: 31 Aug 99 - 04:44 AM Ah, DougeR, it's so good to see you on here and able to laugh with the rest of us; you are an inspiration, dearie! Ya know, I just was at a few volleyball games, beach parties, uh.....Halloween dances, yea, yea, just a few things like that, 'cha see?? And, of course, there being NO societal restrictions on men taking off their shirts, well most do whenever they get the chance, regardless of persuasion, so...I do see bare chests frequently, even just driving down the road, ya know?!**BG** luvyaKat |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: DougR Date: 31 Aug 99 - 12:53 AM And so, my lovely Katlaughing, how do YOU know they have so much hair on their chest? Hmmmmmmmm? *Grin* *Grin* |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Lonesome EJ Date: 31 Aug 99 - 12:22 AM I'd like to second the nominations of I Ride an Old Paint, Streets of Laredo, and Sonora's Death Row as great cowboy songs. I also loved to hear my grandmother sing Jesse James.
That dirty little coward A couple of newer classics are Marty Robbins' Streets of El Paso [=El Paso?] and Roger McGuinn's Chestnut Mare. LEJ |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: kendall morse (don't use) Date: 30 Aug 99 - 09:30 PM glad to hear it.. actually, I myself have more hair in my ears than on my chest.. but.. so what? (the lavender didn't work for me either) |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: katlaughing Date: 30 Aug 99 - 09:18 PM Good for you, Kendall. I agree with Sandy. Besides.....I've plenty of gay male friends who've got no shortage of chest hair!*g* |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: kendall morse (don't use) Date: 30 Aug 99 - 09:15 PM come to think of it.. where I came from, to really give someone hell about something is t "Lay Them Out In Lavender" cant even guess the origin of that one. |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: kendall morse (don't use) Date: 30 Aug 99 - 09:11 PM If my history is not too faulty, the reference to Lavender in Lavender Cowboy is simply a type of cologne. I've heard my old relatives use that term. Anyway, I don't do anti-gay songs if I know what I'm doing.. hey maybe that's it..... |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Sandy Paton Date: 30 Aug 99 - 08:56 PM Avoiding the hurtful until it no longer hurts makes sense to me. Looking honestly at the mistakes of history is one thing, perpetuating them is something altogether different. So I accept political correctness as a means to a desirable end. But I still read a lot of history. Sandy |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: DougR Date: 30 Aug 99 - 06:01 PM Sandy, I join you in never having considered "Lavender Cowboy" as being anti-gay for the same reasons you articulated. Sometimes I think it's a shame that political correctness ever happened along. I guess it's all for the best though. DougR |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: katlaughing Date: 30 Aug 99 - 09:17 AM Hi, Malcolm, welcome ot the Mudcat. I look in the alphabetical listings for the song you mentioned, but didn't see it. You could also do a search in the upper righthand corner of this page, by entering keywords. IT is possible I missed it. If you cannot find it there, you will get quicker responses if you start a thread just for finding the lyrics to that song. If you go to the top of the thread listings, you will see a "Start a new thread" thingy to click on. Then go from there. It is common to choose the generic designation Lyric Request, then put the title or words to a song in as the thread title. By having its own thread, it becomes easier and faster for people who might know the song to see it and for you to possibly find the lyrics. If you have any questions you can also send any of us a personal message, in the Mudcat. Good luck! katlaughing |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Malcolm.Jones@CapitalRadio.co.uk Date: 30 Aug 99 - 07:04 AM This is slightly on a tangent, but I think it qualifies: does anyone have or know of a prison song by Marty Robbins called "(There's a) Little Box of Pine (on the 7.39)" It's an unintentionally hilarious letter-from-the-Prison-Governor-to-a-bereaved-mother kinda song. I heard it about 30 years ago, and I'd love to find it again. |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Sandy Paton Date: 30 Aug 99 - 02:25 AM Susan: Actually, I never thought of the "Lavender Cowboy" song as being an anti-gay slight. I suppose it would have been, back when Lomax picked it up in the dark ages of early Western folksong collecting, but I must have been too naive to recognize it as such. The protagonist was a hero, defending the lady's honor, and all that. He just couldn't grow hair on his chest, hard as he tried. Why the term "Lavender" in the title didn't set off warning signals, I simply can't explain. No Falwell to guide me, I guess. Sandy |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Susan A-R Date: 29 Aug 99 - 09:09 PM Oh dear Sandy. I have an old (probably 50s vanity recording of my cousin's college barbershop group doing "Alexis from Texas" Probably vastly politically incorrect now, but I can remember laughing hysterically at it when I was 13 or so When herding cattle, he rode side saddle, etc. Ah well, the memory does take us strange places. Susan |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: katlaughing Date: 29 Aug 99 - 07:34 PM It's in the Lomax book, too, Sandy. luvyaKat |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Sandy Paton Date: 29 Aug 99 - 06:37 PM Kendall Morse also sings "Lavender Cowboy," in which our hero dies with his six-guns a-blazing, but only one hair on his chest. Probably learned from Burl Ives. Sandy |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: rich r Date: 29 Aug 99 - 05:36 PM Sourdough, When I get the hiccups, I find it is best to sign off until it passes ;-}. rich r |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: DougR Date: 29 Aug 99 - 03:45 PM WyoWoman: Congratulations upon grabbing second place in the competition! If you'd been able to accompany yourself and do all that fingerpicking you've had so much help on, who knows where you would have placed? Maybe ahead of first place! Good going, though, seriously. DougR |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: WyoWoman Date: 29 Aug 99 - 01:37 PM You just did. ww |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: kendall morse (don't use) Date: 29 Aug 99 - 11:55 AM I'm surprised no one mentioned "I've Got No Use for the Women" recorded by Kendall Morse on Folk Legacy records nearly 25 years ago. |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Sourdough Date: 29 Aug 99 - 03:34 AM Well, I certainly should have Rich's attention *BG*. THis is the second time this has happened. Once I posted the same full message six or seven times accidently. Rich, what I started to say before I interrupted myself was that your explanation of cowpyrography made sense and even explained how the Fife book had "original" lyrics with "burning hair". I love it when things that start out looking like it is an "either/or" matter turn out to be "both". Sourdough |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Sourdough Date: 29 Aug 99 - 03:29 AM Rich, Duplicate messages deleted.
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: katlaughing Date: 29 Aug 99 - 12:07 AM That's great, rich, thanks! Now, I have definitely GOT to get that book!! |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: rich r Date: 28 Aug 99 - 10:21 PM The version of Sierry Petes in Katie Lee's book definitely contains the line "I'm sick of this cow-pyrography" in the fourth verse. She got it straight from Gail Gardner in some meetings with him. Gardner also reported that the name is derived from the Sierra Prieta Mountains located west of Prescott AZ. According to Gail, an old miner in that region always called them the Sierry Petes, not peaks as might be expected. Gardner scoffed at various liner notes on versions of the song including a discussion of the meaning of "cow-biography" that one liner note writer tried to describe. Quoting from Katie Lee's book: "Oh, it means workin' with cattle, does it?" he (Gardner) snorts, "Now ain't that nice to know, since it doesn't at all, even if "cow-biography" was the right word, which it ain't! Katie, there's a perfect example of how not knowin' can bitch the meaning and ruin the 'colorful language' all to hell. The word is "cow-pyrography". As defined in Webster's, pyrography is the art of producing designs or pictures as on leather by burning with a hot iron or instrument. When I was a little button around the turn of the century the ladies had pyrography sets and burned pictures on leather sofa pillows or table covers. So, naturally, cow pyrography is burning designs on a cow's hide. In the second printing of my "Orejana Bull" I changed it to 'the smell of burnin' hair' because nobody knew what pyrography meant, and what the cowboys made of that word was fearful and wonderful indeed!" "There you go tampering with the original" (K Lee) "Hell, I didn't change it until 1950. By then there wasn't nothin' more they could do with it" (Note: he originally wrote the poem in 1917) Gardner also describes where the name Buster Jig came from. It seems when he was a tyke his nickname was "Buster". His dad J. I. Gardner, owned a store. The sign on the storefront had the initials so close together that they looked like JIG. rich r rich r |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Sourdough Date: 28 Aug 99 - 08:23 PM Kat: Rodeer from New England? I still am surprised when I hear some leftover New Hampshire accent in my own speech - for example when I tell my German bride that I am going out in the "yahd". Wyo Lady: Congratulations!! Maybe you can reprise your performance on Mudcat Radio! Sourdough |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: WyoWoman Date: 28 Aug 99 - 07:42 PM I won second place. I have a new trophy. Mummy would be so proud. (Actually, she would faunch. The IDEA of her daughter, yodeling...my, oh, my!) :-o ww |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: katlaughing Date: 28 Aug 99 - 06:05 PM Mmmmm, SD, do ya 'spose the "rodeer" was a New England perversion of "rodeo"?**BG** |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Sourdough Date: 28 Aug 99 - 05:46 PM For what it's worth, I went to "Cowboy and Western Songs" by Austin and Alta Fife to see what they had to say about "Tying a Knot in the Devil's Tail". The Gail Gardner lyrics they use don't contain anything like "cow pyrography". Instead, it's "I'm tired of the smell of burning hair and 'lows I'm goin' to town..." It does have the "Sierry Petes" though. Another interesting word in the lyric is "rodeer", as in "Ole Sandy\ Bob and Buster Jig (sic) / Had a rodeer camp last fall." (Published by Clarkson N. Potter, 1969) Sourdough |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: katlaughing Date: 28 Aug 99 - 05:30 PM As suggested, I have asked the Glen Canyon folks to forward an invitation to Ms. Katie Lee to come join us. Frank, I mentioned you and Sandy as enticements:-) Lil'Ranger: welcome to the Mudcat. You will find us a respectfully contentious lot, with vast amounts of knowledge and BS mixed well, shaken down, and formed into usually informed opinions, soliloquies, outright BS, again! and various other forms of camaraderie! All entries are welcome! In general, we respect no one person as the ultimate authority on any subject (well, except Max, on the Mudcat itself, as he's the Creator & owner of it!), preferring instead to have lively, mostly intelligent discussions, agreeing to disagree or not, with huge amounts of irreverence and humor stirred in for good measure. A better and more loving/caring community will not be found on the web. For an idea of just how caring, spend some time going through any of the old threads with Catspaw aka 'Spaw, in the title. He's one of our Resident Irreverents who almost plugged out on us this Spring and I've never seen such an outpouring of care, offers of assistance, and concern from such a diverse group of people, most of whom have never laid eyes on one another. So come sit a spell, join in, sing your songs, and share. Welcome to the site where "Mud is thicker than water!" katlaughing |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Frank Hamilton Date: 28 Aug 99 - 04:13 PM Sandy, I think Gail Gardner meant cow-pie-rography. He was a stickler for detail like Katie Lee (I knew her when she wore a green dress with sequins, played a shiny guitar and went by the name of Kay Lee). Gardner ran me over the coals for not identifying him as the author (I didn't know it at the time) and for botching the liner notes in a feeble attempt to explain what I thought the song was about rather than getting it "right". He said about me, (and rightly so) "Some folks don't know which end of the horse is up." If he were alive today, I would make sure that he got all three cents in royalties for my use of his song (indicating how many records it sold). Now he was a real cowboy and may have heard some horses sing folk music. :) Frank Hamilton |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Sandy Paton Date: 28 Aug 99 - 02:40 PM Of course, if one prefers to omit the difficult-to-pronounce "r" in cow-pyrography, one does come up with "cow-pie-ography" which clearly refers to another subject altogether. Maybe he was tired of making boot-heel impressions in some of those steaming pasture pastries or meadow wafers, as Utah Phillips called them in his "moose turd pie" story. Just a thought. Sandy (still dealing with semantics) |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Sandy Paton Date: 28 Aug 99 - 12:39 PM No, the term we're discussing is "cow-pyrography." The term isn't too complicated. Pyro as in pyromania, pyrotechnics, etc. Cowboys used to read a lot, y'know. If a cowboy sings the shape-note hymn "Samanthra," it may then be a "cowboy's song," but that doesn't make it a "cowboy song." Subtle distinction? Mebbe so, but I think it makes sense. Sandy |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Little Ranger Date: 28 Aug 99 - 12:13 PM How-dee. I think I might have a few interesting thoughts to add to the thread. I'm in a band that performs nothing but Cowboy music and poetry, based in Garland, Tx. I don't know much about the general procedure here, so I'll put my e-addy here (don't use this one much, anyway). rngrmasaki@yahoo.com In "Tying a Knot in the Devil's Tail", the term you're discussing is 'cowpiography,' right? The version I've always known says "I'm tired of this cowography, and I 'llows how I'm goin' to town" In any case, why all the discussion about a term that was used (A) as a beat filler (B) as a cowboy's attempt at upper-class language? If the discussion was all a joke, apologies. If not, I hope that helps. Send e-mails, threats, etc to the e-mail listed above. BTW, my favourites are "The Master's Call" (performed by Marty Robbins), "Old Tascosa" (Randy Welch [my father]), "Great American Cowboy" (don't remember the author, but it's performed by the Sons of the San Joaquin), and "The Old Chisholm Trail" (too many to list) JW Any song a cowboy sings is a cowboy song, and we're all Cowboys at Heart. |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: katlaughing Date: 28 Aug 99 - 11:20 AM Go get 'em, WW. Wonder if that's the same song I've been sending by MediaRing. Mom and Dad used to sing us to sleep with, but there wasn't any yodel attached. Okay...as Doug/Darkriver kindly pointed out to me...Bookfinder has a picky, picky search engine! If one enters just Katie Lee, not too many show up; if one enters the book title and Ms. Lee's name, same thing; BUT if one enters just the title "Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle" with goddam spelled without an n, there are all kinds of copies available in all price ranges, JUST like he said! Yea! Thanks Doug/DR!!! Happy Trails, kat |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: WyoWoman Date: 28 Aug 99 - 10:41 AM I'm heading off to the Old Time Country Music contest to enter my voice in the singer competition. My song is "Prairie Lullaby" that Don Edwards did on one of his CDs. It's just a beautiful melody, with a lilting yodel at the end. Wish me luck. Hope I find a guitarist... These last-minute deals. Sigh. WyoWoman |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Frank Hamilton Date: 28 Aug 99 - 09:45 AM Thanks Sandy, I knew I could count on you to clear that up for me. That's why I asked. Cow-pyrography makes sense. Or in the mind of Rusty Jiggs, it didn't make sense. :) Frank Hamilton |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Rasta Date: 28 Aug 99 - 01:13 AM Well, my favorite cowboy song might be Way Out There and perhaps a pre-borderline cowboy song might be The Ballad of the Alamo by Marty Robbins, though it's quite pre cowboy I feel very western when I hear it--Rastaa |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: _gargoyle Date: 28 Aug 99 - 01:12 AM Dear laugh kat
I MUST sincerely questiion the veracity of
ANYONE that can jump into as many DIVERGENT threads as you do....
with substance less than eiderdown. |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Sandy Paton Date: 28 Aug 99 - 01:05 AM Okay, let me go at a few of the questions raised above. PYROGRAPHY was the old woodburning art (remember those electric woodburning sets we often got as kids?). Hence: COW-PYROGRAPHY (the proper word in the song) was simply branding steers or mavericks, as Buster Jiggs and Sandy Bob were doing before they went to town, got likkered up, and ended up tying that knot in the devil's tail. Neat song! There's a great 2-volume set of old-time cowboy songs on Yazoo, includes cuts by Jules Allen, Ken Maynard, etc. A real "must have" that Wally probably has at Camsco. And be sure to check out the Rounder release from the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture: Cowboy Songs, Ballads, and Cattle Calls from Texas. All but two of the 13 cuts are from John A. Lomax's 1930s field recordings. That's Rounder CD 1512, and Wally probably has it, too. I also have it, but Wally has first dibs on these recordings through Mudcat's shop. Skip Gorman did two western recordings for Folk-Legacy (Powder River, with Ron Kane, and Trail to Mexico), neither of which have been re-released a CDs yet, but they are available as cassettes. He has made two CDs for Rounder. You can scout these out on the Rounder web page, or check to see if Wally has them listed through Camsco in the Mudcat shop. Hope this helps you build your western repertoire! Sandy |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Frank of Toledo Date: 28 Aug 99 - 12:32 AM Skip Gorman is another one to listen to. Did many fine sessions with Caroline & Sandy, playing pretty neat fiddle and I think he has a Rounder CD out of cowboy songs. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. Also Frank Hamilton, can't seem to get me e mail to connect for some reason or another, so here is me phone number 1 541 336 5743 anytime and I'll give you a schedule of our concerts and maybe we can have you out here. Sandy and Caroline are going to be out here in early March. Speaking of cowby music I'm listening to Don Edward, Rich O'Brien and Peter Rowan on Gene Autry's 90 birthday recording on Shanachie. |
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Subject: RE: Favourite cowboy songs From: Dale Rose Date: 28 Aug 99 - 12:22 AM Tell ya what, Arkie, I've never heard R E K do that, but I'd sure put Tom Russell's version up against it. We'll compare notes later! I'd also add a couple by Ian Tyson, Michael Martin Murphey, and certainly some of the old timers, Carl T Sprague, Jules Verne Allen, Harry McClintock, plus some I likely am not thinking of at the moment. I'll have to work on this some more. |
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