(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend

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The wild hunt: Åsgårdsreien (1872) by Peter Nicolai Arbo

"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" is a country and cowboy-style song. It was written on June 5, 1948 by Stan Jones. [1] A number of versions were also crossover hits on the pop charts in 1949.

The song is about a cowboy who has a vision of red-eyed, fire-breathing cattle thundering across the sky, being chased by the ghosts of damned cowboys. One warns him that if he does not change his ways he will be doomed to join them, forever "trying to catch the Devil's herd across the endless skies." More than fifty different artists have recorded versions of this classic. Charting versions were recorded by Vaughn Monroe (with orchestra and vocal quartet), by Bing Crosby (with the Ken Darby Singers), and by Burl Ives. Other contemporary versions were recorded by Peggy Lee (with the Jud Conlon Singers), and by Spike Jones and his City Slickers, with the most recent version of the song being performed by Spiderbait, for the 2007 movie Ghost Rider.

[edit] Recordings

The Burl Ives version was recorded on February 17, 1949 and released by Columbia Records as catalog number 38445. The recording first appeared on the Billboard charts on April 22, 1949, lasting 6 weeks and peaking at position #21.
The Vaughn Monroe version was recorded on March 14, 1949 and released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-3411. The recording first appeared on the Billboard charts on April 15, 1949, lasting 22 weeks and peaking at position #1.
The Bing Crosby version was recorded on March 22, 1949 and released by Decca Records as catalog number 24618. The recording first appeared on the Billboard charts on May 6, 1949, lasting 6 weeks and peaking at position #14.
The Peggy Lee version was recorded on April 18, 1949 and released by Capitol Records as catalog number 57-608.
The Spike Jones version was recorded on May 24, 1949 and released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-3741. Copies of the original release, containing lyrics ridiculing RCA stockholder Vaughn Monroe, are rare.
In the UK, the best-known version is that by The Ramrods, which reached number 8 in 1961.
Duane Eddy brought his electrified "twangy guitar" sound along with a sax edition by Jim Horn to a 1966 version on an RCA Album of Duane's best.
Riders in the Sky recorded this song on their debut album, Three on the Trail in 1979, and several of their subsequent albums.
Johnny Cash made a recording in 1979 which was faithful to the original. He also recorded it live with Willie Nelson for 1998's VH1 Storytellers.
The rock band The Outlaws made a recording in 1980 which was faithful to the original.
A version by The Shadows reached number 12 in the UK singles chart in 1980.
Milton Nascimento recorded a version in Portuguese as Cavaleiros Do Céu on his 1981 album Caçador de Mim.
Impaled Nazarene recorded a black metal version of the song, which was released on Sadogoat EP in 1993. Later it was included in the CD version of their bonus album Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz.
Ned Sublette included a merengue rendition on his Cowboy Rumba (1999).
The Blues Brothers performed the song in the movie, Blues Brothers 2000. Similar to the "Rawhide" scene in the first movie, the band is mistakenly booked at blue grass festival (announced to the crowd as the "Bluegrass Brothers").
The heavy metal band Die Apokalyptischen Reiter recorded a version that was released on their 2006 single, Friede Sei Mit Dir.
Me First and The Gimme Gimmes covered the song on their 2006 album Love Their Country.
Singer/comedian Sean Morey has recorded a parody called "Ghost Chickens in the Sky", in which the ghosts of chickens hunt a chicken farmer. It ends with the line, "they cooked him extra crispy/and served him with coleslaw".
The German metal band Desperados, which featured members of Sodom, sang a version that can be described as a mix of country and thrash metal.
Deborah Harry, lead singer of Blondie, recorded a techno version of the song which features on the soundtrack to the film "Three Businessmen". The song is available for free on her website deborahharry.com.
The Irish Brigade, an Irish Republican band, recorded the song with different lyrics and named it "The S.A.M. Song" referring to Surface to Air Missiles which had been procured by the Provisional IRA.
Both Dick Dale and The Ventures made surf rock covers of the song.
Raphael recorded a version in Spanish.
Singer and actor Armand Mestral recorded a version in French (Les Cavaliers du Ciel) in the early fifties.
During his tour as "Giant Robot" Buckethead played a dub style version of the song.
During the credits of the film version of Ghost Rider a rock cover by the band SpiderBait is played. An Instrumental of it is also heard at points in the film.

Recordings have also been made by the Boston Pops, Lawrence Welk, REM, Fred Penner, The Dixie Chicks, and The Doors.

[edit] Parodies

During a writers' strike, an episode of the Smothers Brothers' television variety show featured a chorus of men and women wearing Groucho glasses and singing "Ghost Writers in Disguise."

Gary Larson has touched on the theme in his popular cartoon The Far Side. The cartoon features a woman calling out "Henry! Hurry or you're gonna miss it - ghost riders in the kitchen!" as a pair of phantom riders herd some steer through her home.

The song is used by supporters of the Aston Villa Football Club. The lyrics are changed to "Holtenders in the Sky" in reference to the hardcore fans who sit in Villa Park's infamous main stand: The Holte End.

Sesame Street produced a segment called "Dirtiest Town in the West". A marshall rides into town to show the townsfolk how to clean their town.

The Corries performed a version written by Bill Hill which they claimed in their introduction to be the original of the song, titled "The Portree Kid" with the chorus referring to "The teuchter that cam' frae Skye".^[1]

Moosebutter, an a capella group out of Utah, does a parody of the song, titling it "Ghost Chickens in the Sky", about a farmer being haunted by the chickens he raised to sell to KFC.