RTR 4191 - Roy Rogers - The King of the Cowboys

A fine tribute to the legendary “King of the Cowboys”, marking his centenary this year. 28 vintage tracks cover Roy Rogers’ career from 1936-1952. Leonard Slye (1911-1998) became the most famous singing cowboy of them all when he changed his name to “Roy Rogers”. Star of around 100 Westerns, with his horse Trigger, dog Bullet, wife Dale Evans and sidekick Gabby Hayes, he was the hero of all star-struck schoolboys. With the centenary of his birth falling in November, the legend lives on. Retrospective pays tribute with a 28-track, 78-minute compilation that covers all Roy Rogers’ most popular recordings from 1936 to 1952. “The King of the Cowboys” begins with the earliest big hit of the original Sons of the Pioneers (from 1936, even before he became Roy Rogers), Tumbling Tumbleweeds, and includes six other Pioneers recordings prior to his solo career. That began in 1938 and five of his early solos are featured, including Hi-Yo, Silver! (yes, referring to the then-cartoon character, The Lone Ranger). There are no fewer than 14 songs from the Forties, including his biggest hits My Chickashay Gal and Blue Shadows On The Trail, and such country evergreens as Along The Navajo Trail, San Fernando Valley, Don't Fence Me In, and of course the quintessential Home On The Range. From the early 50s come his tribute to Trigger, A Four-Legged Friend (from the Bob Hope comedy Son Of Paleface), and the evergreen duet with Dale Evans that closed his radio and TV programmes, Happy Trails.