Season 269 - Cowboy Songs

Here's a song by Ray Whitley. Land Of The Open Range from the movie of the same name.
 
Still struggling with the voice!! But still singing anyway :) How could I possibly skip COWBOY week!! Here's one about a cowboy and cowgirl.

 
What a great day on the trail! There's a lot of miles between us and Kansas City, and that means there's plenty of time for plenty of songs, pardners!

AlanDP • Night Herding Song • More Don Edwards goodness! Great song choice, wonderful rendition!

wee_ginga_yin* • San Antonio Champagne • Really good song, new to me! Thanks for bringing it to the Season!

decaturcomp • Desperados Waiting • Ooh, I love your take on this. The Highwaymen's version, while excellent, was quite strident. Yours is personal and intimate. I like this a lot!

Barbablanca • Western Myths • Really good song. Much of the mythos of the Old West was not created by Hollywood, it was manufactured by actual western characters such as Buffalo Bill Cody who staged Wild West shows across America, Ned Buntline who wrote dime novels and Bat Masterson, a columnist who created his own legend about himself and the Old West. I'm still not convinced that derbies were more common than wider-brimmed hats for cowboy work, though! :)

kolibri • Kivilinna kurb kauboi • Oh boy, that was very interesting! I love it! Terrific performance.

RAB11 • Blaze of Glory • Good job - I like your picking interludes!

greyghost • Streets of Laredo • I like the rumble in your voice on this one.Great old song, well played!

greyghost • Waltz Across Texas • You know the way into my heart: I love Breaking Bad, I love Better Call Saul, and I love Junior Brown! Good job here!

ukuleledaddy • Land of the Open Range • Swooooooooon! Music from a Tim Holt western! You dug deep, and you came out with gold! Ya-Hoo!

bonesigh • Everything that Glitters is Not Gold • Wow, what a powerful, sad song. Your voice sounds terrific.
 
Yodeling ain't my thing, but if you're doing a Gene Autry song, I think it's mandatory. As in many places in the U.S. anyway, there was a local TV cowboy host for children's shows during the '50s and '60s who sang songs in between cartoons and Hal Roach "Our Gang" shorts. In North Carolina, it was Fred Kirby. This was his theme song.

 
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!)

I'm not sure what's true about the blocking but I posted an Eagles song as a "tutorial" and they let it stay. ????
 
Jon did the song ages ago and it just slayed me. I doubt it is still online but I have a copy of it and I watch it from time to time.

After my dad died I went through a lot of his music and Don Edwards was in there. I ran into this song again and I decided to play it at my dad's life celebration we had recently. It seemed fitting. I wish I had recorded it then but I decided to give it another go without all of the tears. Guess I'm still working through some sh*t

 
When this theme was announced, I thought I was in serious trouble. I didn't think I knew any cowboy songs, but it turns out I have a couple. I had one that I was practicing, and with a bit of luck I'll bring it later in the week, but this one kind of took hold of me and I had to learn it and play it. This is from a western movie called "The Proposition."

 
Here is an original written especially for this week. It is inspired by my memories of reading a book, some 30+ years ago, entitled "The Real West" which busted all the myths about the Wild West that Hollywood, especially, had made us believe. It made a great impression on me at the time - but a lot of what it said is now common knowledge. It seems MGM's portrayal of the old west is probably as accurate as our contact with aliens will eventually resemble the encounters in Star Trek

Hollywood never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

I've been watching Michael Portillo's train journey across the West recently (Michael Portillo is a former UK politician who's made several TV series called "Great Railway Journeys") There was an interesting item on Frank & Jesse James in one episode and how they became mythologised.
 
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Greetings,

Is Merle Haggard a cowboy? I hope so, I picked out this gem, Mama Tried. I know his parents were from Oklahoma, and he lived in CA somewhere. Also spent some time in San Quentin jail. So...you decide if he is a cowboy. :)


Ciao


 
Good songs, good debates, good fun! This has been quite a cattle drive so far! Keep on rolling!

hendulele • Boots and Saddle • When I was a kid, we didn't have a cowboy for that show, we had a train engineer, "Colonel Caboose." We did get some train songs, though! I'm a huge Gene Autry fan, I never get sick of his songs or him movies. This is a good choice, thanks for bringing it to this roundup!

Jazzbanjorex • I'd Rather Be A Cowboy • My local uke group plays many John Denver songs, but we haven't played this one yet. I'm gonna correct that, this is a terrific song, and I love your treatment! Nice Powell-painting in the back, too!

AlanDP • Pecos River Queen • Another Don Edwards! You're spoiling me! Well done, this is a really good song!

IAmNoMan • Ballad of Cat Ballou • Oh this was such a great movie, especially Lee Marvin! This is a welcome addition to this Season, thanks!

bonesigh • Sweet Baby James • Not just a great cowboy song, this is one of the greatest songs ever. I love your treatment. Thanks so much!

Jazzbanjorex • Big Iron • There's just something special about a Marty Robbins song, he really could weave a story. Love your background, love your performance!

librainian • Indian Cowboy • A fine addition to the Season! Well done, great, sad, song!

librainian • Coyotes • Oh boy, that is extraordinary. So good.

decaturcomp • Joe Walker's Mare • Wow. Good song, and an amazing performance.

robinboyd • The Rider Song • This is new to me. Good song! Good take on it too!

Ginas uke • Mama Tried • If Merle Haggard ain't a cowboy, there ain't no such thing as cowboys. Good song, thanks for adding it to the Season!
 
Ian Tyson Started out as a Rodeo Rider as a Teenager. He learned guitar while mending from a fall. As such this is an authentic Cowboy song. I have been singing it since the mid '60s. It is my favorite Ian Tyson song.

 
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