# What's that iconic 'cowbooy music'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720 "2014-02-19T17:56:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/1 "2014-02-19T17:56:53Z")
There’s a tune that is the epitome of cowboy soundtrack music. I can’t remember hearing it in any movie, but I remember hearing it on cartoons of the '40s and '50s they used to show on TV. I’m picturing Droopy, but I’m sure I’ve heard it elsewhere. I can only describe it here, and that’s hard with music. But let me try anyway. [sub]dum[/sub] dee[sup] DUM[/sup] dum [sub]dum[/sub] dee[sup] DUM[/sup] dum ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/2 "2014-02-19T18:11:55Z")
The guitar part from [Happy Trails?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0t9HL7MVx4) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/3 "2014-02-19T18:14:21Z")
It sounds like part of the["Gunsmoke" theme](http://www.televisiontunes.com/Gunsmoke.html), called “Old Trails”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/4 "2014-02-19T18:27:20Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > The guitar part from [Happy Trails?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0t9HL7MVx4) The first line sounds like it. I don’t recall the progression getting higher each time, though. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > It sounds like part of the["Gunsmoke" theme](http://www.televisiontunes.com/Gunsmoke.html), called “Old Trails”. The ‘clop-clop’ sound in the background sounds like it. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/5 "2014-02-19T19:34:53Z")
I thought from the thread title it would be the [“On the Trail”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVKVB0MImOg&t=1m28s) section of the _Grand Canyon Suite_. (Yet another title with “Trail” in it.) ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/6 "2014-02-19T19:37:37Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I thought from the thread title it would be the [“On the Trail”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVKVB0MImOg&t=1m28s) section of the _Grand Canyon Suite_. (Yet another title with “Trail” in it.) Exactly what I was thinking! \*\* Biffy\*\* posted it as I was googling it. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/7 "2014-02-19T19:42:53Z")
There’s also [Lives of the Cowboys](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io6HQPN1434) from Prairie Home Companion. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/8 "2014-02-19T20:17:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The first line sounds like it. I don’t recall the progression getting higher each time, though. > The ‘clop-clop’ sound in the background sounds like it. Happy Trails was written in the appropriate time frame to be included in 40s-50s cartoons, whereas Gunsmoke started in the mid-50s. It may just be a generic cowboy riff. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/9 "2014-02-19T20:29:02Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > It sounds like part of the “Gunsmoke” theme, called “Old Trails”. that song is also called Boothill. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/10 "2014-02-19T20:30:10Z")
Gene Autry “Back in the Saddle Again” ? I`m back in the saddle again Out where a friend is a friend Where the longhorn cattle feed On the lowly gypsum weed Back in the saddle again ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/11 "2014-02-19T20:34:08Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Gene Autry “Back in the Saddle Again” ? > > I`m back in the saddle again > Out where a friend is a friend > Where the longhorn cattle feed > On the lowly gypsum weed > Back in the saddle again That’s [Jimson weed,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium) you doggone tenderfoot. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/12 "2014-02-19T20:43:12Z")
It’s not really a tune, it’s just a commonly used bass line, like oom pah pah for polka, or the standard I-vi-IV-V progression (bum-ba-dee bum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum) in slow rock tunes. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/13 "2014-02-19T20:50:01Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > It’s not really a tune, it’s just a commonly used bass line, like oom pah pah for polka, or the standard I-vi-IV-V progression (bum-ba-dee bum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum) in slow rock tunes. Too late to edit, but slight correction- oom pah pah is, of course a waltz. Polka is more like boom chick pah chick. ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/14 "2014-02-19T21:31:30Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > It’s not really a tune, it’s just a commonly used bass line, like oom pah pah for polka, or the standard I-vi-IV-V progression (bum-ba-dee bum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum) in slow rock tunes. You are correct, sir. Here it’s used in Arizona Moon Keep Shining/Blue Shadows: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CX53oee\_Uw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CX53oee_Uw) Funny version from **Three Amigos** where horses sing along: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1363Nijgv4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1363Nijgv4) ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/15 "2014-02-20T00:59:09Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > It’s not really a tune, it’s just a commonly used bass line, like oom pah pah for polka, or the standard I-vi-IV-V progression (bum-ba-dee bum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum) in slow rock tunes. If it’s the riff I think it is, it also appears in the passage at the start of Mary Wells’ “My Guy”… which is itself a quote from “Canadian Sunset”. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/16 "2014-02-20T01:31:00Z")
The theme was also used for one of the songs in The Who’s “mini-opera” [_A Quick One While He’s Away_](http://youtu.be/bq1LI3fO_TU?t=3m56s) ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/17 "2014-02-20T01:58:19Z")
How about the opening lines to [Desert Skies](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfuM1w_28KY) by Marshall Tucker. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/18 "2014-02-21T11:33:02Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > It’s not really a tune, it’s just a commonly used bass line, like oom pah pah for polka, or the standard I-vi-IV-V progression (bum-ba-dee bum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum) in slow rock tunes. Yes, that was my first thought too. It goes, for example: (Dum…, ta, Dah…,da) C…G.A…G. C…G.A…G. C…G.A…G. C…G.A…G. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/19 "2014-02-21T14:26:51Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Yes, that was my first thought too. > > It goes, for example: (Dum…, ta, Dah…,da) > > C…G.A…G. > C…G.A…G. > C…G.A…G. > C…G.A…G. Just to be nitpicky, if it’s the same melody/bass line I’m thinking of, it would more properly be rendered: C…G A G/C…G A G/C…G A G/C…G A G/ The G A G sequence features notes of equal duration, with equal pauses between them, while the initial C is sustained beneath them. > [@](#): > > If it’s the riff I think it is, it also appears in the passage at the start of Mary Wells’ “My Guy”… which is itself a quote from “Canadian Sunset”. The second half of your statement is correct (in fact, I always wondered how Smokey Robinson didn’t get sued by Eddie Howard). But as for the first, the notes in the “Canadian Sunset” riff are the same as the cowboy riff, but the pattern and rhythm of them is different. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720/20 "2014-02-21T14:47:25Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > Just to be nitpicky, if it’s the same melody/bass line I’m thinking of, it would more properly be rendered: > > C…G A G/C…G A G/C…G A G/C…G A G/ > > The G A G sequence features notes of equal duration, with equal pauses between them, while the initial C is sustained beneath them. > > The second half of your statement is correct (in fact, I always wondered how Smokey Robinson didn’t get sued by Eddie Howard). > > But as for the first, the notes in the “Canadian Sunset” riff are the same as the cowboy riff, but the pattern and rhythm of them is different. No, K364 is closer. When it’s written in music notation it’s dotted eighth, sixteenth, dotted eighth, sixteenth. And it’s usually sung “bum ba dee da”. You can hear a good example of it being sung on Van Halen’s recording of [“Happy Trails”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwYcsMiB2UM). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-iconic-cowbooy-music/681720.md?page=2)