Call it cowboy music or western music, make no mistake about it, this is not "Country" music. No songs about trucks, honkytonks or tractors. No swinging around on ropes over the crowd and certainly no bombs exploding on stage. Western music helps chronicle a period in American history that faded away all too fast. Artists like Buck Howdy and Jon Chandler keep the Western Music tradition alive and kicking. Here are some recordings I've listened to so many times they are just about worn out.
Cowboy Singers
Sue Harris - Tall Tales & Treasures
It's probably obvious that I am pretty much a traditionalist and a picky old cuss. I know what I like and what I don't like. I guess it's what they call mule headed. Well, Tall Tales & Treasures got this old mule moving. This one now holds a cherished spot in my all time favorites collection.
Western music seems to be running the course of many other genres of music -- it all gets to sounding the same after a while. This definitely is not the case with Tall Tales & Treasures. Sue Harris has a masterful touch with "true western music". She conveys the feeling of what this music is supposed to be about -- wide open spaces, a type of life style and a particular type humor indigenous to the west. Tall Tales & Treasures succeeds where other attempts seem to fall short. It's WESTERN and traditional sounding to boot. Plus, Sue gets the Lone Hand Golden Saddle Award for knowing how to play a waltz. Tall Tales & Treasures is a must have recording for fans of western music or great music in general.
Contact Sue Harris at:
P.O. Box 26345
Phoenix, AZ 85068
wooftone@earthlink.net
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Check out Buck website for updates on his new radio show!!! You found it here first.
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Jon is a winner of the Lone Hand Cowboy Spirit Award.
Every once in a while life doles out a surprise and this recording is a very pleasant one. Mr. Chandler sent me a copy "for a little new listening material". Oh my, have I listened! If you can wear out a CD I'm going to do it with this one. He is a brilliant song writer who conveys what "Western" is all about. If you buy only one recording this year - WESTERNS should be the one.
Really Rich Cowboy Singers
Red Steagall
Red Steagall is about one of the best song writers in the business. He has a way of putting a cowboy story to words that kind of tugs at the heart strings. If you don't want to be a cowboy after listening to this there is no hope.
The perfect companion for Dear Mama.
Sons of the Pioneers
The Sons of the Pioneers are the reference group for Western music. The harmonies these gentlemen produce are an integral part of western music. This recording brings back memories of the west the way it was.
Tumbling Tumbleweeds [MCA 1995]
Columbia Historic Edition
San Antonio Rose
Songs of the Prairie
Michael Martin Murhey
Michael Martin Murphy has done a wonderful jobs of keeping traditional western music alive and kicking. This recording is worth owning just for the song "Spanish is the Loving Tongue" a Badger Clark poem put to music. Murphey has produced a series of tapes that provide hours of good western music.
Horse Legends
Cowboy Songs 3
Cowboy Songs 4
Don Edwards
Edwards is western through and through. If you don't have any of his recording in your collection you are missing out on one of the best.
An excellent companion to Songs of the Trail. A wealth of cowboy music.
Riders in the Sky
Great Big Western Howdy from Riders in the Sky
The Riders in the Sky are one of the best performing groups in the business and have done a superb job of keeping Western music alive and kicking. All of their recordings are must haves for a your Western music library.
Cowboy Songs
Cowboy Way
Best of the West
Always Drink Upstream from the Herd
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Thousands of titles are available from your favorite western and old time country artists. Search the shelves in the Lone Hand Pickin' Parlors record department.
