Empty Saddles (song)

Record label for Bing Crosby's 1936 Decca recording of "Empty Saddles"

"Empty Saddles (in the Old Corral)" is a classic American cowboy song written by Billy Hill. It became widely known to the public in July 1936, when Bing Crosby sang it with deep emotion in the Paramount musical Rhythm on the Range,[1] and his Decca recording of it reached the Top 10 that September.[2]

Crosby's recording of this and other "country" songs gave them a legitimacy by showing that they could appeal to pop sophisticates as well as rural audiences. He performed them with integrity and did not "look down his nose" at the music.[3]

"Empty Saddles" was later recorded by many artists, including the Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Bond, and Sons of the San Joaquin.[1] Particularly notable recordings were by Roy Rogers (1947), Burl Ives (1961), Dean Martin (1966), and Jimmie Rodgers (1983).[2]

Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "The Last Roundup - A Tribute to Songwriter Billy Hill". AmericanMusicPreservation.com. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  2. 1 2 "Song:Empty Saddles". Shapiro Bernstein. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  3. ↑ Cusic, Don (2011). "25 - Bing Crosby and Country Music". The Cowboy in Country Music: An Historical Survey with Artist Profiles. McFarland. pp. 112–113. ISBN 978-0786486052. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  4. ↑ Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.

External links

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