Western Music

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. 

Visit our online catalog and peruse our huge variety of goodies for acoustic, oldtime, bluegrass and western musicians.

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Singing in the Saddle: 
Cattle Call -- Early Cowboy Music and its Roots

"What it's all about, really, is the breathtaking grandeur of the West," writes Douglas B. Green (Riders in the Sky's Ranger Doug) in his introduction to this four-volume series celebrating the singing cowboy. Cattle Call: Early Cowboy Music and Its Roots documents western folk forms popular at the dawn of the recording era, along with some of the early "hits" of the genre. Most of the recordings in this volume reflect the sound and style of these early pre-commercial songs; a few are among the first attempts to capture the cowboy magic in a commercial musical style; fewer still were recorded later on, but illuminate the roots of cowboy music more clearly than a pure folk recording might. Taken together, they reveal where western music came from, and what it sounded like as it began to forge an identity of its own in those years before it became a national phenomenon.

Singing in the Saddle: 
Don't Fence Me In -- Western Music's Early Golden Era

The second in our four-part Singing in the Saddle series, Don't Fence Me In covers the dawn and zenith of western music's greatest national popularity, focusing on the decade that produced many of its most influential and memorable singers, musicians, songwriters and songs. The 1940s classics include Gene Autry's 1946 rerecording of "Back in The Saddle Again" (not the scratchy 1939 single most anthologies include) along with "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," "Jingle Jangle Jingle" and the title tune. Cowgirls Louise Massey and Rosalie Allen and western film stars Eddie Dean, Ray Whitley, Johnny Bond and Jimmy Wakely join giants Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Elton Britt, Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys, and the Sons of the Pioneers for a nostalgic roundup of 14 western tunes. Compiled and annotated by Douglas B. Greene (Riders in the Sky's Ranger Doug.)

Cowboy Songs, Ballads, and Cattle Calls from Texas

There is nothing here of the drugstore cowboy or of the sweet and polished renditions heard on the jukebox. As a result, the listener hears the songs as they were actually sung in the cow country of Texas. With the exception of two selections, all of the selections on this compact disc were recorded on portable equipment by John A. Lomax, the first and greatest collector of the cowboy songs of the West. Includes such classic cowboy songs as "Goodbye, Old Paint," "The Zebra Dun," "The Dying Ranger," "The Streets of Laredo," and others.

A collection of classic recordings from the early part of the century that depict the bigger than life image of the American Cowboy. In the 1920s when most of these selections were recorded many of these singers still had close personal ties to the heyday of the cowboy (1870s and 80s) and indeed many of the performers heard here were either cowboys themselves or were raised in the western environment of the cowboy. Other performers are from the rural South where epic western themed ballads were widespread since the later part of the 19th century. These two volumes communicate all the romantic imagery of the American cowboy with selections depicting heroic deeds, gritty trail life, and moving love songs. Notes, lyrics and photos are contained inside booklet.

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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Buck Howdy

Check out Buck website for updates on his new radio show!!! You found it here first.  

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Jon Chandler

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

Dear Mama, I'm a Cowboy

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.

Faith and Values

The perfect companion for Dear Mama.

Sons of the Pioneers

Cool Water

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

Cowboy Songs

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

Songs of the Trail

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.

 

Saddle Songs, Vol. 1 &2

An excellent companion to Songs of the Trail.  A wealth of cowboy music.

Prairie Portrait

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.

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