Sons Of The Pioneers - Songs Of The Prairie

Tuesday 1st June 1999
Sons Of The Pioneers - Songs Of The Prairie

STYLE: Country
RATING 5 5 5 5 5
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 739-
LABEL: Bear Family BCD16274
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 5

Reviewed by Paul Davis

Highly innovative in their day, the Sons Of The Pioneers were the epitome of quality of Western harmony and the standard by which all others were judged. Their material nowadays sounds somewhat similar to what one would hear on the BBC's Sing Something Simple, but for its day their laconic country-barbershop harmonising was most progressive and highly successful. Digging deep into the archives of early radio, the Bear Family have come up with an impressive box of 151 songs originally recorded for transmission across America. The marathon started in August 1934 and this box which features Roy Rogers, tells the story up to September 1935. It is evident that there will be much more material gathering dust on archive shelves. From their ranks came quality songwriters such as Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer. From their pens came classics like "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and "Cool Water". An interesting aside is that Tim Spencer as a music publisher did much to popularise George Beverly Shea's classic song "How Great Thou Art" around the world. There are several spirituals and gospel songs such as "Walk In Jerusalem" and "The Royal Telephone", sprinkled among the likes of "Home On The Range" and "When You And I Were Young Maggie". This box is a testament to a talent that was, and still is, highly loved.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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