I think there's bean a couple of threads on this. You might do a forum search for more. My dad sang us all the old cowboy songs he learned as a kid growing up on a ranch in Colorado. Most of them can be found in the reprint edition of Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads collected by John A. & Alan Lomax. The reprint I have came out in 1986 and is published by Macmillan Pub. Co.

Some of my personal favourites include The Strawberry Roan; When the Work's All Done This Fall; Zebra Dun; Little Joe the Wrangler; and Billy Vanero. I just learned a new one I'd never heard before, which was done beautifully by the Mudcat's own Art Thieme called Night Rider's Lament. He also did a couple of others which are really pretty including Blue Mountain and The Cowboy's Barbara Allen. I think most of these should be in the Digitrad Database. In case you are not familiar with it, just look up in the top right of this page and choose either to type in a title and click on "go", or look it up alphabetically. There are literally thousands of song lyrics in the database.

For some cowboy midi files click here

Most of us have a program called MediaRing, which allows us to send voice messages up to 15 minutes long for FREE to someones email address or the telephone number for their computer. If you would like to hear any of the tunes to the above, send me a personal message, through the Mudcat, with your email address and/or phone number & I will do my best (voice only).

Also, my dad is making a new tape of cowboy songs for me and one other Mudcatter who'd expressed an interest. It is just done on a little 4 track home outfit, but he's 82, has been doing it since he was a little kid and has his own amazing database of songs in his head. He plays banjo, guitar, mandolin, keyboard, and fiddle. Ssome of the ones in the DigiTrad may have midi files to click on to hear, also.

Happy Trails,

katlaughing