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Picture the colorfully costumed members of the Western quartet Riders in the Sky, and you may catch yourself humming the melody of \u201cWoody\u2019s Roundup,\u201d from the 1999 Disney\/Pixar film Toy Story 2<\/em>.\u00a0But there\u2019s far more to the Grammy-winning band and its founder, Douglas \u201cRanger Doug\u201d Green. The Chicago-born musician, arranger, songwriter, singer and yodeler holds a master\u2019s degree in literature from Vanderbilt University and is the author of two music histories, Country Roots: The Origins of Country Music<\/em>\u00a0(1976) and Singing in the Saddle: The History of the Singing Cowboy<\/em> (2002). (His article \u201cSing, Cowboy, Sing!\u201d<\/a> a history of the singing cowboy, appeared in the October 2018 Wild West<\/em>). The tireless 78-year-old performer is also the host of the Sirius XM radio program Ranger Doug\u2019s Classic Cowboy Corral<\/em>, centered on vintage cowboy music. Often compared to the Sons of the Pioneers, albeit with a whimsical twist, Riders in the Sky [ridersinthesky.com<\/a>] has been touring for five decades, released more than 40 albums, performed for radio and film, and won two Grammy Awards. Green recently spoke with Wild West<\/em> from his home in Brentwood, a suburb of Nashville, Tenn. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/p>\n Real in the sense that any time men are stranded in isolated situations they will sing and compose. There are lumberjack songs. There are sailor shanties. So, yes, some of the cowboys did sing at the time. Some of them played the fiddle. I don\u2019t know if they played the guitar, but I imagine a few did. It existed. But, yeah, it wasn\u2019t as romantic as played on-screen.<\/p>\n My interest in singing cowboys. Nobody had ever written a book on the phenomenon. There had been a couple of articles, but nobody had done a detailed study.<\/p>\n As a kid I liked Tex Ritter, in that he seemed just a little bit more authentic. But, of course, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers have been huge inspirations to me. The Sons of the Pioneers more than anyone. That harmony just tore me up, and I still love it.<\/p>\n If I had to pick one, I\u2019d say \u201cWoody\u2019s Roundup,\u201d because it\u2019s made me so much money [laughs<\/em>]!<\/p>\n \nWas the singing cowboy of the Old West a real figure or a myth?<\/h2>\n
What led you to write Singing in the Saddle?<\/h2>\n
Do you have a favorite singing cowboy from the golden era of Western film?<\/h2>\n
Do you have a favorite Western song?<\/h2>\n