Boots, Buckles, & Spurs: 50 Songs Celebrate 50 Years of Cowboy Tradition
(Sony/BMG)Though boxed up against superstars Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and George Strait, there’s still nothing that compares to the immaculate yodel of Austin’s late Don Walser, even if his “Cowpoke” is awkwardly sandwiched between the twanged country polish of Trent Willmon and Doug Supernaw. There’s little unifying sense or flow to this 3-CD collection of rodeo odes and bronco ballads, its broad theme making the selection of songs somewhat arbitrary and the accompanying booklet more interested in the history of the National Finals Rodeo than music. The first disc provides the most interest, wrangling cowboy classics from Gene Autry (“Back in the Saddle Again”), Patsy Montana (“I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart”), and Eddy Arnold (“The Cattle Call”). Bob Wills’ fantastic “Dusty Skies” pairs well with whooping Johnny Cash rarity “Rodeo Hand,” but Michael Murphey’s smooth “Wildfire” is an awkward segue from outlaw David Allan Coe’s “Ride Em’ Cowboy” to Waylon Jennings’ “Let’s All Help the Cowboys (Sing the Blues).” Billy Joe Shaver opens the gate on disc two with “(We Are) the Cowboys,” while rockers “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky” (the Outlaws) and “Hooked on an 8 Second Ride” (Chris LeDoux) buck James Galway & Sylvia’s saccharine “The Wayward Wind.” The final CD ropes contemporary cuts from Tracy Byrd (“No Ordinary Man”), Lonestar (“When Cowboys Didn’t Dance”), and Montgomery Gentry’s unimaginative remake of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive.” While packing some big names, Boots, Buckles, & Spurs plays like an National Finals Rodeo promotion.
This article appears in December 12 • 2008.
