The Sons Of The Pioneers were one of the USA’s earliest western singing groups, and the primary originators of what might be called “cowboy country”.
Their songs, vocal harmonies and instrumental make-up influencing countless artists who followed them, although they were such a long-lived group that they were able to compete with many that they influenced.
With their origins in California, they evolved from a vocal trio that comprised future cowboy movie star Roy Rogers, Canadian songwriter Bob Nolan, and Tim Spencer, signing to the newly-formed Decca label, before appearing in western movies.
This 53-track collection comprises selected A- and B-sides of their releases on the Decca, Vocalion, Columbia and RCA-Victor labels during this era. It features all their career pop and country chart entries, including the Top 10 hits Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Cool Water, Stars and Stripes On Iwo Jima, No One To Cry To, Cigareetes, Whusky, And Wild, Wild Women, Teardrops In My Heart and Room Full Of Roses. Tumbling Tumbleweeds and Cool Water were such landmark songs that they were both hits twice with different recordings.
Between 1935 and 1984, the Sons Of The Pioneers appeared in 87 films, several movie shorts, and a television series, but that track, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, will be familiar for many younger listeners after it was used over the opening credits of the Coen Brothers’ 1998 classic comedy movie, The Big Lebowski, starring Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski. Since 1933, through many changes in membership, the Sons of the Pioneers have remained one of the longest-surviving country music vocal groups.
The name continues to today. This collection is a marvellous and captivating showcase which captures the spirit of the pioneer west in inimitable style.