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COWBOY POETRY & MUSIC … AN AMERICAN
HERITAGE
FROM THE CAMPFIRE TO THE CD PLAYER
by Larry Maurice & Bob Sigman Cowboys,
the west and poetry... Not a combination that most would put together. But
this popular form of entertainment has been with us since the eighteenth century
and perhaps before that. In the early 19th Century, rhyming poetry was
the style of the day and poets like Longfellow, Wordsworth and Walt Whitman were
read, memorized and passed on. In the cow camps, along the trail and at
the campfire, it was not unusual to hear in a rough breed of young fifteen and
sixteen-year-old "COWBOYS," reciting from the bible, the singing of
hymns and gospel songs or Paul Revere's Ride. The Cowboy life was
rough and a dangerous job; men working with livestock and battling against the
forces of nature. Moved to put their individual feelings and experiences
into words - they shared their stories in the quiet of a smoky campfire or across
the fence of a branding corral. It became known as "WESTERN VERSE."
Sometimes auto-biographical, sometimes fact, many times fiction - ribald stories,
often put to rhyme as it made it easier to remember and gave a song-like quality
to the recitation. In many cases, they became songs and the telling of these
stories became as prevalent in the cow camps and bunkhouses of the old west as
Chaps and Spurs. In the early 1980's a blurb in the newspaper about
a little "gathering" of Cowboy Poets in Elko, Nevada caught the eye
of TV host, Johnny Carson's staff. Thinking it "folksy" and a
little odd they invited Cowboy Poets, Waddie Mitchell and Nyle Hendersen on the
show. Upon hearing Waddie Mitchell's recitation of Wallace McCrea's now
famous "Reincarnation." Carson quickly realized that what he was
hearing was some great "original Americana" sometimes funny, sometimes
serious, but from the heart. It's verse and rhythms a direct documentation
of the spirit, courage and character of the American Cowboy. He publicly
apologized, and invited the Cowboy's back. A commitment he kept for many years. The
gathering at Elko and Johnny Carson's national exposure to such poets as Mitchell,
Hendersen, McCrea and Baxter Black gave an almost immediate transition of the
poetry from mere "Western verse" to a recognized art form now commonly
know and accepted as "COWBOY POETRY"; celebrating the life and lifestyle
of the American Cowboy. Since then it has grown into a popular entertainment
media for people from all walks of life. And
Music Too... Tales of cooks and crooks and good rides and
bad horses dominated the Western Verse and song of the early days and continue
to be exemplified in today's modern Cowboy poetry and music. The more things change
the more they stay the same in the Cowboy life. Horses are still horses,
good and bad. Cattle still need to be attended too, and nature still shows
and Challenges the Cowboy. The Cowboy of today is still moved to express
his feeling for all these things. But the modern world has intruded somewhat
into the Cowboys life. Along with saddle and rope the Cowboy of today is likely
to have laptop computer in his saddlebags and the merits of a 450 horsepower diesel
"dually" truck and stock trailer are written about, along with Wrecks
and Rodeos. Through all the changes good Cowboys on good horses are
still going to work cattle everyday all around the world. And it still moves
them to poetry and music. While a few of these storytellers became noteworthy,
the author of many a Cowboy poem or song has become anonymous today, lost to the
dusty trail of long ago. Their heritage still celebrated and read and recited
today, they left an indelible mark in history no different than the aborigines
who left their petrography in the dark caves of Europe and Asia From
the pilgrims of Plymouth Rock to the Vaqueros of old California, Mexico to the
grass beyond the mountains of British Columbia: the story of the Cowboy is still
being written… No, not in the hard dust of yesterday, but in the west of
today. And it is through the telling of his story, in the bunkhouse, at
the campfire, and in the classroom that the Spirit, Lore, and the Legacy of this
amazing thing called "COWBOY" will never-ever fade away Check
out CowboyPoetry.Com's
comments on other Late Night Cowboy Poets on the Tonight Show We
hope you enjoy our selection of poems and songs and share them with your friends.
Reincarnation
...Read at CowboyPoetry.com | 
