Former rodeo rider and cowboy poet Red Steagall entered the music scene in the early 1970s as a latter-day honky-tonk and western swing singer; later on he refashioned himself as a singing cowboy and has become one of the best-known western music revivalists, along with Don Edwards, Chris LeDoux and others. Here's a quick look at his work...
Red Steagall "Party Dolls And Wine" (Capitol, 1972)
Red Steagall "Somewhere My Love" (Capitol, 1973)
Red Steagall "If You've Got The Time, I've Got The Song" (Capitol, 1973) (LP)
Red Steagall "Finer Things In Life" (Capitol, 1974)
Red Steagall "Lone Star Beer And Bob Wills Music" (ABC/Dot, 1976)
One of the greatest western swing albums of the 1970s, this fine, fiddle-drenched, beer-happy singalong set gave the Bob Wills sound a hefty infusion of honkytonk barroom backbeat, while offering up a swell batch of original new tunes. If Steagall had only recorded the album's anthemic title track, his name would still be forever set in the annals of true-country immortality, but the rest of the album rocks mightily as well. Songs like "Neons And Nylons," "Alexis From Texas," "The Walls Of This Old Honky Tonk" and "My First Night Without You" are, quite simply, about as good as hard country can get, and Steagall's jaunty delivery is just about the most upbeat, jovial thing this side of Hank Thompson.
Red Steagall "Texas Red" (ABC/Dot, 1976) (LP)
Red Steagall "For All Our Cowboy Friends" (ABC/Dot, 1977)
Steagall, an old rodeo rider himself, applies his irresistible honkytonk swing sound to a slew of rodeo-themed western tunes and semi-plausible tall tales... If you like the material, then this set can't be beat; if dogie ropin' and cattle wrangling is less interesting to you than beer drinkin' and girl chasin', then you might find your attention wandering a bit. Still, I dig the way Steagall sings, and compared to just about any other goat roper album I'm ever heard, this one's a masterpiece.
Red Steagall "Hang On Feelin' " (ABC/Dot, 1978) (LP)
Red Steagall "It's Our Life" (Tractor, 1979)
Red Steagall "Cowboy Favorites" (Delta, 1982)
Red Steagall "Red Steagall" (Dot/MCA, 1986) (LP)
Red Steagall "Born To This Land" (Warner Western, 1993)
Red Steagall "Faith And Values" (Warner Western, 1995)
Red Steagall "The Cowboy Code" (Eagle, 1996)
Red Steagall "Dear Mama I'm A Cowboy" (Warner Western, 1997)
Red Steagall "Love Of The West" (Warner Western, 1999)
Red Steagall "Wagon Tracks" (Shanachie, 2002)
Red Steagall "The Wind, The Wire And The Rail" (Wildcatter, 2006)
Red Steagall "Here We Go Again" (Wildcatter, 2007)
