Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Hangin' out at Harmony Ranch

Back in 1991, after Paul "Pee Wee Herman" Rueben made the mistake of playing with his pee pee in an adult theatre, CBS pulled his kids show and was looking around for replacement. Imagine my surprise, as both a fan of Rueben's show and cowboy music, when they settled on a program featuring the RIDERS IN THE SKY.

The Riders are a contemporary quartet who perform western ballads and traditional 'cowboy' songs. Only three of the foursome appeared regularly on the show, these being "Ranger Doug", "Too Slim" and "Woody Paul". The fourth member of the group was accordianist "Joey The CowPolka King", who appears with the other members in concert and on their albums/CDs.

I've been a sucker for 'cowboy' music since I was a kid, watching Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers performing in just about all his films (and some of his television episodes). Plus, you couldn't see as many Gene Autry movies as I did without an appreciation of Gene's musical talents. Face it, ol' Gene was a much better singer than he was an actor.

The Riders' site has plenty of information on the group and samples of their music.

Happy Trails!

No comments: