Clint Eastwood’s Album Of ‘Cowboy Favorites’ Rides Again On Colored Vinyl
The LP was first released on Cameo-Parkway as Eastwood was enjoying his breakthrough role on the hit TV western series.
Rawhide’s Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites, the 1963 album featuring the vocals of the future movie idol, is now available in a new colored vinyl edition. The LP was first released on the storied Cameo-Parkway label as Eastwood was enjoying his breakthrough role on the hit TV western series, in which he played the character of the cowhand Rowdy Yates.
Eastwood’s arrival on the label, which was one of America’s most prominent hubs for teen-oriented talent, was announced in an August 1962 story in Billboard, which reported that Cameo-Parkway president Bernie Lowe had signed the “TV thesp” in what was described as “the first step in a projected drive for more Coast-based talent and material.”
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The LP featured Eastwood’s convincing renditions of cowboy standards such as “San Antonio Rose,” “Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” “Bouquet of Roses,” “Along the Santa Fe Trail,” “The Last Round Up,” “Mexicali Rose,” and “Don’t Fence Me In.” His smooth style was described as a cross between Roy Rogers and Dean Martin. A single was also released from the set featuring “Cowboy Wedding Song” backed with “Rowdy.”
The liner notes for the original release declared: “The folk songs that truly represents a branch of American culture, is [sic] the western cowboy song. Ever since courageous Americans crossed the prairies, western songs have been popular. And there is no better prototype of that ‘cowboy’ than Cameo/ Parkway’s recording artist, Clint Eastwood, a ‘native’ westerner and a ‘natural’ performer.”
The notes continued: “In the Cameo recording, Clint Eastwood presents an exciting song picture of the west – as it was. He vividly describes the life of the cowboy…he sings of their dreams, their sorrows and their joys. And, he sings this unique collection of ‘Cowboy Favorites’ with an intimacy and style that marks him as a true show business ‘great.’
“This album represents a collection of songs closely identified with the spirit of America. Here, then, Cameo/Parkway’s talented vocalist Clint Eastwood, and America’s most popular ‘cowboy favorites’…an unsurpassed combination that spells ‘entertainment.’”
