The Master’s Call is a song in Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, an iconic album by Marty Robbins, first recorded and released in 1959. It was one of the most powerful tracks from the mentioned album, justifying Marty Robbin’s outstanding talent as a singer-songwriter through its vocals and instrumentation. The song falls under the Country music […]

“Oklahoma Hills” is a song written by singer-songwriters and cousins Jack Guthrie and Woody Guthrie. Jack Guthrie and His Oklahomans popularized “Oklahoma Hills” when they first recorded and released it as a single in 1945. Woody originally wrote the song, but they decided to share the copyright for it, as the changes made by Jack […]

Vivian Clark Gilbert and his wife Mary Margaret Hadler originally wrote the Western song and poem “Shifting Whispering Sands” in 1950. Billy Vaughn with Orchestra first recorded and released it as a single in 1955. It included a narration spoken by American voiceover and recording artist Ken Nordine. Additionally, Billy Vaughn released another version in […]

America’s Favorite Singing Cowboy Gene Autry and American country singer/songwriter/actor Smiley Burnett wrote and first performed the hit song “Ridin’ Down the Canyon” in 1935. They first released it on their 1935 single Ridin’ Down the Canyon and 1936 single I’m Looking For the Bully of the Town with the title “Ridin’ Down the Canyon (when the desert sun […]

Vaya con Dios was a popular song written in 1953 by Buddy Pepper, Inez James, and Larry Russell. Anita O’Day (with Orchestra conducted by Larry Russell) first recorded it in December 1952. Then, she released the song in April 1953 on her single, Ain’t This a Wonderful Day. Les Paul and his then-wife Mary Ford also recorded […]

Composer Max Steiner scored the theme from the film “The Searchers,” written by American songwriter and actor Stan Jones and sung by the Sons of the Pioneers. The period ballad introduces and concludes the film’s narrative, with its melody fitting whatever’s on the screen. Moreover, the Sons of the Pioneers expressed the song in a […]

John Denver and Mike Taylor wrote the folk-rock song “Rocky Mountain High” in 1972. Denver released the song as the title track of his sixth studio album Rocky Mountain High, which became his first US Top 10 album. Among its achievements was its peak position at #9 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also reached […]

The Old Chisholm Trail is a famous song sung by cowboys during the 1870s, with its tune based on an English lyrical song way back to 1640. Members of the Western Writers of America declared the song’s inclusion in the Top 100 Western songs of all time. Its earliest publication was by John Lomax in 1910, as part of his […]

“Life’s Railway to Heaven,” also known by its first line, “Life Is Like A Mountain Railroad,” is a gospel song written by Charlie D. Tillman, M.E. Abbey, and J.R. Baxter. M.E. Abbey added the chorus while Tillman published its lyrics and composed the music. Sources state that Eliza R. Snow originally wrote the classic hymn […]

American songwriter Billy Hill and composer Peter DeRose wrote the Western song “Wagon Wheels” in the early 1930s. Everett Marshall first performed the song live in the stage production Ziegfeld Follies of 1934. On the other hand, its first recording and release as a single were by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra in 1934. It was […]

American singer-songwriter Billy Edd Wheeler wrote the song “Desert Pete.” Then, The Kingston Trio recorded and released it as a single in 1963, under the Contemporary Folk genre. It rose to #12 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart, spending five weeks on the chart. “Desert Pete” b/w “Ballad of the Thresher” was also the lead-off single […]

“Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott” is a song written by Harold Wilson Reid and Don Reid. Moreover, their singing group, Statler Brothers, first released it in 1973. It was also part of the mentioned group’s compilation album, The Best of the Statler Brothers, in 1975 under Mercury Records. Members of Western Writers of America included this song in the […]