To me, one of the great Western songs that tells a story is "EL Paso", by composer and vocalist Marty Robbins. It's an excellent dramatic first-person narrative! (excerpt) "I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle, I feel the bullet go deep in my chest". I have his album called "Gunfighter Ballads", which offers songs on various subjects. Another dramatic song is "Big Iron", where an Arizona Ranger has a shootout with a Killer Gunman. (excerpt) "There was forty feet between them when they went to make their play, And the swiftness of the Ranger is still talked about today! Texas Red had not cleared leather when a bullet fairy ripped, And the Ranger's aim was deadly with a Big Iron on his hip." A humorous one is called "Strawberry Roan" where a rancher pays an unemployed Cowboy to break a horse that nobody has been able to do. Google "Gunfighter Ballads" and play all the songs on the Album! Hal
Good tunes, all. I still get goosebumps when I do the lyrics from Lorne Green's "Ringo." Spoken, not sung, yes, but Lorne's stentorian delivery is as good as it gets, for a piece like that. "He laid face-down in the desert sand, Clutching a six-gun, in his hand........"
He looked down into her brown eyes and said,? Say a prayer for me? She threw her arms around him whispered,? God will keep us free? They could hear the riders coming he said, "This is my last fight If they take me back to Texas they won't take me back alive"
As I walked out in the streets of Laredo As I walked out in Laredo one day I spied a young cowboy wrapped all in white linen Wrapped in white linen as cold as the clay
Pancho was a bandit boy His horse was fast as polished steel He wore his gun outside his pants For all the honest world to feel Pancho met his match you know On the deserts down in Mexico Nobody heard his dying words But that's the way it goes
The red-headed stranger from Blue Rock, Montana Rode into town one day And under his knees was a ragin' black stallion And walkin' behind was a bay The red-headed stranger had eyes like the thunder And his lips, they were sad and tight His little lost love lay asleep on the hillside And his heart was heavy as night
The old gunfighter on the porch Stared into the sun And relived the days of living by the gun When deadly games of pride were played And living was mistakes not made
I had the Gunfighter Ballads album, too, and it seems like there was also a second album of them, but I have not had records for so many years that I don’t remember for sure. Most of the old western songs told a story of some kind, and it was often a sad story, but sometimes a fun one like the Red Roan song. Here is one from that album that was a favorite of mine.
Another one that I really liked, and we used to sing it when my kids were growing up . It was one of the ones for when we were traveling, or just sitting around a little bonfire at night , roasting hotdogs together and singing old songs. Good Memories......
To me, Red was the greatest story teller in the history of western music. I’m sure that there aren’t many truckers who do not have a copy of Giddy Up Go.