I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)
{{Short description|1936 song by Johnny Mercer}}
{{Infobox song
| name = I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)
| cover = I'm_an_Old_Cowhand_cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Bing Crosby
| album =
| A-side = I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)
| B-side = I Can't Escape from You
| released = 1936
| recorded = July 17, 1936
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Popular
| length = 2:40
| label = Decca Records 871
| writer = Johnny Mercer
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
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}}
"I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)" is a comic song written by Johnny Mercer for the Paramount Pictures release Rhythm on the Range and sung by its star, Bing Crosby. The Crosby commercial recording was made on July 17, 1936, with Jimmy Dorsey & his Orchestra for Decca Records.{{cite web|title=A Bing Crosby Discography|url=http://www.bingmagazine.co.uk/bingmagazine/crosby1bDecca.html|website=BING magazine|publisher=International Club Crosby|access-date=April 17, 2017}} It was a huge hit in 1936, reaching the No. 2 spot in the charts of the day,{{cite book|last1=Whitburn|first1=Joel|title=Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954|date=1986|publisher=Record Research Inc|location=Wisconsin, USA|isbn=0-89820-083-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/105 105]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/105}} and it greatly furthered Mercer's career. Crosby recorded the song again in 1954 for his album Bing: A Musical Autobiography.
Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.{{Cite web |title=The Top 100 Western Songs |author=Western Writers of America |year=2010 |author-link=Western Writers of America |publisher=American Cowboy |url=http://www.americancowboy.com/culture/top-100-western-songs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101019002745/http://americancowboy.com/culture/top-100-western-songs |archive-date=19 October 2010 |url-status=dead }} It has also been covered by numerous jazz musicians, including Sonny Rollins, Monty Alexander, Joshua Redman, and John Scofield.
Background
Mercer and his wife were driving across the US en route to his hometown, Savannah, Georgia, after having apparently failed to succeed in Hollywood. Mercer was amused by the sight of cowboys, with spurs and ten-gallon hats, driving cars and trucks instead of riding horses. Singing cowboys were popular in films and on the radio then, and within 15 minutes, writing on the back of an envelope, Mercer transferred the image he was seeing into a song whose satirical lyrics vented some of his own bitter frustration with Hollywood.{{cite book|last1=Furia|first1=Philip|title=Skylark: The Life and Times of Johnny Mercer|date=2003|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|isbn=0-312-28720-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/skylarklifetimes0000furi/page/85 85]|url=https://archive.org/details/skylarklifetimes0000furi/page/85}}
The lyrics, about a 20th-century cowboy who has little in common with the cowpunchers of old, have been included in some anthologies of light verse.
Other recordings
The song has also been sung by Roy Rogers (Sons of the Pioneers), Sophia Johnson, Carson Robison, Bobby Darin, Tex Ritter, The Mills Brothers, Johnnie Ray, Jack Teagarden, Patsy Montana, Frank Sinatra, Steve Lawrence, Lorne Greene, Dan Hicks, and Harry Connick Jr., Hotclub of Cowtown among others. A notable jazz version by Sonny Rollins leads off his 1957 album Way Out West. Instrumental versions were done by Ray Conniff on his album 'S Wonderful! (1956) and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass on their album The Brass are Comin' (1969).{{cite web|title=allmusic.com|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-brass-are-comin-mw0000863074|website=allmusic.com|access-date=June 25, 2017}} Other jazz recordings have been recorded by Grant Green, Monty Alexander, Clark Terry, Joshua Redman, John Scofield, and Acker Bilk.
Film and other appearances
- 1936 Rhythm on the Range - performed by Bing Crosby, Leonid Kinskey, Martha Raye, Bob Burns, and Louis Prima, accompanied by The Sons of the Pioneers in a campfire scene.{{cite book|last1=Reynolds|first1=Fred|title=The Road to Hollywood|date=1986|publisher=John Joyce and Son|location=Gateshead, UK|page=79}}
- 1940 Me Feelins is Hurt - a western-themed Popeye cartoon, as background music
- 1943 King of the Cowboys{{cite web|title=American Film Institute|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=530|website=afi.com|access-date=June 25, 2017}} - sung by Roy Rogers.
- 1947 The Mild West, a Paramount Noveltoon, in a bouncing ball sequence
- 1954 I Love Lucy - sung by Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance in the season 3 episode "Home Movies".
- 1987 Innerspace - Robert Picardo performs a verse.{{cite web|title=Internet Movie Database|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093260/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd|website=imdb.com|access-date=June 25, 2017}}
- 2012 Men in Black 3 - The Sons of the Pioneers version is heard.{{cite web|title=Internet Movie Database|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1409024/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd|website=imdb.com|access-date=June 25, 2017}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- Who Wrote that Song by Dick Jacobs & Harriet Jacobs, published by Writer's Digest Books 1993 (2nd Edition)
External links
- {{IMDb title|qid=Q2039739|title=Rhythm on the Range}}
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Category:Songs about cowboys and cowgirls
Category:Western music (North America) songs
Category:Songs with lyrics by Johnny Mercer