# National Day of the Cowboy



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Hey Ya'll, today, Saturday July 24, is National Day of the Cowboy. So put on your boots, grab a Gold Buckle beer a put on some good western themed classics:

Aaron Copland: Rodeo and Billy the Kid
Ferde Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite
John Williams: overture to The Cowboys
Virgil Thomson: The Plow the Broke the Plains
Jerome Moross: suite from The Big Country
Elmer Bernstein: suite from The Magnificent Seven
Morricone: music from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly


----------



## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

Don't forget the cowgirls. And for cowgirls it doesn't get more wild west than Birgit Nilsson!


----------



## EnescuCvartet (Dec 16, 2016)

Sons of the Pioneers. "Cool Water".


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

What passing bells for these who die as cattle?


----------



## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

But let's also take time to remember that the cowboy -- vaquero -- is a Mexican invention.


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

And the Argentinians have such a culture too, the Gauchos, as seen for example in Ginastera's _Estancia _ballet.

Ginastera, btw, was a friend of Copland.


----------



## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

LOL nice try. Go listen to country - Merle, Willie, Waylon, Townes, Guy. Or LATAM music. Even Taylor Swift, honestly. Not this crap.


----------



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Well I do listen to Merle, Willie and company. But there is a difference between country/western music and cowboy songs, too. But the cowboy genre is vanishing quickly. Gene Autry was about as cowboy-music as they came and no one seems to remember him. Marty Robbins (El Paso) was another great cowboy singer. C/W used to be closely tied to rodeo, but even at those you're just as likely to hear rock n roll - not C/W. I'll still keep my faux-cowboy orchestral/operatic music though.


----------



## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

mbhaub said:


> Well I do listen to Merle, Willie and company. But there is a difference between country/western music and cowboy songs, too. But the cowboy genre is vanishing quickly. Gene Autry was about as cowboy-music as they came and no one seems to remember him. Marty Robbins (El Paso) was another great cowboy singer. C/W used to be closely tied to rodeo, but even at those you're just as likely to hear rock n roll - not C/W. I'll still keep my faux-cowboy orchestral/operatic music though.


I like the music you listed. Copland in particular is very evocative and captures the essence of those wide-open spaces. I think the Elmer Bernstein score owes a lot to him. I also like Copland's score for The Red Pony.


----------



## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

I'm only kidding bro. Listen to whatever you want haha.

And you're right about the difference between classic country and cowboy music. I'm honestly not very familiar with the latter.


----------

