"Remember the Alamo" is a song written by

Texan Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

folk

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

Jane Bowers Jane Bowers (May 29, 1921 – June 18, 2000) was a Texas folk singer and songwriter best known for her composition " Remember the Alamo". Many of her songs were primarily recorded by the Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk ...

. Bowers details the last days of 180 soldiers during the

Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Ant ...

and names several famous figures who fought at the Alamo, including Mexican

general Santa Anna A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...

and Texans:

Jim Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...

William Barrett Travis William is a male given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norm ...

and

Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Re ...

. It champions the Texans' efforts against Mexico to establish an independent republic.

Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John, grandsons Jason and ...

first released the song as the b-side of "Gunsmoke" in 1955. It was the first song in the catalogue of his and

Johnny Bond Cyrus Whitfield Bond (June 1, 1915 – June 12, 1978), known professionally as Johnny Bond, was an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and composer and publisher, who co-founded a music publishing firm, he was active in the musi ...

's music company Vidor Publications. Ritter's recording was used in the film ''

Down Liberty Road ''Down Liberty Road'' is a 1956 American short film directed by Harold D. Schuster. The film is also known as ''Freedom Highway'' in the United States. It has an early performance by Tommy Kirk. Plot Cast * Morris Ankrum * Angie Dickinson * T ...

'' the following year. While the song was never a hit single and did not initially make a big impact on the folk community, it has since been covered by many important folk and country artists. Members of the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include historian ...

chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

Covers

The Kingston Trio's recording

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and ...

met Jane Bowers while playing shows in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

in the late 1950s. They went on to record several of her songs, including "Remember the Alamo". The song was released with slightly different lyrics on their 1959 album '' At Large'', which subsequently reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' pop album charts in the United States.

Johnny Cash's recording

In the early 1960s

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

recorded "Remember the Alamo" with Tex Ritter's original lyrics. He also utilized different instrumentation from the Kingston Trio's version by adding a military drumbeat and lush backing vocals. The song was included on his 1963 album '' Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash'' which also reached No. 1 in the United States.

Willie Nelson's recording

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

recorded the song for his 1968 concept album ''

Texas in My Soul ''Texas in My Soul'' is the seventh studio album by country music, country singer Willie Nelson. It was an early concept album that aimed to pay tribute to the State of Texas. The original album artwork features the Alamo, along with three San An ...

''. This version is very similar to the one by

Donovan's recording

British singer-songwriter

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

recorded "Remember the Alamo" with a mix of both Kingston Trio revised lyrics and Tex Ritter's original lyrics in early 1965 for inclusion on his debut album ''

What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid ''What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'' is the debut album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the UK four days after his nineteenth birthday on 14 May 1965, through Pye Records (catalog number NPL 18117). Terry Kennedy, P ...

'': Although he had never visited the United States, Donovan was deeply interested in the American folk tradition. He stripped away all backing vocals, military drumbeats and militant guitar strumming and simply sang the song with an acoustic guitar as accompaniment. In early 1966, Donovan was still suffering from the legal battles between his original record label

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhoo ...

and his new label

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. During the dispute, Pye Records released " Josie" without Donovan's approval and the single failed to chart. Not long after, Pye Records culled "Remember the Alamo" from ''What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'' and prepared it for single release in the United Kingdom. The song was backed with "The Ballad of a Crystal Man" and released in April 1966 (Pye 7N 17088). The single was quickly withdrawn from the market not long after its release, ostensibly due to the ongoing contractual battles, and never charted.

John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett's recording

British musicians

John Otway John Otway (born 2 October 1952) is an English singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring. Biography 1970s and 1980s Otway was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Although his first single, "Gypsy"/"Misty Mounta ...

and Wild Willy Barrett recorded the song on their 1978 album '' Deep & Meaningless''. The album was re-released in 2007. The version is a colourful one, with strangled singing, pounding drums and the sound of cannon. Unlike in other versions, the courier referred to in the third verse is a woman.

Asleep at the Wheel's recording

Texas Swing band

Asleep at the Wheel Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted more t ...

released its version of the song in 2003 on ''Asleep at the Wheel Remembers The Alamo''. Since the early 1970s this group has performed big band

Western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the Western United States, West and Southern United States, South among the region's Western music (North America), Western string bands. It is dan ...

in the style of

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...

and

The Texas Playboys James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...

, and has a devoted following in the US and the UK as well. The song is part of a theme album about the Battle of the Alamo, and includes traditional tunes (" Deguello", " The Yellow Rose of Texas") and more recent whimsical songs ("

The Ballad of Davy Crockett "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Thomas W. Blackburn. It was introduced on ABC's television series ''Disneyland'', in the premiere episode of October 27, 1954. Fess Parker is shown performing the ...

", "Don't Go There"). "Remember the Alamo" is sung by longtime frontman

Ray Benson Ray Benson (born Ray Benson Seifert, March 16, 1951 - October 31st 2022) i Western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the Western United States, West and Southern United St ...

, and the band performs the song in the traditional free and flowing Texas Swing style.

References

{{Battle of the Alamo 1955 singles American folk songs The Kingston Trio songs Johnny Cash songs Donovan songs Songs about Texas 1955 songs Cultural depictions of James Bowie Cultural depictions of Davy Crockett