Elisabeth Grace Foley

Historical Fiction Author

12 Favorite Sons of the Pioneers Songs

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I typically have between twenty and fifty Sons of the Pioneers songs on my mp3 player at any given time. It’s nice when your favorite group has a large discography, isn’t it? I figured the simplest way to identify my real favorites was to look at which ones I listen to most, and sure enough, the results are accurate. I couldn’t get it down to ten, and fifteen was likewise impossible—because I had about ten candidates for the last three spots and couldn’t decide which ought to go in. So I left it at a nice round dozen. These are loosely in order, some with commentary and some without. [Note: I originally embedded all the videos of the songs, but as a result my blog was loading so slowly that I switched ’em to plain old links.]

Not to be confused with “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.” This was a song that became a favorite without my knowing how or why—but now I love everything about it: the melody, the vocals, the gentle melancholy with the uplifting note of hope at the end.

“Blue Prairie” (Bob Nolan/Tim Spencer)
Possibly holds a record for use of the word “blue” in one set of lyrics—and deserves an award for sheer atmosphere too.

“When Payday Rolls Around” (Bob Nolan)
See it performed very similarly on film.

“Chant of the Wanderer” (Bob Nolan)
I don’t know what everybody else’s definition of “cool” is, but I call this pretty darn cool. The catchy rhythm, clever poetic lyrics and echoes—it’s just unique.


“Song of the Bandit” (Bob Nolan)
Trivia: songwriter Bob Nolan, who was strongly influenced by English and American poets (who else referenced Keats and Poe in cowboy songs?) said that this song was inspired by Alfred Noyes’ “The Highwayman.” There’s various other recordings at a slightly slower pace, but I think it’s best with the galloping rhythm of this one.

“Out California Way” (Carling Foster/Jack Meakin)
I typically don’t care for the mid-1940s RCA recordings, where I think the sometimes cheesy instrumental accompaniment obscure the vocal harmonies. This is one of the exceptions. The smooth vocals, swinging rhythm and unobtrusive instrumentals are perfect, and it always puts a smile on my face.

“The Lilies Grow High” (Stan Jones)
Best “gunfighter” song I’ve ever heard. I listened to this one a lot when I was writing “Single-Handed.”

Incredibly, the only time this beautiful song was ever recorded was in the 1940 movie The Durango Kid. Fortunately there were no other noises on the soundtrack to interrupt it, so we get to enjoy it to the full.

“At the Old Barn Dance” (Tim Spencer/Carl Winge)
A rare example of two-part harmony that gives us a chance to hear better the Pioneer method of passing the melody back and forth between the different voices. And just a lovely little song.
 
These are, of course, strictly my personal favorites—it’s not a best-of or introduction-to list or anywhere near a comprehensive one. It doesn’t have any of the big hits (“Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” “Cool Water,” “Way Out There”), or examples of the famous harmony yodel (“Sagebrush Symphony,” “One More Ride”), or the cattle-driving ballads (“Hold That Critter Down,” “Move On, You Lazy Cattle”), or the pioneer songs (“Wagons West,” “Following the Sun All Day”). I didn’t get in “Ridin’ Home” or “Rocky Mountain Express” or “Love Song of the Waterfall.” It looks like I could easily make a dozen more lists if I tried…

Fairytale Blogathon: First Love (1939)

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A few months ago, while preparing for the launch of my own little fairytale retelling, I stumbled across the news of an upcoming movie blogathon on fairytales in film. It seemed like a wonderful opportunity to revisit and spruce up my review of one of my favorite movies, which also happens to be a Cinderella retelling, 1939’s First Love. So here it is, as my entry for the Fairytale Blogathon hosted by Movies, Silently.

As the film opens, orphaned Connie Harding (Deanna Durbin) has finished boarding school and is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Clintons, in New York City. She quickly falls into the position of a typical poor relation—often overlooked, fetching and carrying, and generally living in the shadow of her pretty but spoiled cousin Barbara (Helen Parrish), society belle and the darling of magazine photographers. Her scatterbrained, astrology-obsessed aunt (Leatrice Joy) and supremely lazy cousin Walter (Lewis Howard) aren’t much help either. Uncle Jim (Eugene Pallette), a man of few words, is only visible ducking between his workplace and his study when the coast is clear, seemingly making it his object in life to spend as little time in his family’s company as possible—and it’s hard to blame him. But Connie quickly endears herself to the household staff (Charles Coleman, Mary Treen and Lucille Ward), who become her firm friends and allies.

Prince Charming enters the picture in the form of Ted Drake (Robert Stack, in his film debut), an eligible young man whose attention Barbara is bent on monopolizing. After an awkwardly comic first meeting on the grounds of a country club while employed as her scheming cousin’s go-between, Connie is smitten too, and sets her heart on attending a ball hosted by Ted’s parents. Barbara, by no means welcoming competition, does everything possible to prevent her from getting there, but Connie’s friends the servants pitch in to see that she has a suitable dress, and conspire with the cook’s policeman brother (Frank Jenks) to keep the rest of her relatives from getting to the ball before midnight so she’ll have a little time to enjoy herself. (One of my favorite lines in the film comes here from Coleman, the perennial movie butler: “You will have an escort of six white bikes, miss!”) Though the ball proves to be a dream come true, the stroke of midnight of course heralds disaster…and it’s up to Connie’s old schoolteacher and friend, the grim-faced Miss Wiggins (Kathleen Howard) to play fairy godmother and try to mend the situation with the help of a silver slipper.

First Love seems to be a relatively obscure movie today, even among classic film fans. At the time of its release it was a big affair, for Deanna Durbin was Universal’s wildly popular singing star, and a flutter of publicity whirled around the movie because it contained her first screen kiss. Perhaps the rather generic and unimpressive title has something to do with its slipping from view—one source says it was originally supposed to be called Cinderella 1939, which would at least have been a bit more descriptive of the story! But it’s such a clever, charming adaptation of the Cinderella story, I still wonder that it’s not better known. The script is sprightly and humorous, filled with amusing scenes—the frustrated Clintons delayed by the laid-back policeman on their way to the ball; Barbara and her so-called friend (June Storey) sweetly trading barbs about each other’s clothes and dispositions; and the hilarious climactic scene where Pallette’s Uncle Jim finally blows his top and lets his family have it.

The whole cast is good, but I was particularly impressed by Helen Parrish as the spoiled Barbara—I’d seen her before playing such sweet, naïve characters, her performance here seemed that much better! She played the “mean girl” to Deanna Durbin’s heroine in a couple of films, but off-screen they were good friends; Parrish was a bridesmaid at Durbin’s first wedding. They eventually got to play sisters in Three Smart Girls Grow Up, the sequel to Deanna Durbin’s first film.

Though the setting is contemporary 1930s all the way, there are a couple little touches that remind us of the fairytale background. A moment where Connie’s reflection in the mirror unexpectedly answers her back might be magic…and then it might just be her imagination. And a lovely special-effects moment comes when Connie and Ted are dancing at the ball, as the other dancers momentarily fade away to leave them waltzing alone to the dreamy strains of a melody from Johann Strauss’ “Roses From the South,” one of my very favorite waltzes. As in any Durbin film, there’s some wonderful music—a spirited rendition of “Amapola,” a medley of Strauss waltzes for the ball scene, and finally, Puccini’s “Un bel di” (sung in English), in a wonderfully out-of-context performance that suits its new usage beautifully.


First Love is available as an individual DVD which seems to be currently out of print, and also as part of a Deanna Durbin box set DVD with five other movies. You can click here to see more film stills and behind-the-scenes clippings and trivia at the Deanna Durbin Devotees fansite (all pictures in this post courtesy of the same page).

Favorite Western Film Scores

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Film scores are among my favorite kinds of music—and many of my favorite scores are from Westerns. To me, the colorful, energetic (and Copland-influenced) style that Elmer Bernstein and others developed in the early ’60s is the signature Western film-score sound, even though most of my favorite Western movies come from earlier decades. It seems a shame that just as this wonderful music style was developing, Western movies were already changing, and the traditional Western would be well on the downward slide by the end of the decade. There ought to have been more movies and better movies to go with scores like this!

But anyway, to return to the subject of this post—I’ve done plenty of talking about Westerns, and a good deal about music, so I thought it was about time I did a post on my very favorite Western film scores. So here are my top three:

Updated in 2019 to be a top-five list!

1. The Cowboys (1973) by John Williams
I wish the traditional Western movie had lasted another decade if only so John Williams could have written more scores like this. It’s got everything—a lively, toe-tapping main theme with sparkling orchestrations, which reappears with a fresh twist and creative syncopation for each action scene; plus a couple of achingly beautiful slow themes. (Not to mention that utterly odd bass harmonica villain’s theme.) I love practically every minute of this soundtrack.

2. The Magnificent Seven (1960) by Elmer Bernstein
It’s a classic, that’s all there is to it. It’s practically impossible not to get a huge grin on your face when you listen to the exuberant main theme. This is one of those scores that really ‘makes’ its movie—can you honestly imagine the film without it? I knew the music long before I ever saw the movie, and when I finally did see it, I was astonished that some of the most energetic cues, which sounded like they came from all-out action scenes, actually belonged to moments where not much was happening onscreen. As the CD liner notes observe, the music supplies much of the film’s energy.

3. The Big Country (1958) by Jerome Moross
A slightly earlier score, but with a similar sensibility. The marvelous sweeping main theme is undoubtedly the best part; it’s another one of those pieces that you just can’t help loving, both in the grand main title and the lovely slower renditions later on. There’s other good moments throughout the score too.

4. The Proud Rebel by Jerome Moross
Sometimes I’m not sure which of the two Moross scores is my favorite. The main theme of The Big Country wins out easily, but then the gentler melodies that make up the main body of The Proud Rebel‘s soundtrack tip the scale in the other direction. It also features a brief, ominous martial theme harking back to memories of the Civil War in the story, and some tense and energetic action music too—and many chords and phrases that betray the hand of the same composer in both scores.

5. Lonesome Dove by Basil Poledouris
I love, love the main theme music from this score. The rich, sweeping melody could be the soundtrack to just about anything Western that you wanted it to be. Some other parts of the soundtrack are a little too jangly and twangy for my taste, but a few of my favorite tracks that feature the main theme are “Night Mares,” “The Leaving,” and “Captain Call’s Journey.”

Runners-up: Red River by Dimitri Tiomkin; The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) and The Comancheros (1961), both by Elmer Bernstein; the gorgeous main theme to Rio Grande (1950) by Victor Young; The Searchers (1956) by Max Steiner; Dances With Wolves (1990) by John Barry. I also really like the main theme of Silverado (1985) by Bruce Broughton, though I haven’t heard the whole score.

It is a curious thing that my favorite scores don’t come from my favorite movies. Several of these films I’ve never seen, haven’t seen all the way through, or didn’t particularly care for. Favorite films are a subject for another day. But anyway…what are your favorite Western movie scores?