Customer Reviews

Cattle Call: Early Cowboy Songs

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This is an interesting and generally enjoyable disc that includes considerable music recorded before the best known Singing Cowboys came onto the scene. However, be prepared to find out why the later stars were more popular: they were better singers. I suspect that only cowboy music die-hards, and especially those who can tolerate the sonic quality of recordings from the first half of last century, will listen to this disc very often. My major complaint is the producer's decision to represent the great Tex Ritter with a recording of "Rye Whiskey." I doubt if many listener's will enjoy this song, which starts out semi-cute but literally stumbles to a halt amidst hiccups and belches. Maybe I'm influenced to some extent by modern thinking; being fall-down drunk is not as funny as it once was. Too bad that a song such as "Get along Little Dogies", which ol' Tex performed so well, was not selected instead. My advice is to keep the remote control handy. The companion disc of early cowboy music in this series, titled "Don't Fence Me In", is generally more agreeable and includes Gene Autry and Roy Rogers as well as a better song by Tex ("Jingle, Jangle, Jingle"). Oh yes, the Sons of the Pioneers recording of "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen" (from a John Wayne cavalry movie) is awesome.

The CD contains a wonderful and diverse collection of songs that provide a great launching point for the novice, and a wonderful "best of" for the more serious listener. I was particularly impressed by how accessible the songs were and by the well written and extensive liner notes that provide an informative backdrop to the artists and their music.