Singing Cowboy

Cowboy Joe Babcock is a singer and songwriter whose career in country music spans over sixty years. As a vocalist he and Hurshel Wiginton formed a backup studio singing group called The Nashville Edition. With The Nashville Edition and on his own, Joe sang on thousands of recordings such as Marty Robbins' “Devil Woman,” Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors,” and Elvis Presley’s Grammy winning version of “Amazing Grace.” In 1968 Joe was asked to sing on a new television program called Hee Haw and stayed with the program for its entire run, which went off the air in 1993.

Bob Brumley was the owner of Albert E. Brumley & Sons, a music publishing company established by his father in 1944. Albert E. Brumley was a gifted songwriter who often penned religious themed songs such as the classic “I’ll Fly Away.” Bob joined the company with one goal in mind, to preserve his father’s music. In addition to curating his father’s music, Bob also published songbooks on a wide range of topics including cowboy songs, radio favorites, and church hymns. Bob was very proud that his daughter Betsy is continuing the family tradition by running the company and the I’

Don Edwards was raised on cowboy music despite being born in New Jersey, a fact he has joked about even in song.  His easygoing style led to a successful career as a traveling singer with albums such as Songs On the Trail and Goin’ Back to Texas.  Don has also been strongly connected with the Santa Cruz Guitar Company, an instrument he played for many years.  In fact, he was thrilled when the company’s founder, Richard Hoover, asked if Don would perform as part of the company’s 40th anniversary in 2016.  Don not only performed for the event but took time for his NAMM Oral History

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Herb Jeffries was a singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra who scored a top hit recording with "Flamingo" in 1941.  Other songs would follow but none matched the success of his pervious fame, that of the first black singing cowboy in the movies.  He was known as the “Bronze Buckaroo” and was always proud of the role he played in paving the way for other African American actors and actresses.  Herb returned to the charts again the late 1940s with the hit

Rusty Richards would like to point out the distinction between Singing Cowboys and Cowboys that sing. He was very much a cowboy, having roped, rode in the rodeo and worked as a ranch hand most of his life. He was also a singer, having crooned with the famous Sons of The Pioneers and other groups for nearly as long as he had been in the saddle. In the movies, mostly as a stunt man, Rusty was close with many of the Singing Cowboys such as Roy Rogers, but prefers to be thought of as a cowboy first.