“Come All Ye Lonesome Cowboys”
Description
"Come all you (lonesome/jolly) cowboys... Now I'm going to leave you, To never return again." He recalls the sad parting from his mother, and the girl who promised to marry him. After all his rambling, he is leaving the boys forever (dying? going home?)
Notes
This is a definite problem piece. Roud splits it in two: #5482, which we might call "Come All You Lonesome Cowboys," (represented e.g. by the Randolph texts) and #11077, "Come All You Roving Cowboys" (represented by the Fife/Kazee text).
The problem is the Clay Walters version, which is a mish-mash of everything including perhaps some "Texas Rangers" material. Paul Stamler couldn't decide what to do with it; neither could I. So I'm lumping two songs until we get some better samples. - RBW
Recordings
- Frank Jenkins, "Roving Cowboy" (c. 1927; on BefBlues2)
- Buell Kazee, "The Roving Cowboy"(Brunswick 156, 1927; Brunswick 436, 1930; Supertone S-2043, 1930; on KMM)
- Clay Walters, "Come All You Roving Cowboys" (AFS, c. 1937; on KMM)
- Jack Webb, "The Roving Cowboy" (Victor V-40285, 1930)
References
- Randolph 180, "Come All Ye Lonesome Cowboys" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
- Ohrlin-HBT 58, "Come All Ye Western Cowboys" (1 text, 1 tune)
- Fife-Cowboy/West 59, "Roving Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune, Kazee's text, which is short)
- Roud #5482 and 11077
- BI, R189