Cowboy's Wild Song to His Herd

Amazon.com
Cowboy-music paladin Skip Gorman maneuvers a familiar trail with A Cowboy's Wild Song to His Herd, his third Rounder collection. As with its stellar predecessors, this 16-song album is a virtual workbook of Western songs. Gorman adds lyrics to the traditional "Prisoner for Life" and pens a couple of other numbers, but the bulk of his repertoire consists of round-the-campfire traditionals. Gorman approaches his music south to north, like the trail drives of yore, rather than straight out of the West, à la a Hollywood cowboy of the Gene Autry or Roy Rogers bent. The latter claimed the title "King of the Cowboys," and here is his antithesis: Gorman's persona is that of a modest cowpuncher, albeit one blessed with a suitably frayed voice and banner instrumental skills. The songs he revives chronicle the concerns of the common cowpoke; longing, dread, and humor are the hallmarks of these old tunes. As his oeuvre grows, Gorman digs deeper into what is a finite repertoire. A Cowboy's Wild Song to His Herd, however, proves he has the knowledge and ingenuity to keep finding and shaping great Western music. --Steven Stolder

Cowboy's Wild Song to His Herd,Skip Gorman,Rounder Select,Contemporary Folk,Cowboy,Folk,Folk & Traditional,Pop,Progressive Bluegrass,Traditional Folk

Average customer rating: always a pleasure

Cowboy's Wild Song to His Herd Skip Gorman Manufacturer: Rounder Select ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Cowboy | Country | Styles | Music General | Country | Styles | Music General | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music Contemporary | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Rounder Records | Specialty Stores | Music Traditional Country | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Lonesome Prairie Love A Greener Prairie ASIN: B00000I593 Release Date: 1999-02-09

Tracks:

1. A Cowboy's Wild Song To His Herd
2. Smith's Red Apple Rag
3. Song Of A Cowboy
4. Little Joe The Wrangler's Sister Nell
5. Rocky Road To Dublin
6. Pretty Little Dogies
7. Piney Woods/Coyote Howl
8. Amarillo Waltz
9. Ramblin' Jack (A Lonesome Hobo)
10. Ridge Running Roan
11. Cowboy Love Song
12. Green River Ramble
13. Away Out On The Mountain
14. Utah Carroll
15. Midnight On The Water/Dry And Dusty
16. Prisoner For Life

Amazon.com

Cowboy-music paladin Skip Gorman maneuvers a familiar trail with A Cowboy's Wild Song to His Herd, his third Rounder collection. As with its stellar predecessors, this 16-song album is a virtual workbook of Western songs. Gorman adds lyrics to the traditional "Prisoner for Life" and pens a couple of other numbers, but the bulk of his repertoire consists of round-the-campfire traditionals. Gorman approaches his music south to north, like the trail drives of yore, rather than straight out of the West, à la a Hollywood cowboy of the Gene Autry or Roy Rogers bent. The latter claimed the title "King of the Cowboys," and here is his antithesis: Gorman's persona is that of a modest cowpuncher, albeit one blessed with a suitably frayed voice and banner instrumental skills. The songs he revives chronicle the concerns of the common cowpoke; longing, dread, and humor are the hallmarks of these old tunes. As his oeuvre grows, Gorman digs deeper into what is a finite repertoire. A Cowboy's Wild Song to His Herd, however, proves he has the knowledge and ingenuity to keep finding and shaping great Western music. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

always a pleasure.......1999-03-15

On this, his third CD for Rounder, Skip Gorman comes across as one of the masters of Western song. A Cowboy's Wild Song, marginally more produced than its predecessors, also expands its thematic base slightly. Not every song here is about cowboys. Other Western characters get a nod this time, including hoboes, as in early hillbilly star Cliff Carlisle's "Ramblin' Jack" (surely the song from which Ramblin' Jack Elliott chose his nickname) and Kelly Harrell's "Away Out on the Mountain." The latter, best known from the classic Jimmie Rodgers rendition, undergoes a slight but disappointing lyric change. Where Rodgers sang about the "zebras wild," affording the song a dizzyingly surrealistic aura, Gorman has them as "antelopes wild" -- setting the tale in a Western landscape this side of reality but taking some of the fun out of Harrell's loony vision in the process. A small complaint, of course. Besides a fine collection of ballads, Gorman includes here a larger than usual selection of splendid versions of traditional and original fiddle tunes. A Gorman record is always a pleasure, and this one is no exception.

Music Album:

1. Dirt Band/An American Dream [Import]
2. Fiddle Patch
3. Fire on the Strings [Original recording remastered]
4. Flaco Jimenez
5. For Pete's Sake
6. God Bless the Child [CD-single] [Import]
7. Harmony Singing By Ear
8. Highways & Dance Halls [Extra tracks]
9. Hillbilly Band from Mars
10. Hits Plus One's I've Written

Music Album