Photo courtesy of the PRCA.

The American Cowboy is known all over the world as a symbol of America. The cowboy life might not have been quite as glamorous as the silver screen portrayed it, yet most of the men and women who lived their lives as cowboys or cowgirls wouldn’t have traded it for any big city job available to them at the time.

From that golden era came many familiar cowboy songs, some of them originating as folk tunes in other countries and adapted to their new situation by those Irish or Spanish cowboys who worked out west. Later, cowboy songs were big parts of movies during the singing cowboy era, with Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Rex Allen and Gene Autry gaining popularity not only as actors but singers too. Carl T. Sprague is considered the original singing cowboy, recording the first authentic cowboy song, “When the Work’s All Done this Fall,” which sold 900,000 copies.

Today’s singer/songwriters have not forgotten the cowboy way. Folks like Ian Tyson, Michael Martin Murphey, Riders in the Sky, Don Edwards, Ed Bruce and the late Chris LeDoux have given us newer songs and also revived some of the older tunes. Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, the late Marty Robbins and the late Johnny Cash were also more than happy to sing the new western songs and keep the cowboy tradition alive in country music.

In no particular order, here are our picks for the Top 20 Cowboy & Cowgirl Songs. Leave us a comment below and let us know your favorite! And don’t forget to enter our Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Sweepstakes for your chance to win a trip for two to the rodeo in Las Vegas! Enter now >>

“Amarillo By Morning” – George Strait

Although Chris LeDoux recorded this song first, most people remember George Strait’s version, which begins with a beautiful intro played by fiddle great Buddy Spicher. Here’s a clip of George singing “Amarillo By Morning” live. The song is about a cowboy’s love for the sport of rodeo, no matter what happens to him and no matter what he loses, saddles and girlfriends included. George, as most of his fans know, sponsors his own Team Roping Classic in San Antonio each year. He is no slouch as a roper either!

“Good Ride Cowboy” – Garth Brooks

This song, written by Jerrod Niemann (performing it in the clip above), Richie Brown, Bryan Kennedy and Bob Doyle, became Garth Brooks‘ tribute to his friend Chris LeDoux after the rodeo champ and singer passed away in 2005. It chronicles Chris’ rise to fame in the rodeo world and as a singer, as well as his down-to-earth ways as a father and husband. Chris and Garth became friends after the Oklahoma singer named the rodeo cowboy in his first single, “Too Young to Feel This Damn Old.” They also recorded a duet in 1992, “What’cha Gonna Do With A Cowboy.”

“Night Rider’s Lament” – Suzy Bogguss

Upon hearing this song, one would assume it was written in the heyday of the cowboy. A little research finds it was written by real-life cowboy Michael Burton, but in a much more recent setting, circa 1975. It describes how one cowboy chose career over true love and how he sometimes thinks about what might have been. Those thoughts don’t linger long, however, as he quickly remembers why he chose the life of a cowboy on the range. The tune has been recorded by everyone from Chris LeDoux to Garth Brooks and Nanci Griffith, but Suzy has one of the great versions of the tune. Here she is singing it with Jerry Jeff Walker.

“Should’ve Been A Cowboy” – Toby Keith

Despite the fact that he is as much at home on a horse as he is on a stage, Toby Keith laments in this song that he should have been a cowboy. The Oklahoma native thinks he should have learned to rope and ride in a cattle drive, because he thinks as a cowboy he could have stolen the young girls’ hearts like his heroes, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Who among us hasn’t thought how glamorous it would be to be a cowboy on a big ranch somewhere out west, or at the very least, in a movie?

“Someday Soon” – Ian Tyson

Written by Ian Tyson, “Someday Soon” has been recorded by Judy Collins, Suzy Bogguss and many others and has charted in pop, folk and country. This 2009 video features Ian singing it – and you can see Suzy’s version HERE. Continue Reading

ShareThis

Garth Brooks photo by Mark Tucker, courtesy of Pearl Records.

For large portions of the 100 minutes he spent on stage, Garth Brooks stood at the edge of the flooring at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Thursday with the toes of his boots literally hanging over the edge as front-row fans clutched at his cuffs.

It was a major show of trust — and of self-control — that Garth never wavered, never lost track of the lyrics or the chords while those strangers nabbed at just a touch of the superstar’s leg.

But that also made the encore of his set particularly surprising. Garth came barrelling up from a spot beneath the flooring and tripped at the top step, tumbling into view. The timing was amusing — his pratfall came during the ironically titled “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til The Sun Comes Up).”

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Garth Brooks photo by Mark Tucker, courtesy of Pearl Records.

Spurs, chaps, dust, cheering crowds and angry bulls. They call the thing rodeo, to quote a Garth Brooks song, and Championship Bull Riding sets the scene for this weekend’s edition of GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown with host Nan Kelley.

Country music’s love affair with the rodeo is well-documented. Reba McEntire and Chris LeDoux both participated in the sport prior to their careers as country singers, and Chris was a particular inspiration for Garth’s very first hit, “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old).” It’s hardly the only rodeo-themed song to make the grade in country. George Strait had “Amarillo By Morning” and “I Can Still Make Cheyenne,” Moe Bandy found success with “Rodeo Romeo” and “Bandy The Rodeo Clown,” and Jake Owen played with rodeo culture for the title of his hit “Eight Second Ride.”

Continue Reading

ShareThis

A life size and a half bronze statue celebrating the life and legacy of the American music and rodeo legend Chris LeDoux, titled "Good Ride Cowboy," by sculptor D. Michael Thomas. Photo courtesy of dmichaelthomas.com.

Five years after his death, country singer and rodeo icon Chris LeDoux will be permanently memorialized with a bronze sculpture and the renaming of a Wyoming park next month.

A 13-foot statue of Chris riding a horse named Stormy Weather will be unveiled June 19 in Kaycee, Wyo., as the city officially dedicates Chris LeDoux Park. Sculpted by D. Michael Thomas, the statue is dubbed “Good Ride Cowboy,” in honor of the 2005 Garth Brooks single. Written in part by Jerrod Niemann, the song paid homage to Chris, whose biggest musical years were intermingled with Garth’s career. Garth tipped a hat to Chris in the lyrics to his 1989 hit “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),” and Chris’ only Top 10 single came with the Garth-penned “Whatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy.”

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Garth Brooks is all smiles as he announces his new one-man show at the Wynn in Las Vegas, Nev. during a press conference on October 15, 2009. Photo courtesy of garthbrooks.com.

It was supposed to be the end of Garth Brooks’ self-imposed retirement from live performing. And it was.

But now his five-year deal with Wynn Las Vegas is being hailed as a new way of doing business in America’s gambling capital.

Vegas is known for its glitz and over-the-top productions. That’s not what the audience got over the weekend. Garth showed up Friday in a hoodie and jeans, according to USA Today, kicking the show off with a cover of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” and spending much of his two hours on stage by taking requests. Working without a band, he logged many of his own hits, including “Friends In Low Places,” “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” and “The Dance.” As he often does in his solo acoustic gigs, he threw in covers of hits by such acts as George Jones, George Strait and Billy Joel. And perhaps the glitziest moment came with the introduction of a special guest — Trisha Yearwood, not much of a surprise since they live in the same house — leading to a collaboration on “Walkaway Joe.”

Continue Reading

ShareThis