Sons of the Pioneers

Artist: Sons of the Pioneers

LP: Sons of the Pioneers Sing Hymns of the Cowboy

Song: "Lord, You Made the Cowboy Happy"

[ listen ]

I found a copy of this 1963 Sons of the Pioneers record at The Shady Lady antique store in Centralia over the weekend. It ended up being one I already had on my shelves...but this copy is mono, rather than stereo, and it also doesn't have the previous owner's name streaked across the top of the cover in permanent black ink...so I've unintentionally upgraded my collection! 

I know it probably seems like I'd think this about all of the songs on this record, but I can't help feeling that "Lord, You Made the Cowboy Happy" would make an excellent soundtrack to a homoerotic soft-core Western-themed short film. And to anyone who would accuse me of not honoring "Reverence in the Western Tradition," I have just two words: Brokeback Mountain. I bet there are lots of lesser-known Western Traditions these lonely, rugged cowboys engaged in that didn't make it into the final cuts of all those John Ford Western films.

[ Sons of the Pioneers in 1963 ]

Ernest Tubb's Texas Troubadours

 Artist: Ernest Tubb's Texas Troubadours

LP: Country Dance Time

Song: "Detour"

[ listen ]

Song: "Leon's Guitar Boogie"

[ listen ]

I'm back. Here are a couple of tunes from this Ernest Tubb (with his Texas Troubadours) record I picked up at Fat Cat Records for just $.99 the other day. I'm willing to guess this record once belonged to someone with the initials "JHN." (John Henry Nashville? Jeb Henry Nistlethwhite? Who knows!) A lot has happened over the past four months while I haven't been posting. I wonder what some of the titles would be if Ernest Tubb and His Texas Troubadours were still around to write an LP full of songs about everything that's going on right now.

[ Ernest Tubb's Texas Troubadours ]

Kenny Rogers [1938-2020]

Artist: Kenny Rogers with Kim Carnes

LP: 7" single
Song: "Don't Fall In Love With a Dreamer"

[ listen ]

I'm a little late with this, but wanted to pay my respects to country music legend Kenny Rogers, who passed away last month at the age of 81. Kenny was on the radio a lot when I first started listening to pop radio in Yakima, WA back in 1981. I especially enjoyed Kenny's collaborations with Dolly Parton, Sheena Easton, and this one with Kim Carnes. And, um, has anyone seen SIX PACK? I'm afraid I've never managed to set myself down in front of that one. You can read all about the life and career of this particular Mr. Rogers here. 

 Kenny Rogers

[ August 21, 1938 — March 20, 2020 ]

We will miss you, Kenny.

Wilf Carter

Artist: Wilf Carter

LP: Wilf Carter "Montana Slim"
Song: "Two Little Girls In Blue"

[ listen ]

Song: "Grandad's Yodelling Song"

[ listen ]

Anyone with two ears and a brain should know that mixing yodeling, the Hammond organ, and a dash of Western twang would be a recipe for country music bliss. Still, this delectable dessert wasn't served up nearly often enough on vinyl 12" platters. But this Canadian fella, Wilf Carter, aka. "The Yodeling Cowboy," aka. "Montana Slim," aka. "The Father of Canadian Country Music," makes an entire meal of it. 

Originally from Nova Scotia, Wilf was a genuine cowboy on the plains of Alberta in the early 1930s before a couple of his records hit the jackpot and he began working the rodeo circuit with his guitar over the next 30-odd years. You can read more about Mr. Carter's life and career here, and in the LP liner notes included below. Right now there's nowhere on earth I'd rather eat breakfast than at the Wilf Carter Motor Lodge in Orlando, Florida. I bet it was like this. 

[ Two Little Girls In Blue ]

[ Wilf Carter, aka. "Montana Slim": December 18, 1904 — December 5, 1996 ]

Patti Page

Artist: Patti Page

LP: Romance On the Range
Song: "Who's Gonna Shoe My Pretty Little Feet"
[ listen ]
Song: "Detour"
[ listen ]

Song: "The Prisoner's Song"
[ listen ]

Here are some country-western themed songs from the lovely and velvety-voiced Ms. Patti Page, perfect for winding down a lazy early autumn Sunday evening in Seattle. "Romance On the Range" was released in 1955 by Mercury Records and included tracks from an earlier folk album, as well as tracks that Patti had released as singles over the previous few years.

[ Patti Page: November 8, 1927 — January 1, 2013 ]

Patti Page

Artist: Patti Page

LP: 7" single

Song: "I Wanna Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart" 
[ listen ]

First of all, I Wanna Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart too! That's got to be the sexiest cowboy drawing I've seen this side of Finland. Second of all, why are all the good celebrities dying, while the other kinds live on forever? Stop it already. Enough! 

This charming early 1950s (released in '51, '52 or '53, according to the internet) Patti Page yodeler is one of the things I accidentally found for myself when I was out Christmas shopping for others last week. It's the perfect escapist ditty to keep the mind off all the end-of-year dying going on.

[ Patti Page: November 8, 1927 — January 1, 2013 ]

Bobby Womack [1944-2014]

Artist: Bobby Womack

LP: BW Goes C&W

Song: "Don't Make This the Last Date"
[ listen ]

Song: "I Take It on Home"
[ listen ]

I'm interrupting my ongoing and seemingly endless marathon of postings of stuff I found on my Southern Road Trip to remember talented singer, writer, and musician Bobby Womack; he passed away last Friday at age 70. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1944 to Friendly and Naomi Womack (he was a musical minister at the local Baptist church; she played the organ), Bobby first made music with his brothers in a group called, appropriately, The Womack Brothers. Bobby mastered the guitar and went on to play with other musicians (he's featured on Aretha Franklin's "Lady Soul" LP) releasing his first solo record, "Fly Me to the Moon," in 1968. Bobby was making regular appearances on the pop and R&B singles charts in the early-to-mid 1970s, finally going Country & Western with the album featured here, released in 1976. (Unfortunately, none of Bobby's C&W songs were hits.) While battling drug addiction and numerous health problems in the decades that followed, Bobby continued making glorious music—his latest, to be released sometime later this year, is titled "The Best Is Yet to Come." You can read all about Bobby Womack's life, career and his complicated personal life (ask him about the time his wife shot him after catching him in bed with her teenage daughter) on Wikipedia here. You can find his full discography here and there's a moving obituary for Mr. Womack on the Rolling Stone website here.

Bobby Womack

[ March 4, 1944 — June 27, 2014 ]

We will miss you, Bobby.

Robert Horton

Artist: Robert Horton

LP: The Man Called Shenandoah

Song: "Sail Ho! (The Mirage Song)"

[ listen ]

Hunky actor Robert Horton, who celebrated his 87th birthday this past July, is best known for his leading roles in western TV shows like "Wagon Train" and "A Man Called Shenandoah," but he also made regular appearances on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and starred in "The Green Slime," a sci-fi thriller from 1968. Go here to read more about the "Shenandoah" TV show, and find Horton's entire list of TV and film credits on IMDB here. You can read about the life and career of Señor Horton here, visit the official Robert Horton website here, and click here to listen to a lovely personal message from Robert to all of his fans.

 [ Robert Horton ]

Elvis Presley

Artist: Elvis Presley

LP: Elvis Sings Flaming Star

Song: "Flaming Star"

[ listen ]

Song: "All I Needed Was the Rain"

[ listen ]

What could I possibly say about Elvis Presley that 500 million screaming fans don't already know?—aside from mentioning that Elvis and I both ate at this restaurant in the small town of Kalama, WA—he way back in 1962 and I way back in March. I usually pass over the vast bin of Elvis Presley records found at every used record store, figuring there's not much there for me to discover. I'm wrong, of course, since he's got lots of great songs I've never heard before... like these two here. According to notes on the back of this 1969 LP, it had been previously released on Camden Records, and this pressing was made from the RCA Corporation's masters. If you have a few dozen hours to kill, you can click here to read all about the life and career of Elvis Presley, arguably the most popular entertainer in the history of planet Earth.

 [ Elvis Presley: January 8, 1935 — August 16, 1977 ]