What Western did Vaughn Monroe Sing "Riders in the Sky"?
Andie Zajaceskowski
trying to find the name of the movie for months now. Does anyone know?
Who starred in it?
BillyBond
>In the 50's I think, Vaughn Monroe sang "Riders in The Sky". I have been
>trying to find the name of the movie for months now. Does anyone know?
The song is "Ghost Riders in the Sky," actually; I'm not sure if Vaughn Monroe
ever sang it in a movie, but if he did, it would most likely have been "Singing
Guns." However, there is a Gene Autry movie called GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY
that uses the song.
Joe Cline
<An...@net1plus.com> wrote:
>In the 50's I think, Vaughn Monroe sang "Riders in The Sky". I have been
>trying to find the name of the movie for months now. Does anyone know?
>
>Who starred in it?
I don't think that it was a movie, just a song (Ghost Riders in The
Sky) by the Sons of the Pioneers.
Joe in Charlotte
BillyBond
> The movie the song was in was Gene Autry's
>RIDERS IN THE SKY, in which Autry himself sang the tune himself.
I'm pretty sure that it >followed< Monroe's record, though.
Ted Thompson
(Nimrod) wrote:
> On 24 Jan 1999 16:41:26 GMT, bill...@aol.com.edu.gov (BillyBond)
> I'm sure you're right, BB. Both Monroe's #1 hit record and
> Autry's two-reeler RIDERS IN THE SKY came out in 1949.
> But knowing the pace at which Autry made his programmers,
> he was probably hopping on the coattails of the record.
I thought the name of the tune was "Ghost Riders in the Sky"
Ted
BillyBond
>I thought the name of the tune was "Ghost Riders in the Sky"
It is, but I think Nimrod is right in the title of the Autry movie being RIDERS
IN THE SKY. Someone could check the IMDb....
Gerald D. Wright
about "Ghost Riders in the Sky"
The following excerpted from "FOR A COWBOY HAS TO SING" by Jim Bob
Tinsley.
..Stan Jones and an old cowpoke named "Cap" Watts were out riding one
day on the D Hill range in southern Arizona - there was unrest in the
air. They began to tie down the blades on a windmill when masses of
dark, fast-moving clouds appeared on the horizon forming spectral
figures. "Cap" Watts warned prophetically - "Ghost riders".
..Ghost riders are bad omens in the cattle country. They generally
appear when fast-moving cold air from one direction collides with warm
air from a different direction, a condition that sometimes generates a
series of tornadoes. Ominous cloud sillouettes, grouping, regrouping,
and backlighted with vellow and sun-red accents, look to the imaginative
mind like nothing more than a line of riders racing through the ragged
skies. On this day. while helping to secure the windmill from possible
wind damage, the youthful Jones heard for the first time the ghostly
account of phantom riders in the sky trying to catch the devil's herd.
He never forgot the story. And it became the theme for one of the most
haunting cowboy songs of all times.
.."Cap" Watts worked at times for the D Hill Ranch near Douglas,
Arizona. The Texas-born cowboy operated his own "saddle blanket" outfit
in the Perilla Mountains east of Douglas for awhile. The grizzled cowboy
died in 1934.
..Stanley Davis Jones was born on 5 June 1914 in Douglas. Arizona. He
served his countny in the U.S. Navy during World War II and earned a
degree in Zoology at the University of California. While working as a
park ranger in Death Valley in 1949, Jones acted as a guide for movie
location scouts during the filming of "Three Godfathers", starring John
Wayne. Harry Carey, Jr. and Pedro Armendariz. He had learned the
fundamentals of guitar playing from Arizona cowboys, so it was only
natural that he treat the Hollywood group to his own special brand of
campfire music. With some reluctance he sang the haunting words to a
song he had made up himself from the legend told by "Cap" Watts many
years before.
.."Riders In The Sky" changed the life of Stan Jones almost overnight.
Later in the year he appeared in the Gene Autry movie, "Riders in The
Sky", Which featured his song. He also wrote the theme song and had a
role in the 1951 movie "Whirlwind", starring Gene Autry. Songs for the
John Ford 1950 production, "Wagonmaster", starring Ben Johnson, were
written by Stan Jones and he composed the title song to the John Wayne
movie "The Searchers" in 1956. He also wrote compositions for Walt
Disney TV and movie films.
..The writer, actor, dreamer and creator of songs died on 13 December
1963 and was buried in his hometown of Douglas. Arizona.
-----------------
The Song it self from another source.
Artist:: Vaughn Monroe (peak Billboard position # 1 in 1949) words and
music herein are taken from the sheet music as written by Stan Jones
Competing versions by Peggy Lee (# 2), Bing Crosby (#14), and Burl Ives
(# 21)
An old cowpoke went riding out one dark and windy day Upon a ridge he
rested as he went along his way When all at once a mighty herd of
red-eyed cows he saw A'plowin' through the ragged skies and up a cloudy
draw
Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-y-o Ghost riders in the sky
Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns wuz black and shiny and their hot breaths he could feel A
bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky For he
saw the riders comin' hard and he heard their mournful cry
Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-y-o Ghost riders in the sky
Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, and shirts all soaked with
sweat They're ridin' hard to catch that herd but they ain't caught them
yet They've got to ride forever in that range up in the sky On horses
snortin' fire, as they ride on, hear their cry
Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-y-o Ghost riders in the sky
As the riders loped on by him, he heard one call his name "If you want
to save your soul from hell a' ridin' on our range" "Then cowboy change
your ways today or with us you will ride" "A-tryin' to catch the Devil's
herd across these endless skies."
Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-y-o Ghost riders in the sky Ghost riders in the sky
Gerry Wright
ZoneZebra Productions
San Francisco
Abfou
>>From: te...@halcyon.com (Ted Thompson)
The song is also just "Riders in the Sky" -- no "Ghost" (though I've
never actually heard anyone SAY the correct, shorter title). Don't
know what month the Autry pic was released, but the Vaughn Monroe
record hit the pop charts in April 1949 and stayed on for 22 weeks.
Abfou
BillyBond
whether Vaughn Monroe's recording of the song predated the movie....
Andie Zajaceskowski
Gerald D. Wright wrote in message <36AB9417...@a.crl.com>...
>Using the Metacrawler search engine I found the following information
> I'm pretty sure that it >followed< Monroe's record, though.
I still think I saw a movie in the early 50's that ended with a scene
showing the "riders in the sky" on the left and a profile of the star on the
right. I am sure it was Vaughn Monroe singing. I thought the star was
Robert Mitchum but that comes up as a dead end. Maybe I'm getting senile or
making up a memory, but I have remembered this ever since I saw it. I'm
going to keep researching it. I'd appreciate any more help.
BillyBond
>I still think I saw a movie in the early 50's that ended with a scene
>showing the "riders in the sky" on the left and a profile of the star on the
>right.
According to the IMDb, Vaughn Monroe only appeared in two movies in the 1950s,
SINGING GUNS (1950) and THE TOUGHEST MAN IN ARIZONA (1952). It does not say
whether "Ghost Riders in the Sky" was used in either movie -- but "Mule Train"
had its debut in SINGING GUNS.
Have you done a search on the net for Vaughn Monroe information?