Music

When I was in grade school my grandpa would play a particular set of records at his house, which I considered “cowboy music.” Recently, I actually searched out to find where these old records were. Why? Some nagging appreciation had me curious. Of course, I was told that they were now gone, and of course no one in my family knew what the heck I was talking about. I especially appreciated my Mom’s last comment on the subject stating “You are probably thinking of some other family you used to spend quality time with instead of me.” Gotta’ love that unprecedented jab of family guilt.

Well, I eventually found out the name of the group after hearing a song from The Big Lebowski movie soundtrack. They are the Sons of the Pioneers. And I found them much more legendary than expected.

So…who are the Sons of the Pioneers and why do they have the audacity to claim to be "Icons of Western Music"?

The short answer is they singularly built a new genre and library of music that is an American original, one that has become synonymous with the American West and Cowboy and one which keeps enthralling generations of audiences. Although others have followed, although others have openly emulated them and although others have subsequently added to the genre of Western music, the Pioneers were the first and the best. In my opinion, they rightfully hold a legendary place in Americana.

What would the West be without its own style of music? Think of the term “the West” and you think of natural beauty, a cultural mind-set and a very distinctive type of music. The term evokes the image of the singing cowboy and of songs that paint vivid mental pictures. The West has always had its heroes but until the 1930s a distinct type of music was not part of Western lore. The public did not connect any separate genre of music to the West and the cowboy. Starting in the early 1930s the film and radio industry changed all that forever.

From the earliest days of the film industry the cowboy has been a favorite movie subject. Westerns became the bread and butter of most early studios. When musical segments were added to broaden a movie’s interest the “singing cowboy” was born. It created mega stardom for people like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter and Rex Allen. Enter the Sons of the Pioneers in 1934.

The Pioneers were different right from the start. While some screen stars sang traditional sweetheart songs the Pioneers actually sang about the West. The Pioneers' songs painted unforgettable images and stories of horses, cattle, cowboys, “night herds”, tall timber, cool water, canyons and prairies. The songs were original compositions freshly penned by the original members, Bob Nolan, Tim Spencer and Roy Rogers (then known as Leonard Sly). They created a whole new library of music. The group and their music garnered millions of national and international fans through appearances in over 90 movies, numerous radio shows, major label recording projects and later television appearances.

Songs from the Pioneer catalog have been recorded and used by a long list of who's who in the music industry ranging from Bing Crosby to Boston Pops, Frankie Laine, Johnny Cash, Riders in the Sky and Michael Martin Murphy. (There's even film footage of Elvis Presley warming up for a concert using "Tumbling Tumbleweeds"!) Their signature songs have been recorded so many times by so many different artists that some people lose track of the fact these songs "belong" to the Pioneers.  

The Pioneers have accumulated more types of honors and awards than anyone in Western music. They've received coveted awards from the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, Western Music Association and National Cowboy Hall of Fame among others.

It's amazing - even today the Sons of the Pioneers are still mesmerizing long-term fans and creating new ones by the mystique of the great American West.

Members
Tim Spencer, Bob Nolan, Hugh Farr, Roy Rogers

Website
www.sonsofthepioneers.org

YouTube
Tumbling Tumbleweeds Clip 

Facebook
Sons of the Pioneers