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Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Mudlark Date: 19 Mar 03 - 04:16 PM For good old-fashioned country-western sentimentality there is nothing better than the Mom and Dad’s Waltz. On a lighter but more lugubrious note, Tyson's Darcy Farrow. And I think Pancho and Lefty is one of the great all-time Western theme songs. Also, Oklahoma Hills ("Way down yonder in the Indian Nation...") by Jack Guthrie is fun to sing, ditto Waiting for a Train (All around the Water Tank), by I think Jimmie Rodgers? |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Jim Colbert Date: 19 Mar 03 - 01:58 PM Boy, I never really thought of Spoon River (written by Mike Smith, I believe) to be a cowboy/western song... but I can see how you could due to the time frame. Did Masters have a specific time frame in mind? I honestly can't recall. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Sandy Mc Lean Date: 19 Mar 03 - 12:59 PM Woody's great song "Philadelphia Lawyer" is in the DT. This was one cowboy that you didn't mess with! |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: BUTTERFLY Date: 19 Mar 03 - 12:55 PM Dave Oesterreich (5.3.2000) mentioned the song "Bury Me Out on the Prairie" with lyrics: "Wrap me up in my blanket, Bury me deep in the ground Cover me over with boulders Of granite, gray and round." This seems to come from "I've Got No Use for the Women". Although not deeply into Cowboy songs this is one of the best tunes in the "Cowboy Song" section of a CD-ROM I purchased from Rod Smith in England not too long back (it contains the lyrics and music for over 6,000 songs, mainly folk-oriented, for less than £20 (c. $30). The other nice tunes in this section have mostly been mentioned either under the same names as on the CD-ROM, eg "The Trail to Mexico", "Streets of Laredo" or others, eg "Stern Old Bachelor" is presumably the same as "Little Old Sod Shanty". However, 2 very nice ones ("Hell in Texas" and "Sioux Indians") have not been mentioned by anyone yet. Some of these songs are on the website www.traditionalmusic.co.uk though unfortunately many have had to be removed from the website "due to restrictions on band width". Worth checking this out (I have no connection with Mr. Smith other than as a satisfied customer. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: allanwill Date: 19 Mar 03 - 12:18 PM A couple of Steve Goodman songs, Roving Cowboy and Spoon River, would fit very nicely. Allan |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Amos Date: 19 Mar 03 - 11:54 AM Actually, I have loved Night Rider's Lament ever since I learned it from Mudjack last summer. A |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: ard mhacha Date: 19 Mar 03 - 11:47 AM I had an old recording of Woody Guthrie singing I Ride an Old Paint, which I always liked, and then I heard Linda Ronstadt singing this song a few weeks ago, pure magic. So, Old Paint is tops. Bing Crosby singing Home on the Range, and Hank Williams, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, pure poetry. Ard Mhacha. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Wesley S Date: 19 Mar 03 - 11:17 AM Theres a new CD out entitled "High Lonesome Cowboy" by Peter Rowan and Don Edwards. They are joined by Tony Rice and Norman Blake. I can't recommend it enough. I'm sure you'll like it. Great cowboy songs with a bit of a bluegrass edge to it. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Bill D Date: 19 Mar 03 - 10:49 AM if you go to Rose, the Record Lady, you can HEAR many cowboy and C&W songs....many means several thousand! click here to see a list by title. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Midchuck Date: 19 Mar 03 - 10:44 AM Two new ones that I've just learned and have been singing to the point of driving those around me crazy: Bandolier, by Jack Hardy, off his new CD of the same title. Mick Ryan's Lament, from the Tim O'Brien Two Journeys CD. (The melody is "Garryowen>") Peter. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Jim Colbert Date: 19 Mar 03 - 10:32 AM You can't go wrong with virtually anything from Marty Robbins's Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, or Tom Russell's Cowboy Real and Songs from the West. I was always fond of Art Thieme's rendering of Cowboy's Barbara Allen too... and Dobie Bill. I guess that's more a gunfighter song than a cowboy song if you want to split horsehairs. I'd reckon my absolute favorites, albeit not traditional, are Russell's The Sky Above, The Mud Below; Sonora's Death Row as recorded by Richard Shindell (yes, don't argue with me, it was on a relatively rare sampler which is available- drop me a line if you're interested) and Marty's recording of Utah Carroll. And yes, there is at least one Sons of the Pioneers disc in print; Collectors Choice Music has it- my wife got it for me for Christmas this year. jim |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Seamus Kennedy Date: 19 Mar 03 - 02:30 AM Open Mike, probably The Bard Of Armagh, Seamus |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: open mike Date: 19 Mar 03 - 02:11 AM i heard an irish song on st pat's and the tune was st. of laredo- any one know which song this would have been? i forgot what the irish lyrics were, cuz when i heard it i jsut kept thinking of that young man with the face of clay...and the outfit of a cowboy. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Rapparee Date: 19 Mar 03 - 01:02 AM Little Joe the Wrangler Zebra Dun Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing Old Shep The Old Chisholm Trail (both the clean and bawdy versions) come to mind right now. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Amos Date: 18 Mar 03 - 11:23 PM Well, I have always been partial to "Lavender Cowboy" and (beggin' your pardons ma'ams, and present company excepted of course) "I've Got No Use for the Women". I love "The Strawberry Roan" and the standards like "Old Paint" "The Old Chisholm Trail" and "Git Along, Little Dogies", and probably the most-shagged song of all time, "Streets of Laredo". A |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: GUEST Date: 18 Mar 03 - 11:14 PM Just happened to stumble onto this forum while searching for the lyrics to Glenn Ohrlin's "My Harding County Home". I am a college student, living away from my Harding County home (the song's true namesake and subject!)--a copy of the lyrics would mean alot to me! Much thanks in advance! |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Alice Date: 08 Mar 00 - 03:19 PM These are not necessarily my favorite cowboy songs, but I thought I would add this to the thread for those who may be interested. I have an old 1933 songbook of songs of the West that I found in my family's stack of old sheet music. The cover is torn off, but most of the songs are there. These are songs that were popular enough out here to be included in the songbook. The Man On the Flying Trapeze may seem out of place, but it was very popular, and my grandparents used to play it at country dances. Whoopee Ti Yi Yo, Git Along, Little Dogies Red River Valley (Liz, I've never heard the verse you mention) The Man on the Flying Trapeze (8 verses) Old Paint Jesse James, The Train Robbery Just My Gal and I Great Grand-Dad Hard Luck I Should Like To Marry The Big Rock Candy Mountain (hobo song, really) She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain The Cowboy Blanche, The Pride of the Ranch When the Work's All Done This Fall My Love Is A Rider [Bucking Bronco?] The Dreary, Dreary Life They Dying Cowboy (Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie)
Ten Thousand Cattle /a>
Old Zip Coon (Turkey in the Straw)
Night Herding Song (Slow Dogie Slow)
The Last Request
Wait For The Wagon
The Little Red Caboose behind the Train
Billy Boy
If you need the music, let me know and I will scan and post pages to my website.
Alice Flynn in Montana |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Kim C Date: 08 Mar 00 - 02:38 PM Ohmagawd, I LOVE cowboy music. It's my true first love but believe it or not, here in Tennessee, there ain't much call for yodelers. My all-time favorite cowboy song is Michael Burton's Night Rider's Lament. I just love the lonesome feel of the song, plus it is one of the first songs I yodeled in public. So it's a little special. Also, the Great Don Edwards recorded Badger Clark's poem, "A Bad Half Hour" to the tune of "Annie Laurie." This makes me bawl no matter how many times I hear it. The downside is that I think of it whenever I perform Annie Laurie! Oh well. I really love all the old songs, plus a bunch of the new ones (Ian Tyson & Don Edwards especially). The Cowboy Celtic album ain't too bad. Regards ---Kim |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: BlueSage Date: 08 Mar 00 - 01:59 PM I'm astonished that "Blue Mountain" made this list as much as it has. I had no idea that the popularity of this "Utah" tune had spread out across the country. I learned the song about 20 years ago from a field recording in the Austin Fife archives residing at Utah State University. If anyone is passing through the southern Utah town of Monticello, stop at the city park. On the south side of the park are mounted some tubes which, when looked through, will focus your eyes on the "horse head" mentioned in the song. This is a natural feature of the mtn. and is quite interesting. I believe "Blue Mtn." is sort of the unofficial anthem of south-eastern Utah! Mike Iverson |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Songster Bob Date: 08 Mar 00 - 12:53 AM I sing the original version of "A Border Affair (Spanish is the Loving Tongue)", with its unconscious racist line "She was Mex and I was white," though in performance I usually repeat the line "They want me for that gambling fight." Whatever line I sing, it's still one of my favorite Western songs. My trio, "Sidekicks," does mostly Western songs, so I've heard a lot of the ones mentioned already. Another great one is "Old Bill Pickett," about a black cowboy and rodeo star of the 20s, but it's not "beautiful" the way some of the others mentioned here are. If Sidekicks ever does a recording (more than our four-song demo, that is), more folks will have the chance to hear George Stephens sing "Blue Mountain" or "Night Rider's Lament" or "Stockman's Last Bed" (an Aussie drover song). That's a treat to look forward to, as some of the DC folks can attest to. Bob Clayton |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: TheOldMole Date: 07 Mar 00 - 08:32 PM Speaking of Jimmy Stewart westerns, what about the themes from "The Man From Laramie" and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"? |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: John in Brisbane Date: 07 Mar 00 - 08:04 PM Thanks Metchosin - I am only vaguely aware of Sons of the Pioneers. The old fashioned vocal harmonies that I've heard a long time ago were really great. Does anyone know if the harmonies are in print anywhere? Regards, John |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Metchosin Date: 07 Mar 00 - 12:31 AM John it was written by Nolan and as one of the Sons of the Pioneers was Bob Nolan, I would assume it was him. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: GUEST,Axeman Date: 06 Mar 00 - 11:37 PM Would have to be Willie Nelson's "The Red Headed Stranger". Used to listen to it under the high plains night skies... bands of the Milky Way were so close we could touch 'em. -Axe' |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: John in Brisbane Date: 06 Mar 00 - 11:35 PM I particularly like 'Tumbling Tumbleweeds' because it's fairly demanding to sing well and the tune is written in three separate parts which don't follow the predictable sequence of verse, chorus, middle eight, etc. It was probably written in Tin Pan Alley somewhere - does anyone know, please? Regards, John |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: GUEST,Frankie Date: 06 Mar 00 - 11:28 PM Thanks, Liz, that's something to go on anyway. It sounds like a very different take on the RRV I'm used to. As for the longhorn cow song, I learned it around a Texas campfire but it may well have wound up in Hollywood. Regards, Frankie PS Another good one is Roundup Time in Texas [When the Bloom Is on the Sage] which has a fun, ragtimey feel to it. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: ddw Date: 06 Mar 00 - 10:23 PM Thumbing thru my albums today looking for the Hank Jr. tune I mentioned in my post above and found it; it's called Twodot Montana. I also came across the John Anderson tune I was trying to mention above and found — to my embarrassment — that it's really called "An Occasional Eagle," not "Sometimes An Eagle." They say the memory's the second thing to go and I can't remember what the first is.... david|
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Liz the Squeak Date: 06 Mar 00 - 08:58 PM Nope, sorry, lost them in a paper purge we had last year. All I remember is the chorus that went something like:
So stay for a while ere you leave me The verse I referred to said something like 'When you lie with the white girl you married, remember the red loved you more.... or something of that sentiment. I really wish I knew where I could find it. Mind you, there was a pretty good version on the Slim Whitman album of the same name, back in 1970something. Of course, I am probably wrong and someone will come up with the proper version, sometime, I don't care.... I'm terrible at remembering songs anyway.... But I do remember the bit about the longhorn cow, we used to sing that at guides! Wasn't it the theme from some James Stewart film? LTS |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Lanfranc Date: 06 Mar 00 - 07:20 PM I finally remembered the name of the Don McLean song I mentioned earlier - Bronco Bill's Lament. I forgot about El Paso, that was the first ever 45 single that I bought as a kid. OK, Marty Robbins isn't folk, but that song is probably one of the better narrative western ballads. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Rex Date: 06 Mar 00 - 06:31 PM Nobody mentioned "Windy Bill" yet. Rex |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Dan Evergreen Date: 06 Mar 00 - 11:49 AM Dean Martin sang two good ones in "Rio Bravo" I've never heard anywhere else: "Purple Eyes," and "My Rifle, My Pony and Me." |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: LC Date: 05 Mar 00 - 10:50 PM Has to be Marty Robbins', "El Paso". Being a child of the 60's & 70's I also really like Michael Murphy / Monkees, "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?" and Seals and Crofts', "Dust on My Saddle". I'm 6'4" and 210 lbs, but Dan Seals' "Everything that Glitters" gets me misty every time I hear it. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: GUEST,The Beanster Date: 05 Mar 00 - 10:05 PM Dear OldMole (love that name!) Thank you so much for answering my (Ghost) Riders in the Sky question. I am going on the hunt immediately! Thanx again. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Ely Date: 05 Mar 00 - 09:46 PM "Hills of Mexico" "Good-Bye, Old Paint" "Jesse James" (Golden Ring version preferred--sorry, I grew up with it) "Mining for Gold" (trad words, on Cowboy Junkies' _Trinity Sessions_) Will always like N. Blake's "Billy Gray" even though I try not to fall hard for sappy songs. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: TheOldMole Date: 05 Mar 00 - 09:22 PM (Ghost) Riders in the Sky, a great song, was a pop hit for crooner Vaughn Monroe. There's also a really nice Hank, Jr. song about Doc Holliday. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: BlueSage Date: 05 Mar 00 - 07:45 PM I'm overwhelmed by the response to my plea for song suggestions. Many of the recommended songs are already in my repretoire, but many are new to me. This will give me a great place to start searching for new material. Thanks again for all great suggestions.....Mike Iverson |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Callie Date: 05 Mar 00 - 06:11 PM Liz: are you able to post the words you know to RRV? I also never knew the real song. It was taught to us at age 8 to learn basic guitar chords. By the way, that Don McLean song mentioned earlier is on his Live album from yonks ago. Dunno the name of the song, but it's not at all glamorous. The cowboy wants to do himself in. --Callie |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: ddw Date: 05 Mar 00 - 06:03 PM Just remembered the other album in Ian Tyson's cowboy series. It's called "And Stood There Amazed." The title comes from the second or third verse of "Home on the Rangee" — and I think it was the first time I'd ever heard anything past the first verse of that tune. Just a by-the-by — Ian does dynamite versions of Navajo Rug and Night Rider's Lament in this series, plus a lot of other songs that have been mentioned above by other artists. And don't take it that I'm slighting any of the other performers like Utah Phillips and The Sons of the Pioneers — They're great too. There's also Marty Robbins, who did some great songs, albeit a little too slickly for my tastes in some instances. cheers david |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: GUEST,punkypony Date: 05 Mar 00 - 05:56 PM All this cowboy stuff reminded me of a song, I think it's called "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky." Very haunting, recorded eons ago. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Is it famous? |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: ddw Date: 05 Mar 00 - 05:42 PM I know somebody mentioned Ian Tyson's Old Corrals and Sagebrush in an earlier posting, but it was just the first of a set of "Cowboyography" albums. There are six of them, if I remember correctly and they are excellent from start to finish, tho' the first three have more traditional stuff on them, interspersed with some modern things. The second in the set was just called "Ian Tyson" and "Cowboyography" was the third. After that, all I can remember is one was called "I Outgrew The Wagon" and another was called "18 Inches of Rain." Can't think what the last one was called, but if you can find the first five you'll have a wealth of great material and probably a link to the last one. A couple of other country artists whose stuff you might find interesting — tho' it's usually just a "filler" track in more mainstream country stuff — are John Anderson's "Sometimes an Eagle" and a bunch of Willie Nelson's stuff — The Red Headed Stranger leading that pack. Hank Williams Jr. also does one about a wrongly convicted man breaking out of a prison at Deer Lodge, Montana that's great, tho' I'm not sure of either the album it's on or the exact title. I'll do some looking when I get home and try to post more on those Monday night. cheers david |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Big Red Date: 05 Mar 00 - 10:43 AM For some comic relief, try Gunslinger by the Limeliters. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 05 Mar 00 - 10:04 AM Has anyone mentioned Bury Me Out on the Prairie?
"Wrap me up in my blanket,
I love that lugubrious song. I always did wonder, though, about the availability of granite boulders on the prairie. Oh, well. Dave Oesterreich
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: GUEST,Frankie Date: 05 Mar 00 - 09:39 AM Liz, no need to apologise. I'm only familiar with RRV when sung with verses similar to those found in the database, very close to the ones my mom used to sing when she was cooking dinner. If you can scare up the version you're referring to it might be a good addition to the database. At least, I'd really be interested in it. Good to see you here again. Back on topic, the song Old Texas (goes "I'm going to leave old Texas now, They've got no use for the longhorn cow.") is one of my favorites and is in the database although I don't know of any recordings of it. Frankie |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Susan A-R Date: 05 Mar 00 - 09:22 AM Hmmm, then there's Tom Lehrer's The Wild West Is Where I Want to Be. (uh oh, I guess I'm in one of those moods today, and I haven't even finished my first cup of coffee.) |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Timehiker Date: 05 Mar 00 - 09:06 AM Kat, You are right about Chris Ledoux's earlier recordings, they are more traditional than his later ones. Can't blame him for taking advantage of his commercial oportunities. I'd be willing to bet that, if you were to sit with him on his front porch, it would be the old ones he'd sing. Something about horse sweat and dust, the only way to get it out of you is to sing. Take care, Timehiker |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Liz the Squeak Date: 05 Mar 00 - 04:58 AM Oh, Frankie, I'm sorry, I'm just an old cynic who did the American Indians as a school project, and upset my teacher because I mentioned syphilis - this was aged about 10.... not knowing that she was Canadian, part Huron and her great grandmother had died of the same disease, given her by a white 'cowboy during rape. Red River Valley, or at least the version I learnt, clearly has the NA telling the cowpoke that although he marries a white girl, the "red maiden loves you the best". See where I get the cynicism? LTS |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Metchosin Date: 05 Mar 00 - 03:07 AM I can't think of any more traditional ones that haven't already been mentioned, but if you feel up to a bit of yodeling please check out Don Walser's "Cowpoke" on Archive Series, Vol II, its magic. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Owlkat Date: 05 Mar 00 - 03:03 AM Hi hi, "My Sweet Wyoming Home", by Bill Staines (but water takes it out). Such a mellow relaxing tune to hear and sing. He's also a nice guy, which helps. Cheers, Owl. |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: Sabra Date: 05 Mar 00 - 02:19 AM YES! Finally someone mentioned Rider's In the Sky (group, not the song, although song is cool too! Everything I know about cowboy music (& neo-cowboy humour)I learned from Too Slim, Ranger Doug, and Woody Paul...can't rave enough about their hilarious radio show that NPR used to carry. Does anyone know where they might have archived recordings of it? I never heard the end of "Meltdown on the Mesa" However,to return this post to the thread topic a bit...The Riders are great collectors of cowboy songs and their recordings are not only excellent, but a gold mine of information as well!! |
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Subject: RE: Your favorite cowboy/western folk songs From: TheOldMole Date: 05 Mar 00 - 02:00 AM Another song about shagging a girl of a different race is "The Yellow Rose of Texas," done beautifully by Michael Martin Murphey on "Cowboy Songs." That album also has a great Ian Tyson song called "Cowboy Pride." Did anyone mention Jerry Jeff Walker's "Navajo Rug" album? And there's a wonderful song by Woody Guthrie called "Belle Starr," never recorded by Woody. In fact, he never wrote music to it, but Pete Seeger did, and put it on an album of cowboy songs by various artists. And you can't forget Frankie Laine. I know how corny he is, but I still love him. Funniest cowboy album...Riders In The Sky, "The Cowboy Way." |
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