I can’t find a version of this song that is what I really want to hear. The version by The Outlaws has great country-rock instrumentals but their yippi-yi-aying leaves much to be desired. Johnny Cash’s vocals are, as ever, perfect, but he says “yippi-yi-oh, yippi-yi-ay” and it’s so totally supposed to be the other way around, plus his background music is crap.
What’s the best version of this song? And is the actual title Ghost Riders in the Sky, or just Riders in the Sky?
The best? Lorne Greene sings it. On the same album he did the theme song from “Bonanza”; the ballad of the Ponderosa, AND his stirring rendition of “Ringo”. 
And it is “ghost riders in the sky”, at least according to Pa Cartwright.
Oh, goodness, find the original, by Vaughn Monroe! I have it on a 78, which I’m afraid does you no good . . .
Maybe the one you are looking for is by Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers.
I’ve seen Roy Clark in concert and he does an excellent instrumental version of “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”
racinchikki, confusion may stem in part from the fabulous western trio by the name of Riders in the Sky, which takes its name from the song, originally done by Vaughn Monroe way back in the late 1940s. The group, by the way, have a world-class yodeler in the person of “Ranger Doug” and do an excellent version of the song.
Info available here.
I have an instrumental version, well almost instrumental version by Duane Eddy that I really like.
Davie Allen and the Arrows …
OK, I’ll go away now …
Also, check out the version byDick Dale.
Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson sing it together in a VH-1 Storytellers album. It is listed as “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky” there.
Milton Nascimento, a brasilian pop/rock/jazz/everything else artist did the best version I’ve heard of this song as an intro to his album CACADOR DE MIM.
It starts with an instrumental called Crescente for 40 seconds and then jumps straight into the song. It’s done as moody rock and its lyrics are in Portuguese.
Blues Brothers 2000 features a good version.
Found a CD.
The high point of the whole sorry affair, IMHO…
Hey, I remember that from when I saw the movie! That’s really the only thing I remember from when I saw the movie, too.
Hometownboy, I’ve heard Riders in the Sky. Ranger Doug, Idol of American Youth… Good stuff, they is.
Eve and Jeff Olsen, thanks for the heads-up on Vaughn Monroe’s original. The question is, how does he yippi-yi-ay?
Thanks for your responses, everybody. I wasn’t expecting to get so much reaction to a thread about this song.
I’m rather fond of the Spike Jones version. 
Note: the album I’ve got it on lists it simply as “Riders in the Sky”…
Eric
He does it properly. Also, he sings “The Ghost Herd in the sky” at the end of the first verse (some versions ignore this subtlety and incorrectly sing “Ghost Riders in the sky”).
I’ve got the Vaughn Monroe version. I taped if off the radio. It’s the ultimate version.
The Trashmen, a surf band, do a great interpretive cover of the song. They call it “Ghostriders”. It’s very different, and like most surf, purely instrumental, but quite haunting. Well, they do have a chorus of voices, but no words, just ooohing and ahhing.
Monroe’s version is readily available on the Rhino CD Sentimental Journey: Pop Vocal Classics Vol. 2 (1947-1950). I’d recommend the other three volumes in the series as well.