I've been watching a lot of the old B&W cowboy movies, lately, including Gene Autry's. I was too young to see them as a kid, so it's been fun to see a few, esp. the ones which include singing, and often, a Bob Wills-type band.

Anyway, I saw one yesterday called Along the Rio Grande with Tim Holt. He wasn't the one doing the playing and they didn't run the credits, but it sure looked as though the cowboys were really musicians. One thing I noticed which I've never seen before was the guitar players both strummed/picked along the neck, rather than over the sound hole. They sounded good, but I am wondering why they do it that way. Is it a particular style or some kind of special effect or were they faking it?

Thanks!