TV Western Themes--Slim Boyd and His Range Riders (Coronet CX 175; 1963)

 

One of my all-time favorite budget efforts, despite its many shortcomings.  Among these: Only two of the ten tracks are actual TV themes (Davy Crockett and Cheyenne); hence, 80 percent of the material rates as filler (though not a bad ratio for a junk-label LP).  As for Slim Boyd and His Range Riders, other artists credited with the same material (on other issues) range from Sons of the New Frontier, The Rio Grande River Boys, Frankie Starr, and Jack Arthur, among others--the usual up-for-grabs junk-label attributions.  And, though this collection was released in 1963, the material dates back to the previous decade and to the Peter Pan label--thus, the release year amounts to nothing.  Otherwise, a perfect album.  And it has cheap but delightfully campy jacket art, as does Western Favorites, the source for today's bonus tracks:

                                                                                     

The numbers I added from the Coronet Western Favorites (no "TV" this time), include A Buckskin Boy (And Gal in Calico) by J. Fred Coots of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town fame.  Here's the original Peter Pan picture sleeve and record label for same:

Meanwhile, here's the original sleeve and label for Buffalo Billy, an actual pop song (as opposed to an intended-for-budget-label title), plus the sheet music for the 1909 My Pony Boy, which appears on the latter LP as Pony Boy.  And you thought this was all junk with no redeeming details...

The standout TV Western Themes tracks--Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Davy Crokett, Cheyenne, and El Paso, a fine cover of the Marty Robbins hit--comprise a full 60 percent of the track list, which is an impressive feat for any dollar-bin disc.  Oh, and here's El Paso in its original SPC EP form:

Several of the shorter selections, including Arkansas Traveler, are medley snippets padded out via splicing, though Red River Valley only gets one pass, and with an awkward finish.  Anyway, the usual for-a-buck rip-off, but with unusually fun selections.

At Discogs, "Slim Boyd" yields no fewer than seven budget aliases, including Curley (Half as Much) Williams. 

DOWNLOAD: TV Western Themes.zip

SLIM BOYD AND HIS RANGE RIDERS

Davy Crockett (actual TV theme)

Wyatt Earp

Cheyenne (actual TV theme)

El Paso

Red River Valley

Wild Bill Hickok

The Old Chisholm Trail

Jesse James

Buffalo Bill

Home on the Range

SONS OF THE NEW FRONTIER

A Boy in Buckskin (J. Fred Coots)

Buffalo Gals

Buffalo Billy (Redman-Cavanaugh-Weldon)

Pony Boy (Heath-O'Donnell)

Arkansas Traveler



Lee