Customer Reviews

My Saddle Pals and I

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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For anyone who loves western music, the Sons of the Pioneers are essential listening, and this collection of 4 CD's provides 100 beautifully reproduced studio recordings from the 1930s through the 1950s. There are earlier and later versions of "Cool Water," "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," and "Chant of the Wanderer," plus such gems as "Hills of Old Wyoming," "Timber Trail," "Out California Way," "The Last Roundup," "River of No Return," and "Montana." My only complaints are that the enclosed 50-page booklet is riddled with errors and omissions and that the selections include some dross and omit such classics as "Wagon Wheels," "Love Song of the Waterfall," and "Along the Navajo Trail."

Just great tunes. The only problem is that they are all not there. This set is missing some great songs from the Memories from the lucky U ranch album. Instead there are multiple renditions of the same songs but 90% of this set's content is free of repeats. Great value for good recording quality of some great music.

I recently purchased this box set of great tunes from what I consider to be one of the premiere vocal groups of all time.

I am 54 years old and can still remember my dad playing some of these tunes on our old 78 rpm record player. The cd's are superior quality and the music sounds better today than ever.

I understand that some of the information in the attached booklet on the group may not be accurate and there is a couple mistakes on the rotation listing for some of the songs but to someone who truly enjoys most types of music this was a "must have" for my collection.

The lead and harmony vocals are clean and tight and the accompanying instruments are just right for this music.

I was not disappointed in any sense.

A couple of the other reviews make reference to a compilation "riddled with errors" but, quite frankly, I have yet to come across any. The 51-page booklet written by the noted music writer Adam Komorowski in London in 2004 (with acknowledgements to "Hear My Song" by Ken Griffis and "The Roy Rogers Book" by David Rothel) is, in itself, a magnificent detailed historical account of this legendary group and all its various members over the years, brimming with vintage photographs and poster reproductions. The sound quality is excellent and the booklet ends with a complete discography and sessionography of the contents. There is also another multi-page booklet listing all the other compilations in the Proper Records catalogue. Each CD in the box also has a beautiful colour photograph of the group.

From my perspective, which is that of the collector of hit singles, they just don't come any more complete than this, with the only sides not included being two B-sides. Still a decade away from the introduction of the national Billboard charts devoted to what is now known as Country, this first version of Tumbling Tumbleweeds (track 2 on Disc 1) made it to #13 on what then passed for the Pop charts in December on Decca 5047 b/w Moonlight On The Prairie, one of the missing flipsides. Seven years would then pass before they returned to the charts, this time with their initial rendition of Cool Water which hit # 25 Pop in August 1941 on Decca 5939 b/w So Long To The Red River Valley (tracks 4 and 3 respectively on Disc 1). The hit has been selected for the National Academy Of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) Hall of Fame.

Another four years would then pass before their next hit single, by which time Billboard had introduced (on January 1, 1944) the Juke Box Folk Records charts, earliest forerunner of what is now the Country charts. This came in late 1945 with a tribute to an epic battle in the Pacific, Stars And Stripes On Iwo Jima (Isle) which peaked at # 4 on those new charts b/w a re-recording of Cool W3ater on RCA Victor 20-1724 (tracks 11 and 9 on Disc 2). This was followed in June 1946 by No One To Cry To, a # 6 b/w Grievin' My Heart Out For You on RCA Victor 20-1868 (tracks 23 and 22 on Disc 2). In 1947 they struck gold three times, first with Baby Doll which reached # 5 in February b/w The Letter Marked Unclaimed (the other missing B-side) on RCA Victor 20-2086.

A month later a re-release of Cool Water on Decca 46027 b/w version one of Tumbling Tumbleweeds made it to # 4, and in July, the comical Cigareetes, Whuskey And Wild, Wild Women finished at # 5 b/w My Best To You on RCA Victor 20-2199 (tracks 6 and 8 on Disc 3). That flipside, in fact, would enjoy new popularity in 1949 and make it to # 12. In August, Teardrops In My Heart climbed to # 4 b/w You Don't Know What Lonesome Is on RCA Victor 2276 (tracks 7 and 10 on Disc 3).

The hits continued in 1948 when two songs from the Roy Rogers (new name for original member Leonard Slye) film, Melody Time, made the charts as a two-sided hit. Billed as Roy Rogers and The Sons Of The Pioneers, Blue Shadows On The Trail got to # 6 that summer b/w (There'll Never Be Another) Pecos Bill, a # 13, on RCA Victor 20-2780 (48-0035 on 45 rpm) - see tracks 5 and 6 on Disc 4. Later, in August, a new recording of Tumbling Tumbleweeds hit # 11 b/w Cowboy Camp Meetin' on RCA Victor 20-1904 (tracks 20 and 19 on Disc 2), and a month later Decca again re-released the original Cool Water/Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Decca 46027), with the A-side hitting # 7.

Almost exactly a year later their final hit of the era came when Room Full Of Roses made it to # 10 Country and # 26 Pop in September b/w Riders In The Sky on RCA Victor 21-0065 (tracks 13 and 12 on Disc 4. Some 31 years later, the final hit single, billed as Roy Rogers and The Sons Of The Pioneers, came out of the film Smokey & The Bandit II when Ride Concrete Cowboy, Ride reached # 80 Country in August 1980 b/w Deliverance Of The Wildwood Flower on MCA 41294. Neither side is included in this set.

Great songs and good quality - I recommend this to anyone who likes the Sons of the Pioneers

The Sons of the Pioneers (more likely great-grandsons, actually, but we`ll allow some poetic licence) were capable of a wider range of material than just western songs, but this set mostly sticks to those western songs. Hints at what else they can do are to be found in a couple of gospel songs (Old rugged cross, Power in the blood) and a few other songs, some of which mainstream country or pop singers have recorded (notably Have I lately that I love you, Room full of roses). Perhaps the most interesting song is Old man atom, which was written about the atom bomb. It sounds more like the kind of song that Pete Seeger would record, but is another example of the group's potential for diversity. However, if you don't like western songs, you can forget this set, which spans the first 20 or so years of their career.

The group had plenty of line-up changes, including some people leaving for a variety of reasons and returning later. The most extraordinary of these was the case of Tim Spencer, who left the group because other members wanted him out as they felt he wasn't performing well, yet he was later invited back and did much better.

The sound of the group varied over the years, partly because of those line-up changes but also partly because at one point RCA tried to boost their appeal by adding extra studio musicians to their recording sessions. However, the group preferred to record as a self-contained unit and the extra musicians were dispensed with.

Understandably, they didn't have a huge number of hits (though they would have had more if country charts had started before 1944) because of their repertoire, but they were well respected and deservedly so. All but two of their country hits and all their pop hits are here. The omitted hits are My best to you (a jukebox hit) and Ride concrete cowboy ride (a very minor hit in 1980 because of its use in Smokey and the bandit II). I haven't heard those tracks, but maybe I will if I buy another compilation of their music someday.

This set contain 100 tracks but only 98 songs, as the two songs they are most famous for and which are among their three pop hits (Cool water, Tumbling tumbleweeds) each appear here in two noticeably different versions that help to illustrate their changing sound. Everything here appears to be presented in date order, so direct comparisons are not straightforward if you want to play two versions of the same song one after the other.

Despite the western theme to most of their music, there aren't all that many obvious cowboy classics here. Apart from Cool water and Tumbling tumbleweeds, you'll find Red river valley (but my favorite version of that song is by Lynn Anderson), Riders in the sky (which they had first option on, but rejected it at the time and only recorded it later), I'm an old cowhand (which I first heard by Bing Crosby) and Home on the range (which I first heard by Slim Whitman). You may be familiar with some of the songs I haven't mentioned, but I suspect that most people who buy this set won't be familiar with a lot of them.

The Sons of the Pioneers are long gone, but their influence continues. Anybody who has an interest in western music really out to have some music by this group. Unless you have the money to buy the Bear Family box, this box set is as good as you are likely to find.

I really enjoyed these Cds. Periodically you'll here Roy Rogers singing the lead. If you love cowboy songs, not country, then you will probably enjoy these.

This product was purchased for my 89 year old father who do to health conditons is limited as to what he can do (like TV and listening to music). The Sons of the Pioneers as always are exceptional - truly an American classic. But on a couple of the CD's the quality of sound on some of the selections seems kind of faded.