Cowboy Songs

It's a tradition as old as the cattle drive a lonely fiddle a song by the campfire. But this year they're not singing to the stairs singing to you. Joy us at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody Wyoming for cowboy song. GO GO.

GO GO. Turn away. I. Know. You. Will go. Love you. Sure. The. Term. Is waiting for. Your. Votes. The. Snow comes come through. We. Never. Knew. What. You. Want. To. Do. Every year in the spring. What are your favorite singers and pickers gather in

Cody Wyoming on the edge of the Yellowstone plateau of great musical tradition. That tradition goes back to lonesome nights on the prairie and a circular saddle wearing cowboys around the campfire. But today big crowds build auditoriums to hear it. You can bet some of the boots in the audience have never said a stir up. Set back then. Or a musical soundtrack from the Old West and the new recorded live in Cody. It's cowboy song. We're going to hear some of the best Cowboys. We're going to sing some of the old and some of them. And we're going to start for the beautiful lady with the hat. Kip Callahan clips from Animas Valley in New Mexico. Get good to.

Be. Stoned. Oh. That's. Just. Me. I. Got. To. See.

HER. I got. To. Go. We'll. Be. Right. Back. I. Mean. I. Do.

I. Try. I mean. I. How. How few years ago I was here in Codie and I ran into these kids in the hallway at the

museum and I heard their show and they just were amazing and so we became instant friends. And I've traveled to Colorado we've done some shows together in Elko we've opened up for riders in the sky and I went and did a few shows with some slider. To me cabel music is a little bit more about the land and about cowboys and about the lifestyle in a western way of life. Riceville like country music is more about getting drunk and divorced and heartache in love and marriage. So I guess that's the distinction because I'm a big fan of both. When you hear the music and the poetry I'm about you know Cowboys and living on a ranch. It is it's it's beautiful. It's not all as romantic as a lot of people would have you believe. There's a lot of hardships when it doesn't rain we're in trouble. When. We.

Get. Run. A. Bad. Way. So. When you. Stop. When. All. At once. I. Get. Some. Money. And. Stuff. He. Sighs. When I. You. See past the show on

Staten. Island. You can. Sense which way. I go I get a great. Deal. Of. Pain. Be. I. Want. Some. Stats. In. That we. Don't. Some. Sliding. Down. To.

Melbourne. He no longer. Has. That. There's. No. Reason why I. Said. I. One. Knew. Why it keeps. Going. On.

And he does. But he. Wants to. Me. Don't you. I. Mean. You. Know. You. Have. A. Certain look terrible. A century ago. Buffalo Bill Cody was one of the first to realize that the Indian

cultures and Frontier experiences of the West were kind of a living mythology for Americans and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody Wyoming carries on his legacy. In 1982 the senator brought together cowboy singers for the first time and found there was an audience hungry for more. There's been some question as to why music is as popular as it is at a time when most people have no contact with cattle and an occasional T-bone steak. But the simple fact is that the cannibal is still the central hero figure in the American media. And so when we hear the music we connect to it no matter where we live what we do for a living. But he's a. Big.

Time. To. The creators. He's gone. It has been a. Great American town. That's. A. Proud of our great American. Way. Of doing. Good. We'll wait till the President has. Had. An angel say. About. That. Great.

American town. With panic take away. Please. Don't. So. To. Me. It's. Hard to leave him. Alone. Because. He. Knows everything in. A. That. That's. The way. It's faster. To. Go.

Get. Ready for. A. Break. And. Several days away. But that said on the daddy of all the solar array. That's true. But my wife. Is about to say that. Some. Other. Tasks. Said. Take away. The time

the way. To stay away. All right. You have to trample your gray zone to be kind of slow and long before they all go slow. LOL LOL LOL

LOL. Oh say dogies you go and give up your shit. All around me and I'm all if you get no pay I am sure to be fired. Lay down a whole whole whole whole day just. Since you stretch your way around.

That will all go away with a rose. Run a city is to lazy to go the space to stay to me to see you all. So while they don't see you Jim Gary has been collecting and recording stories on the range for years and doing

some cowboy and himself is friend Hal Cannon from Nevada has been a key figure in the popular revival of cowboy poetry is cowboy music. What's a cowboy. Pretty much anything a cowboy saying his cowboy music. It's. Opens to a pretty wide range of possibilities. Boy you find a lot of stuff that beautiful music that is called cowboy music that. Was written and performed by people I had no clue about the life. But I think it's really you know to me that the real meaning of cowboy music is the whole issue of working with horses and with grazing animals. And that's an old old tradition that goes way back. Before there was an American cowboy. And you can find the metaphors of the fatted calf and all sorts of thing the bowls and Buddhas and the cows in the Bible the pastoral poet poetry the Beowulf has animals

and Shakespeare talks about the worth of man as far as his abilities with horsemanship. So for you know for a long long time society has put a big value on that the pastoral life and the metaphors that come from pastoral life. St James was cool the evening was the day. And. His father and his the old

times did on food supplies his money with lives. He told me. So happy. And. He said. Daddy.

Daddy One day I was by the. On ramp why did. I. See. You. Birdie me say and he. Sat here beside me. And. So he did slowly and maybe. The. Plane might change you gave. Take. Me. To the very subtle. You. Know.

It. Was much. Like. What he said. As. A. Child. And. So he did run slowly and maybe five. The day change to carry me. Take me to the Green Valley and maybe some. Kind. Of you know. That's actually going to carry my. Brain make me a.

So be on the. Same day mine gave me me. Me. Me. Me on. So we the slowly early in the. Day my and we came along. For me. That's a brave new way. We all love Rand Paul. We

do. Of course once you start saying somebody is going to pull out a office or dinner find a way around the house and you're going to have music to go along with the sing. Well back back then this was your first of all you've got to remember no radio no TV no iPods nothing was reproduced. It had to be done fresh every time. So a lot of people grew up with a value that they were expected to learn recitations they're expected to learn how to play at least a piece on the piano or play a fiddle. I wrote an old journal account of 44 guys in prison and I had a big cell block and they passed around a fiddle in the 1850s and 40 of them could play a tune on it. Yes.

Yes. In this. Johnny Dahlberg is one of many women performers in this field even though it's called

cow boy song. It's not limited to one gender. Well any time you find Cowboys you're bound to find some women wanting to be around them. The Cowboys are great but they're also a lot of women that do the same ranch work as the men and they call themselves cowboys but they've always been cow. Boy girl singers. Back in the early 1800s they were called Cowboy girls because they never were called the. The dust bowl the depression folks needed. Something fun to lift up their spirits and Patsy Montana came along with this hot swing band behind her. And. Created this image of a singing cowgirl yodeling. And. In lots of other women. Fall down. The shaft. I. B B B B B B B

B B B B B. B c. D d b. You just got me with my. Get. Fact that it is down there with this guy. You may be back

in that county. Do you. Eat and. Eat. And eat at any let alone. And. I. See.

Across the river. Addresses buckskin. Her hair is black. She kept Day small child clothes beside her. And had a baby strapped to her back. I. Hear her people. Have no on her. I hear they murder. They see these but I can see she loves her children. She is a mother. Just like me. See cross the river. Her hair is yellow. Her dress is

blue. Red. Hey. Close beside her you. Carried another two inside her to. Hear white people. Steal like children. Killed for no reason. They say the. Like this one homeys smiled and watched me. She is a mother just like me. We watched a. River. Nothing was stolen. And no one died. We watched a. Lesson.

Or two. In the same river and two friends saw. This. I. Did some washing. She cleans them but skin is made for her May. Spring to the wrong branches. They. Looked at me and raised her. Hey. This. Why. Did some washing. Clean man's clothes. That you use no store. I've seen those makings worn by some

jurors. Sure. Already this woman knows none of those things. Washed away. In the. River. There was no fighting and no one died. A. Water. In the same river. Dear Friends. See. You later. There clearly clearly. They say my husband died with Aunt who.

Died for his people is what they say. See my. Story. I know her sadness. The way she. Has been done by people. Like me she cannot bring back. So many 40. So many die. D. Between Us. By the time she was with her. The same.

Difference. So. Glenn Orlin is considered a national treasure a working rancher and a heritage fellow for the National Endowment for the Arts. A man who knows the old songs and what makes them cowboy. Well if the cows can stand it I think that helps an awful lot. I don't think they like it fro and going easy. No I'm not too excitable. Little or Kardex or chronographs. My middle name work on it every year at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center sandwiched between the electrified bands of the big name performers. You'll

find the bunkhouse boys Glen Orlan and a group of his friends like himself relaxing and spinning tales and incidentally preserving the old away of cowboy song right around your little doggy right around them slow fiery and snappy are raring to go. There is a lot of people are still plenty of the old fashioned way and there's a lot of people who just have a guitar and a memory. Now we don't find it easy to rattle this cow punch. That's as much cowboy song says as anything else can be. It is just that ability to certain visit. And sang songs while you do it made lots of money all spelled wrong way down the road way ride the range once more. Not surprisingly the heroic qualities of the cowboy attracted Hollywood which

put the good guys in white hats and clean shirts and sent them out after the bad guys and pretty soon you had cowboys like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry crooning in or part harmony around the crowd or the campfire. Really this music really comes from the old movies superscreen days with those same people. Gene Autry Rodgers. You. Like hearing where my baloney. All they've got is music really. As for your life yes you're really talented. They wanted to do well and perform they really enjoyed doing it again and for performing in the arts.

So we haven't had to do that no wrong can be wrong. Movies b c they don't seem so nice. It's anything a I. See them. And. I pray to God I don't need to be. Very timely to be cast.

I know. I. Swear. When. I see a. Movie I knew when those go when a new one. Is Born and. I don't know he might not exist although. He may be low key in love with me.

Gee Gene the only trouble is to know the music goes for music's probably fairly simple. But then Cowboys were fairly simple. And what I started singing for were pretty simple reasons. You sang to keep the cattle quiet you sang to pass the time wonder when much else to do. But it's changed over time. The tradition is alive and well and while the old stuff still gets song. There's new stuff being written because a tradition to be alive has to continue to produce. If it doesn't it's just history.

Cowboy music is a lot more than just history. Right. Bang bang bang bang high above trade. When is. We'll have our fun. And Townsend singing old song. Well since you can always screw it down tight the zoo trailer is a rocky ride over prickly pear and muddy gumbo. We don't know and away we go. Right bang bang bang bang. The well done. We'll have our.

Tenants all arms and sing old songs and yodeling. Skottie will burn on a steel guitar over there all the way from Libby Montana. I can tell we're going to have a good time tonight just by the way Scott is smiling so much. Well Gus is a man who writes for the brain slips his new song a salty I use the morning is brisk. He speed and risky with a touch of his sperm soars like a bird.

Right. Old man no man. Man I don't know. But when the day is done we'll have our little tones and sing old song to go my dad would do whenever he was happy he was a pretty happy guy. So he was a lot especially right on his feet up on the mountain. He likes small town and he yodel when he was riding horses. He was it was an emotional thing it was a sign of happiness and really just made me happy. And there's two things when I was growing up that made me really happy to listen to that was yodeling in the music.

There's just something about you know regular people talking about their life and talking about the regular things that happened but the drama. And the sort of the epic qualities at the same time are the philosophical things in plain spoken English. There's just nothing quite like so many beautiful poems and songs that needed to be heard and be to be appreciated for what they were. A vital part of what it is to be a Westerner what our traditions are about. And in a bigger sense even what it is to be an American. And so it's been sometime before I think all of us have been really proud to be part of this revival I guess of cowboy poetry and music that a wagon road was ours to own 30 shows since I'd been thrown in 87 barrels and she kept one. We knew that you won't keep for rainy days. It burned and turns to ash. So we'd Revel every minute in the music of our Buick to

rodeo lovers cruising to another Neith Wyoming big all romantic blue road and horse me. Hawsers is. And we have a special guest on the background vocals. I have another round of applause for Julie Fisher. Down on knee roof. There's a dusty her. Right learn the wrong tree. Not. Fell in love. With a blue twist. And her smoky whisper. She said they called her. The

Simoun the. We'd spooned our bedroom down to get. My calous take. Comb through her hair. She'd stare at a star. Through mesquite tree. See that moon shadow. There's a horse. Sweet you. Know easy with the season. All to see. Montana blue sky Nevada starlight. And book whose moon. Are lovely.

Like western movie. Down hard Bourne highway. To the rodeo. Ride. Do we. For a midnight flight. That fucking horse who kept shining down. But Hardy. Both. Were late for break in. The Cimarron. Is flown with the way. That a brawl Prescott. Rolled on my back. Never arrived. Rough start to be. Sweet.

Know easy the season. To sit. Down. Sky know that line. And a book in horse. I. Lost my you. On a dusty. Road fighter. Crippled by all this. On a whole night you you strip.

Search for the. Sweet. No easy. Way to seize. Too soon. You know it's got to. Stop. And while some say. Of course. The big picture. So.

What. Does cowboy music have to do with anything anymore. Well it has to do with the fact that the cowboy is still a central figure in the American media and it isn't important to us. We want to be if not who we are. And if the hero can sing so much the better. Than. That.

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