Album Notes

From songs the cowboys actually sang on into the golden age of the singing cowboys of movie fame, here are 26 of the classics we still love – and that continue to influence our vision of the West - after all this time!

Many of the ‘newer’ songs hit the Top Forty playlists in their day.

Home on the Range, written as a poem in 1873, and often referred to as the ‘cowboy anthem’, was one of the most popular songs on the radio in 1933.

The big chart winner in 1933, however, was The Last Roundup, which is included on this CD with three other songs on track 6 titled, Cowboy Medley. Seven different groups, including Gene Autry (#12) and Guy Lombardo (who tied for #1!) had recordings that placed on the charts that year. The other songs on Track 6 are traditional cowboy tunes: Cowboy’s Dream, Whoopie Ti Yi Yo, and I Ride An Old Paint.

When The Bloom Is On The Sage was a theme song for the Tom Mix Radio show which began airing in the 1930s.

Along the Santa Fe Trail charted by four different groups in 1941, including Bing Crosby and Glenn Miller.

Don’t Fence Me In, written by Cole Porter and sung by Bing and the Andrews Sisters, was #1 in 1944. It appeared on the charts again in 1945 in versions by Gene Autry, Kate Smith, Horace Heidt, and Sammy Kaye.

Along the Navajo Trail charted in 3 spots in 1945 in versions by Bing, Dinah Shore and Gene Krupa!

Three of the most popular Sons Of The Pioneers' songs, Blue Shadows On The Trail, Cool Water, and Tumbling Tumbleweeds, all charted in 1948.

Cattle Call, first recorded in 1944, was #1 in 1955 as recorded by Eddie Arnold.

Ragtime Cowboy Joe has a long history of popularity. It was #1 on the Hit Parade in 1912. It also charted in 1947 by Eddy Howard and in 1949 as sung by Jo Stafford. Even the Chipmunks charted with this song - in 1959!
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In case you’re wondering which songs are included on track 10, the Medley of the West is an instrumental collection (featuring the banjo and the autoharp) that includes The Colorado Trail, Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie, and Shenandoah.

Learn more about these songs, song history resources and our group on our website: www.trailsandrails.net

Above all – keep singing these songs. They are definitely worthy of our continued attention.