Riders in the Sky – Silver Jubilee
Listen up, all you cowpokes. It’s time to saddle up with Riders In The Sky and celebrate their 25th anniversary. That’s the whole point of their new album, Silver Jubilee.
Ranger Doug (vocals, guitar), Woody Paul (fiddle, vocals), and Too Slim (bunkhouse bass, vocals) have labored this past quarter-century to keep the western in country & western music. Joey the Cowpolka King (accordion, vocals) hasn’t been on the trail for the full trip, but he’s on hand for this occasion.
Riders In The Sky are heirs to the likes of Gene Autry and Tex Ritter. They’ve ridden the high lonesome trails of western music with classic tunes such as “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky”, “Cool Water”, “My Oklahoma” and “Tumbling Tumbleweeds”, as well as penning numerous western songs including “Here Comes The Santa Fe”, “Blue Montana Skies” and their signature tune, “The Cowboy Way”.
All these are featured on Silver Jubilee, as well as several comic numbers, which are as much a part of the band’s act as their straight-ahead western tunes. Too Slim’s epic dream narrative, “Sidekick Heaven”, is included, as is “Phantom Of The Chuckwagon” and “Salting Of The Slug”. This double-disc celebration provides a prime retrospective on one of the most enjoyable western music acts to ever let loose a yodel.