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The band Riders in the Sky first came together at a bar performance in Nashville in November 1978. They have been together ever since. Featuring “Ranger Doug” Green (America’s Favorite Cowboy), “Too Slim” Fred LaBour, “Woody Paul” Chrisman (King of the Cowboy Fiddlers), and since 1994, Joey (the Cowpolka King) Miskulin, they entertain audiences with a unique combination of cowboy music and humor.
Riders In The Sky: Romancing the West with Music and Humor, by Bobbie Malone and Bill C. Malone, tells their history.
The authors open by exploring the singing cowboy, a branch of western music largely moribund by 1977. They follow the history of the singing cowboy, introduce the genre’s stars, and explain America’s fascination with it. Those fascinated included Doug Green and Fred LaBour, two kids from Michigan born in the late 1940s.
Two chapters relating early life of the two follow. It presents what influenced them growing up and their education. Both attended the University of Michigan, obtaining degrees outside music. (LaBour wrote for the Michigan Daily, where he kicked off the “Paul is dead” craze.)
Succeeding chapters show how they became friends in Nashville, trying to break into Music Row, how they teamed up with Paul Chrisman to launch Riders in the Sky, and the band’s subsequent exploits.
Despite growing up in the East, all three were fascinated by the Old West. (Chrisman is from Tennessee.) All three possessed a wicked sense of humor. Despite their cornpone stage image, they are well-educated. (Chrisman has a Ph.D in plasma physics; Green, with an MA in literature, writes academic papers on the side.) Yet they were driven to follow a musical muse.
They developed a combination of homage and send-up of cowboy music, reviving it, calling it “the Cowboy Way.” Originally aiming for college audiences with risqué overtones (they were from the XXX Ranch), they toned this down after noticing the band’s appeal to children. Yet humor remained paramount. While two are leftists, they are politically neutral onstage, performing at presidential inaugurations for both Republicans and Democrats.
This book is not quite as entertaining as a Riders in the Sky performance, but it comes close to that standard. Well-researched and engagingly written, it tells the band’s story admirably. Fans of the group will want to read it. Those unfamiliar with the group will find Riders In The Sky captivating, and may find themselves seeking opportunities to catch the band in person.
“Riders In The Sky: Romancing the West with Music and Humor,” by Bobbie Malone and Bill C. Malone, Texas A&M University Press, May 2025, 264 pages, $30.00 (paperback), $12.95 (E-book)
This review was written by Mark Lardas, who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.
Discussion (3)
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I was first introduced to Riders in the Sky listening to Garrison Keillor's Prarie Home Companion.
And from there I've used music sites like Pandora and Spotify to listen to both more modern cowboy music groups, as well as listening to older groups like Sons of the Pioneers, who by the way, helped start Roy Rogers's career as a singing cowboy in the old western serials.
I grew up in the Southwest region of the United States, which is mostly desert. One song popularized by the Pioneers is Cool Water, a favorite of mine.
CONTRIBUTOR
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Sons of the Pioneers were the inspiration for Riders in the Sky. The Riders were thrilled when they learned the surviving Sons of the Pioneers were big Riders in the Sky fans, and appreciated the Riders giving cowboy music a revival.
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I was watching PBS in 1981 ish and saw Riders in the Sky and loved them. The whole family did! I bought their early albums that were released by Rounder Records and really enjoyed them. I have been to a couple of shows long ago at one of the casinos in The Reno Sparks area. Usually when I see a band play, I will start looking at equipment they are using, what kind of guitar they are playing etc. Not the case with the Riders in the Sky, they were just too entertaining. I really need to get this book.