{"id":3385,"date":"2015-02-19T11:45:09","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T17:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?page_id=3385"},"modified":"2015-04-25T10:03:17","modified_gmt":"2015-04-25T15:03:17","slug":"singing-cowboys","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/the-history\/singing-cowboys\/","title":{"rendered":"Singing Cowboys"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"th96NTOAZL\"<\/a>Written by Randle Cecil and Shelby Conine. February 25, 2015<\/em><\/p>\n

For decades, cowboys worked long hours on even longer cattle drives across vast expanses of the west. The only form of entertainment was to reinvent old folk songs with new lyrics and a beat carried mostly by instruments that were small enough to be carried on horseback, like the harmonica and sometimes a fiddle. However, with the advent of barbed wire in 1867, cattle drives became a thing of the past, forcing cowboys on to ranches. This in turn led to cowboy songs that began incorporating larger instruments, like the guitar, as the cowboy no longer roamed the open west.<\/p>\n

\"5ba8a2f4eef28a70b1911e01dc9a7b65\"<\/a>In 1907, Harvard graduate student John Lomax was assigned to study the literature of a particular region and ended up picking the songs of the cowboys. Lomax then toured the region, collecting songs and ballads from any and every one, and put out advertisements in local papers. The response was nearly overwhelming. Three years later, he compiled these songs published them as \u201cSongs of the Cowboy and other Frontier Ballads.\u201d This book broadened the interested in cowboy music and preserved it\u2019s distinct sound at a time when most people were ignorant of its existence.<\/p>\n

Cowboy music took on a life of its own from there as Hollywood took hold of the idea and ran with it. \"4a186cda61ec84ddc788f89cd16bcd3c\"<\/a>The fascination with \u201cOld Westerns\u201d and cowboy music gripped the country from the 1930s until the mid-1950s, beginning mostly with the film Tumbling Tumbleweeds<\/em> that starred Gene Autry and contained music from the Sons of the Pioneers, lead by Roy Rogers. Films starring singing cowboys such as Gene Autry, Tex Ritter and Roy Rogers became abundant and featured the actors adorned in big Stetson, western shirts and matching pants and cowboy boots. Beyond the big screen, each of these actors also had a thriving musical career and were very successful, producing hits such as \u201cBack in the Saddle Again,\u201d \u201cHigh Noon,\u201d and \u201cHappy Trails,\u201d respectively.<\/p>\n

The image of the cowboy became greatly romanticized during this period mostly due to Hollywood\u2019s adaptation of the cowboy. This image, some believe, was used to fight growing commercialization and was an attempt to be more authentic. The Hollywood cowboy attempted to represent \u201creal\u201d cowboys, but in some ways never quite could. However, the music remained largely the same and very authentic. It included harmonicas, acoustic guitars, fiddles, stand-up bass guitars, and steel guitars. Many singers sang with an accent, or \u2018twang,\u2019 while others often yodeled in their recordings and performances.<\/p>\n

The subject matter of their songs, though largely about roughing it and the west, sometimes became controversial. In the 1950s, the Sons of the Pioneers began a radio broadcast called \u201cLucky \u2018U\u2019 Ranch.\u201d This broadcast is now regarded as a stand against communism during the Red Scare. It promoted the cowboys moral code as a way to fend off anxieties many held about losing the nations \u201ctraditional\u201d values. Moreover, cowboy country welcomed in female performers such as Patsy Montana. She entered the scene in the 1930s with the help of longtime friend Gene Autry. She sang songs about confident, independent women, an idea that was very forward-thinking at the time. She was the feminine counterpart to Gene Autry\u2019s cowboy hero.<\/p>\n

Though Cowboy Music saw a decline in the mid-19050s, it was a cultural phenomenon that held the nation during the Great Depression and beyond. The music spoke of traditional values and hard work paying off, giving hope to the hopeless during the economic downturn. The image of the cowboy became a romanticized view of the West and gave confidence during difficult times.<\/p>\n

\n

Key Figures<\/strong><\/p>\n