Season 269 - Cowboy Songs

Cowboy songs are not really in my repertoire so I've bent the rules slightly. This is the theme song for the TV show Firefly, originally performed by Sunny Rhodes.

Serenity is the name of a Firefly-class space ship, that might leave you scratching your head but the show was a pretty good amalgamation of the Western and Sci-Fi dramas, so I think it counts.

 



Hi Randy! Thank you for the week! This is "Desperado" (more Linda Ronstadt's version than The Eagles') I wouldn't necessarily have thought of this as a "Cowboy Song", but it seems to appear on all the lists, and, anyway, I like it. (Apologies for the slightly (?) dodgy voice ... I have hay fever, or a cold, or something.)
 
Here is a link to pictures of the hats worn by the first cowboys, Hawaiians! https://www.pinterest.com/konalance/paniolo-the-true-first-cowboys-of-america/

In 1832, Kamehameha III sent one of his high chiefs to California to hire cowboys who could round up wild cattle and teach Hawaiians cattle and horse handling skills. Three Mexican-Spanish vaquero (cowboys) named Kossuth, Louzeida and Ramon began working on Hawai`i island, first breaking in horses to turn them into working animals, then rounding up and handling hordes of cattle.

Hawaii's cowboys became known as paniola, a corruption of español, the language the vaquero spoke. The term still refers to cowboys working in the Islands and to the culture their lifestyle spawned.

Hawaiians proved themselves avid students, quickly picking up horsemanship, roping and other skills. Hawaiians became paniolo before the territories of the American West had cowboy or ranch traditions. Cowboys in the Pacific Northwest got their start in 1846; in California and Texas it was 1848. Because Hawaiians began their work with cattle and horses earlier, their paniolo traditions were strongly shaped by the Mexican vaquero heritage that stemmed originally from Spain.

Wow! That was really interesting Janet - of course in 1832 California - & Texas - were still Mexican provinces, weren't they?

If I've got that right, those photos date from about 1908, don't they? In general, I'd be wary of judging what people in the Old West (<1900) wore in their everyday lives from photo evidence alone. Exposure times were long and glass plates expensive, and so most photos had to be posed - not staged, exactly, but if you were invited to sit for your photo - and the photographer hoped to sell you a print from the session - isn't it likely you'd change into your Sunday best for the occasion? Also, once the cowboys had been paid off, they would want to change out of/get rid of their workwear as quickly as possible and get some decent togs to go boozing in - just like we do today.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a wide variety of headgear was worn, but what was worn to rope cattle, and what was worn for a photo session wouldn't necessarily be the same thing.

But while we're chasing down this (very enjoyable) rabbithole, it's worth remembering that 'cowboy' was originally an insult (as it still is in the UK - as Keith has already reminded us) - young men in their prime, denied of female companionship for months at a stretch, surrounded by thousands of pairs of big brown eyes just gazing at them day after day... "cowboy" was simply a slightly less insulting term than "cowpoke" :eek:
 
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Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling

...ahem...



On reflection, I'm not certain if this is exactly a cowboy song, but it's certainly a song of the Old West.
 
Songs about Cowboys? Songs written by Cowboys? Songs Cowboys sang? Its all so confusing Randy! Here's a Poem about cowboys written by a cowboy and recited by a lad who knows how to deal with a lot of Bull!

 
Season 269. Submission 1. "The Cowboy In You" (An Original by Turtledrum) Words and Music Copyright Linda Opyr, 2016.


Randy, here's a cowgirl song for you. I wrote this back in May, but have rerecorded it here with improved audio and a new vid.


 
And the Western Wonderfulness continues! Yee Haw!

AlanDP • Me and Billy the Kid • Fun song! Thanks for introducing me to it!

Gary Country • Ghost Riders In The Sky • Great song choice, love your playing!

Jazzbanjorex • Hawaiian Cowboy • I love this song! I first heard it from the Riders myself, but later learned it was originally done by Roy Rogers. Good job, needs some yodeling, though! :)

thesillydave • Along The Navajo Trail • First, I can see by your outfit that you are fabulous! Love the song, I think this is the Season's first Bob Wills. Just excellent! Good whistling too!

thesillydave • Texas Plains • Now that's a cowboy song! Yee ha!

pabrizzer • Ned Kelly • Great song, well done. Great shirt, too!

pabrizzer • My Rifle My Pony And Me • This song is well-deserving of an encore! I am so impressed my your knowledge and obvious love of the genre. So much goodness here. I hope you have more cowboy shirts!

RAB11 • The Ballad of Serenity • Good song, it has a real "cowboy" vibe to it. I think I'll grant it a special Nathan Fillion exemption! Well done!

LimosinLil • Desperado • I love Linda Ronstadt's version of this. Well done! Your voice sounds wonderful!

redpaul1 • High Noon • I was hoping that someone would do this song. I think it's a difficult song. Good job!

IAmNoMan • Knotting The Devil's Tail • Well this is just something special and wonderful! A welcome addition to the Season, thanks for doing this!

turtledrum • The Cowboy In You • This is such a lovely song. Thanks for reviving it for this Season! This melody is gonna stick with me for a while.
 
First: I'm impressed by the amount of outfits we're entertained with.

A YT-search for cowboy songs also brought Johnny Cash, mmm? This a cowboy song?
I did it (and hope to deliver another). I'm still not that good in keeping rhythm...

 
OK I hope we have established that Tom Russell writes cowboy song with a Tex-Mex slant.
I was going to do this song for QUESTIONS WEEK but never got around to it but perhaps
I can slip it in here since it deals with the ultimate outlaws... those seeking work and a better
life... but are so often labeled by the BAD HOMBRES as being bad hombres.



I've got 800 miles of open border
Right outside my door
Theres minute men in little pick up trucks
Who've declared their own damn war

Now the government wants to build
A barrier like old Berlin 8 feet tall
But if uncle Sam sends the illegals home
Whos gonna build the wall?

Who's gonna build your wall boys?
Who's gonna mow your lawn?
Who's gonna cook your Mexican food
When your Mexican maid is gone?

Who's gonna wax the floors tonight
Down at the local mall?
Who's gonna wash your babys face?
Who's gonna build your wall?

Now I aint got no politics
So dont lay that rap on me
Left wing, right wing, up wing, down wing
I see strip malls from sea to shining sea

Its the fat cat white developer
Whos created this whole damn squall
Its a pyramid scheme of dirty jobs
And whos gonna build your wall?

Who's gonna build your wall boys?
Who's gonna mow your lawn?
Who's gonna cook your Mexican food
When your Mexican maid is gone?

Who's gonna wax the floors tonight
Down at the local mall?
Whos gonna wash your babys face?
Whos gonna build your wall?

We've got fundamentalist Muslims
We've got fundamentalist Jews
We've got fundamentalist Christians
They'll blow the whole thing up for you

But as I travel around this big old world
There's one thing that I most fear
Its a white man in a golf shirt
With a cell phone in his ear

Who's gonna build your wall boys?
Who's gonna mow your lawn?
Who's gonna cook your Mexican food
When your Mexican maid is gone?
Who's gonna wax the floors tonight
Down at the local mall?
Whos gonna wash your babys face?
Whos gonna build your wall?




 
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Hi Randy! Thank you for the week! This is "Desperado" (more Linda Ronstadt's version than The Eagles') I wouldn't necessarily have thought of this as a "Cowboy Song", but it seems to appear on all the lists, and, anyway, I like it. (Apologies for the slightly (?) dodgy voice ... I have hay fever, or a cold, or something.)


I have just found out that I have been blocked in the States for copyright infringement by UMPG publishing. It's never happened to me before and there doesn't appear to be anything I can do about it; so, if you wanted to watch in the States, I apologise! Oh, dear ... I shall have to think of something else!
 
I have just found out that I have been blocked in the States for copyright infringement by UMPG publishing. It's never happened to me before and there doesn't appear to be anything I can do about it; so, if you wanted to watch in the States, I apologise! Oh, dear ... I shall have to think of something else!

The Eagles strike again! Happily for me, I have never had the urge to play one of their songs.
 
Well think of it as a compliment. Your performance is obviously so good it's fooled Google's bots into believing you are the Eagles! :)
 
Actually, that might be a good candidate for a sticky: Don't Cover These Bands: or you'll get banned* yourself!"

Eagles, Supertramp, any more for any more?

*see what I did there?
 
Actually, that might be a good candidate for a sticky: Don't Cover These Bands: or you'll get banned* yourself!"

Eagles, Supertramp, any more for any more?

*see what I did there?

Well, come on then, as a rank beginner I need to know ... so no "Eagles", no "Supertramp" and, er, who else????? (And, yes, I saw what you did there ... SO clever!)
 
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Well, come on then, as a rank beginner I need to know ... so no "Eagles", no "Supertramp" and, er, who else?????

Well, I don't know. I know Supertramp 'cos Rex got a copyright strike for covering one of their numbers, and I know that Glenn Frey was particular avid in his pursuit of Eagles' covers on YT, but I don't know any others (someone may have said Prince, but I really don't know).

That's why I thought a sticky might be useful. It could be added to as and when people got busted for a copyright infringement.
Incidentally, I think that all those 'Fair Use' disclaimers you see in cover versions do about as much to stop you getting busted as a prayer to St Christopher before you set off on a car journey does to stop you from getting rear-ended (see what I did there?).
 
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