Cisco Houston Web Site

On CD

Cowboy Songs on Folkways

Vanguard

1991 - CD SF 40043

Track Listing

  1. Morning Grub Holler: Harry Jackson
  2. Round-Up Cook: Harry Jackson
  3. Chisholm Trail: The Tex-I-An Boys
  4. Whoopie Ti-Yi-Yo, Get Along Little Dogies: Woody Guthrie And Cisco Houston
  5. Little Joe, the Wrangler: Cisco Houston
  6. Little Joe, the Wrangler's Sister Nell: Harry Jackson
  7. Utah Carl: Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock
  8. Put Your Little Foot: The Tex-I-An Boys
  9. Trail to Mexico: Peter LaFarge
  10. Las Chapparreras: Peter Hurd
  11. Buffalo Skinners: Woody Guthrie
  12. Zebra Dun: Ray Reed
  13. Some Cowboy Brag Talk: Harry Jackson
  14. Horse Wrangler: Roger Welsch
  15. Strawberry Roan: Harry Jackson
  16. Texian Boys: John A. Lomax, Jr.
  17. Out on the Western Plains (Cow-Cow Yicky Yicky Yea): Leadbelly
  18. Jesse James (Leadbelly's Version): Woody Guthrie
  19. Home on the Range: Pete Seeger
  20. Empty Cot in the Bunkhouse Tonight: Rosalie Sorrells
  21. Springtime in the Rockies: Leadbelly
  22. Lone Star Trail: Dave Fredrickson
  23. Rodeo Hand: Peter LaFarge
  24. Philadelphia Lawyer (Reno Blues): Woody Guthrie And Cisco Houston
  25. The Dying Cowboy: Cisco Houston
  26. Devil Made Texas: Hermes Nye

Of Interest:

Another Guy Logsdon masterpiece of documentation and annotation, though the print is mighty small. Two superlative Cisco performances from the Folkways vault, neither elsewhere on CD, and two more where he sings harmony with Woody, that I don't have on CD elsewhere.

Review:

Jim Clark

One hates to be repetitve, but Cisco can sing, and these other guys mostly can't. They may be "authentic", but as I describe elsewhere, I don't put music on to feel good about myself and my superior knowledge or consistency, or share the struggles of the underclass, but to experience musical pleasure. You hear why Peter LaFarge was a star, or would have been if he'd lived a bit longer. You hear why Leadblly was so powerful. And you unequivocally hear why Cisco was so great. Cisco recorded many of the other songs, and I am afraid I prefer his recordings of every single one. Strawberry Roan is one of Cisco's earliest recordings, and one of his most entertaining. This just ain't as good. And while Zebra Dun includes more verses, I dislike their intent, which is to ameliorate the trick played by the cowboys. In Cisco's version, the greenhorn is a stranger who is the victim of a cruel joke that backfires. Chastened and humble, Cisco is truly astounded by the greenhorn's surprising expertise. In this performance, the stranger makes himself decidedly unwelcome before saddling up. Big difference. And on the easy-to-be-maudlin Little Joe the Wrangler, Cisco tells the story as if he were there. Another perfect performance.

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