''Cowboy Songs'' is a
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
of
phonograph record
A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...
s by
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
released in
1939
This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1
** Third Reich
*** Jews are forbidden to ...
featuring
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
songs.
Background
Crosby had recorded cowboy songs for the first time in 1933 and he had a huge hit with "The Last Round-Up" that year on the
Brunswick label. He recorded "
Home on the Range
"Home on the Range" is a classic cowboy song, sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (also spelled Highley) of Smith County, Kansas, wrote the lyrics as the poem "My Western Home" in 1872 or 1873 ...
" for the first time then also. Commenting on these early recordings, the writer
Gary Giddins
Gary Giddins is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for ''The Village Voice'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986 Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented concerts using a j ...
said "…it anticipated the golden age of gentle-voiced singing cowboys and the Irish sentiment of John Ford westerns that followed on their heels."
Moving on to the Decca label, Crosby had huge hits with "
I’m an Old Cowhand", "
Empty Saddles" and "
Mexicali Rose". He also charted with "My Little Buckaroo" and "There’s a Gold Mine in the Sky". Giddins considered Bing's recordings in his book saying: "The most impressive of his new cowboy songs (including "We’ll Rest at the End of the Trail", "A Roundup Lullaby", "Empty Saddles") was "Twilight on the Trail", a lament introduced that year by Fuzzy Knight in ''The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' and sung by Bing as though it were an old western hymn. That's how it may have sounded to President Roosevelt, who declared it his favorite song after "Home on the Range"; Mrs. Roosevelt requested Bing's record for the Roosevelt Library."
Original track listing
These previously issued songs were featured on a 6-disc, 78 rpm album set, Decca Album No. 69.
Disc 1: (2676)
Disc 2: (2677)
Disc 3: (2678)
Disc 4: (2679)
Disc 5: (2237)
Disc 6: (2001)
References
{{Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby compilation albums
1939 compilation albums
Decca Records compilation albums
Country music compilation albums
Country albums by American artists