tracks.
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1.StopBack in the Saddle Again – Gene Autry 02:37
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2.StopI Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart – Patsy Montana, The Prairie Ramblers 03:08
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3.StopPatent Leather Boots – Elton Britt 02:58
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4.StopDusty Skies – Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys 02:54
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5.StopTumbling Tumbleweeds – The Sons of the Pioneers 02:40
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6.StopThe Cattle Call – Eddy Arnold 03:04
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7.StopStampede – Roy Rogers, The Sons of the Pioneers 02:36
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8.StopRodeo Hand – Johnny Cash 02:26
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9.StopStrawberry Roan – Marty Robbins 03:25
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10.StopRide, Ride, Ride – Lynn Anderson 02:01
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11.StopRide 'Em Cowboy – David Allan Coe 03:36
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12.StopWildfire – Michael Martin Murphey 04:49
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13.StopLet's All Help the Cowboys (Sing the Blues) – Waylon Jennings 03:15
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14.StopRita Ballou – Guy Clark 02:50
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15.StopBandy the Rodeo Clown – Moe Bandy 02:57
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16.StopMammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys – Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson 02:34
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17.StopMy Cowboy's Last Ride – Jessi Colter 03:16
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18.StopBull Rider – Johnny Cash 03:07
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19.Stop(We Are) The Cowboys – Billy Joe Shaver 03:42
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20.StopMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys – Willie Nelson 03:05
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21.StopI Was Born to Be a Cowboy – Red Steagall 02:41
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22.StopLeavin' Cheyenne – Ian Tyson 03:53
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23.StopThe Wayward Wind – James Galway, Sylvia 03:05
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24.StopOklahoma Borderline – Vince Gill 03:38
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25.Stop(Ghost) Riders in the Sky – The Outlaws 05:48
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26.StopTexas in 1880 – Foster & Lloyd 03:53
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27.StopSilver Stallion – The Highwaymen 03:15
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28.StopCaballo Diablo – The Charlie Daniels Band 04:27
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29.StopHooked on an 8 Second Ride – Chris LeDoux 03:30
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30.StopHold on Partner – Clint Black, Roy Rogers 02:02
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31.StopRainbow Rider – Tanya Tucker 03:36
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32.StopCoyotes – Don Edwards 04:27
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33.StopSomeday Soon – Suzy Bogguss 03:56
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34.StopAn American Cowboy – Merle Haggard 03:14
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35.StopEven Cowgirls Get the Blues – Rodney Crowell 03:56
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36.StopRopin' Pen – Trent Willmon 03:48
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37.StopCowpoke – Don Walser 03:03
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38.StopMesquite Cowboy Mind – Doug Supernaw 03:39
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39.StopNo Ordinary Man – Tracy Byrd 03:26
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40.StopFarr Away Stomp (A Tribute to Our Four Legged Friends) – Riders in the Sky 02:20
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41.StopI Can Still Make Cheyenne – George Strait 04:16
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42.StopWhen Cowboys Didn't Dance – Lonestar 03:59
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43.StopThat Buckin' Song – Robert Earl Keen, Jr. 02:20
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44.StopOne Ride in Vegas – Deryl Dodd 04:12
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45.StopBull Ridin' Son of a Gun – Charlie Daniels 04:16
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46.StopWanted Dead or Alive – Montgomery Gentry 05:14
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47.StopCowboy and Clown – Craig Morgan 03:33
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48.StopGood Horses to Ride – Trent Willmon 05:09
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49.StopCowboy Town – Brooks & Dunn 03:20
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50.StopBorn to Buck Bad Luck – Michael Martin Murphey 03:44
The cowboy as an actual occupation may have peaked before the end of the 19th century, but the mythology of the cowboy was just beginning when the recording industry began dipping into folk and regional music in the 1920s (film, radio, and television weren't far behind). It ensured that children would continue to play Cowboys Indians for decades to come, then follow their favorite Singing (or acting) Cowboys on the silver screen and later, television. The rodeo tradition, closely related, has existed nearly as long as herding cattle, although it became professionalized and regimented beginning with the first National Finals Rodeo in 1959. Come 2008, and it's the 50th anniversary of that event, presented by Wrangler and governed by the oldest and largest rodeo organization, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Despite its unwieldy title, the three-disc box set Boots, Buckles Spurs: 50 Songs Celebrate 50 Years of Cowboy Tradition is a fine retrospective of the best cowboy-themed music during that time (much of it the same as what's heard over the PA at those events). When compared to other large compilations of cowboy music and Western swing, some have been better from a historical perspective -- 1993's Songs of the West from Rhino is still the best -- but as an all-encompassing look at the allure of the cowboy within country music over the last 50 years, it's perfectly primed. (And given that the combined catalogs of Sony and BMG are involved, it boasts one of the biggest casts of performers that one could hope for.) Presented in rough chronological order, it begins with Gene Autry's "Back in the Saddle Again" and, early on, pegs key Western material of the '40s and '50s (Sons of the Pioneers, Roy Rogers, Bob Wills). That still leaves most of the first disc, and all of discs two and three, to cover the '60s (briefly) and everything produced after. Naturally, these tracks aren't dusty old 45s of Tex Ritter moaning about blood in the saddle or the perils of rye whiskey; this is polished, high-energy country, perfect for booming out over a 50,000-kilowatt system, with cowboys often used as metaphors by singers who may not know much about the rodeo or cowboy tradition at all (the biggest exception being Chris LeDoux, the celebrated country singer and rodeo champion). Over 50 songs and well over three hours of music, a parade of country stars appear with their best Western moments, including Charlie Daniels, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Michael Martin Murphey, and Marty Robbins, as well as contemporary country stars George Strait, Clint Black, Vince Gill, Tracy Byrd, Montgomery Gentry, and Brooks Dunn. If you have no problem seeing a continuous line of the cowboy within country music, with attendant dots for "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" by the Sons of the Pioneers, "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, and a cover of Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Montgomery Gentry, then this is just the set for you. John Bush, Rovi
- Genre: Country
- Category Outlaw Country, Traditional Country, Contemporary Country, Country-Pop, Cowboy
- Label: SONY LEGACY
- Release Date: November 18, 2008
- Artist: Boots Buckles & Spurs: 50 Songs Celebrate 50 Y
- Additional Artist: Various artists collection, Willie Nelson (Performer), Kris Kristofferson (Performer), Waylon Jennings (Performer), Johnny Cash (Performer)