MASTERS CD Series

The Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry produces compilation CDs of classic and contemporary poetry recitations. The CDs are offered to libraries in the Center’s Cowboy Poetry Week Rural Library project, given as premiums to the Center’s supporters, and available to the public.

The current CD series is MASTERS.

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MASTERS: VOLUME TWO (April, 2018) contains over 60 tracks in a double CD of the poetry of S. Omar Barker. Many of today’s top reciters and poets—including individuals, siblings, couples, parents and children—bring forth Barker’s humor and humanity. Andy Hedges introduces the CD.

Find more about MASTERS: VOLUME TWO here.

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The first CD in the series. MASTERS (2017), includes the works of Larry McWhorter, J.B. Allen, Sunny Hancock, and Ray Owens, reciting their poetry in recorded poems, “live” performances, and their recitations of other masters’ works (Buck Ramsey, S. Omar Barker, and Henry Herbert Knibbs). Jay Snider introduces the CD.

Find more about MASTERS (2017) here.

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Previous to the MASTERS series, the Center produced ten volumes of The BAR-D Roundup.

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The Center’s Cowboy Poetry Week celebration—recognized by unanimous U.S. Senate resolution—is held each April during National Poetry Month. Each year, a compilation CD and the celebration’s poster—by Clara Smith in 2018; by Jason Rich in 2017; by Gary Morton in 2016; by Don Dane in 2015; by Jason Rich in 2014; Shawn Cameron in 2013; by R.S. Riddick in 2012, Duward Campbell in 2011, Bill Owen in 2010, Bob Coronato in 2009; William Matthews in 2008; Tim Cox in 2007; and Joelle Smith in 2006—are offered to libraries in the Center’s Rural Library Project. The outreach program is a part of the Center’s commitment to serve rural communities and to preserve and promote our Western heritage.

We need your support to continue and expand these programs. Join us and be a part of it all.

KINDRED SPIRITS by J. B. Allen (1938-2005)

Allen, J.B. #551-'03-5x5

photo © Kevin Martini-Fuller

KINDRED SPIRITS
by J. B. Allen (1938-2005)

The spotted heifer missed the drive
and spent the winter free,
‘Though freedom’s price was willow bark
then sprigs of filaree
That finally showed beneath the snow
before her strength played out.
And green-up brought a fine bull calf
to teach the maverick route.

They fattened on the meadows
of the high Sierra’s flanks
In the company of a maverick bull
that drifted from the ranks
Of cattle across the great divide
turned loose to make their way
And lost amongst the canyons
that were strewn in disarray.

The offspring of this union
proved a wily beast,indeed,
Endowed with instincts from the wild
and blessed with wond’rous speed
That proved a worthy challenge
to the punchers in the hills
Who through the hills spun hairy tales
of wildest wrecks and spills.

But though the issue from the two
was sometimes trapped or caught,
These two ol’ wily veterans
still practiced what they taught,
Spent the winters running free
within their secret haunt
Which held enough to see ’em through
emergin’ weak and gaunt.

For years ol’ Utah searched the range
in futile quest for sign
Of where they spent the winter months a
and somehow get a line
On how they made it every year
and brought a calf, to boot,
‘Til fin’lly one cold, dreary day
it fell to this old coot

To happen on their winter park,
hid out from pryin’ eyes,
And to this day ol’ Utah holds
the key to where it lies.
The kindred spirit, shared by all,
who seek the higher range
Could not betray that cul-de-sac
to folks just bent on change

With no respect for mav’rick ways
or independent thought,
And not one frazz’lin’ idee
of the havoc being wrought
By puttin’ things on schedule,
be it work, or man, or cow,
Till ways that make for bein’ free
are bred plumb-out somehow.

Old Utah turned and trotted off,
to let those old hides be.
His heart a-beatin’ lighter
just a-knowin’ they were free.

Texan J.B. Allen was a working cowboy for over three decades. He was a frequent performer at the Western Folklife Center’s National Cowboy Poetry Gathering and also at the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Nara Visa, the Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering, and other events. His poetry is included in many anthologies and in his own books and recordings. His book, The Medicine Keepers, received the Western Heritage Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1998.

J.B. Allen’s poetry is featured in a 2017 CD from CowboyPoetry.com, MASTERS, along with the work of Larry McWhorter, J.B. Allen, Sunny Hancock, and Ray Owens. The compilation includes recorded poems, “live” performances, and their recitations of other masters’ works (Buck Ramsey, S. Omar Barker, and Henry Herbert Knibbs) with an introduction by Jay Snider.

Andy Hedges, songster and host of COWBOY CROSSROADS comments on the CD, “This album represents four of the finest poets to ever come out of cowboy culture. We are not likely to see their kind again and the world should be grateful to Cowboypoetry.com for preserving their voices.”

There’s now a second volume of MASTERS, with the poetry of S. Omar BARKER. The CDs are offered to rural libraries across the West in the CowboyPoetry.com outreach Rural Library Program, a part of Cowboy Poetry Week. They are also given as a thank-you to our supporters and are available for purchase. Find more about both MASTERS CDs here.

This photo of J.B. Allen is by top photographer Kevin Martini-Fuller, who has photographed participants of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering for over three decades. Find some of those photos at his site, http://kevinmartinifuller.zenfolio.com/all-photographs.

Thanks to Margaret Allen for her generous permissions.

(Please respect copyright. You can share this post and photograph with this post, but for other uses, please request permission.)

>>>This is a scheduled post. We’re on a (rare) break, through May 23. There will be scheduled posts, but we won’t be able to fill orders or to respond quickly to email.<<<

Cowboy Poetry Week, April 15-21, 2018

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Below:
About Cowboy Poetry Week
Get Involved
Rural Library Program
MASTERS: VOLUME TWO CD
Poster by Clara Smith

Elsewhere on the blog:
Cowboy Poetry Week News
Clara Smith, 2018 poster artist
Cowboy Poetry Week 2018 Art Spur
MASTERS: VOLUME TWO CD

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COWBOY POETRY
by Jane Morton

The round-ups, the brandings,
the calvings are done,
as ranchers sell out
and move on one by one.

We must tell the stories,
so memories live on,
past time when the tellers
themselves are long gone.

Cowboy Poetry Week is celebrated each year during April, National Poetry Month in the United States.

In 2018 Cowboy Poetry Week—the seventeenth annual—takes place April 15-21, 2018.

In 2018 it is made possible by generous support from Laura and Edmund Wattis Littlefield and the individuals and organizations who support the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry.

CowboyPoetry.com initiated Cowboy Poetry Week, and for the celebration’s second year, in April 2003, the United States Senate passed a resolution, with unanimous approval, recognizing our Cowboy Poetry Week celebration. Twenty-three states’ governors and other officials have recognized Cowboy Poetry Week since, and many activities take place in communities across the West and beyond.

See the 2018 events—to date—on the calendar here.

GET INVOLVED!

Get your schools, libraries, and community involved! Perform your poetry, donate a book or CD, share your knowledge.

Find ideas about how to get involved here.

THE RURAL LIBRARY PROGRAM

The Rural Library Program is an important Cowboy Poetry Week outreach activity, a part of our mission to serve a mostly under-served community of rural Westerners. Each year, a new compilation CD of top classic and contemporary cowboy poetry is offered, along with Cowboy Poetry Week posters, to many rural libraries across the West. The CD is also available for purchase.

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THE MASTERS: VOLUME TWO CD

For 2018, the CD is MASTERS: VOLUME TWO a double-CD collection of over 60 poems by S. Omar Barker, presented by contemporary poets and reciters and introduced by Andy Hedges.

Find the track list, order information and more news here.

CDs are sent to libraries in Cowboy Poetry Week’s associated Rural Library Program, given to supporters (at the $40 level and higher) as thank you gifts, and available to the public.

Find information about all of the previous CDs, including the first MASTERS CD and The BAR-D Roundup series.

THE 2018 POSTER

Young artist Clara Smith‘s painting, “Out to Pasture,” is selected as the 2018 Cowboy Poetry Week poster image and a special Cowboy Poetry Week Art Spur.

Clara Smith’s aunt, the late Joelle Smith, was the first Cowboy Poety Week print poster artist, in 2006.

Clara Smith comments on “Out to Pasture”:

This piece was inspired by a number of photos taken by my Aunt Joelle of our mares in our field at home. The scene captures one of my favorite moments in time of our horses out on a fall evening.

From her official bio:

Clara

Clara is a Western Artist and Graphic Designer from Bend, Oregon. Ever since she was little, Clara was drawing horses and creating. Her love for Western art and culture was heavily influenced by her late aunt, Western artist Joelle Smith, who taught her how to draw and ride horses. Similar to Joelle’s work, Clara strives to illustrate real Western life through her work, documenting culture and traditions of the American cowboy. The authenticity of her work is very apparent as the subjects are all real people, real horses, set in real places. Currently attending Oregon State University, Clara is working towards a degree in Graphic Design. Her design work combines her artistic ability, often incorporating hand drawn illustrations with digital applications, creating a balance between multiple design mediums.

Find more about Clara Smith in our feature here; at her site, ClaraSmithArt.com; and on Facebook. A

Previous poster artists include Tyler Crow, Duward Campbell, Shawn Cameron, Bob Coronato, Tim Cox, Don Dane, William Matthews, Gary Morton, the late Bill Owen, Jason Rich, R.S. Riddick, and the late Joelle Smith. Find more at CowboyPoetry.com.

Posters are never sold. They are sent to participants in Cowboy Poetry Week’s Rural Library Program and sent to Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry supporters (at the $40 level and higher) as thank you gifts.

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Visit our sponsor supporters!

MASTERS: VOLUME TWO, the poetry of S. Omar Barker

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Rick Huff’s Best of the West review:

The MASTERS of cowboy poetry series from CowboyPoetry.com showcases both the masters of writing Western poetic words and masters of delivering those words. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

MASTERS: VOLUME TWO brings us the poetry of S. Omar Barker (1894-1985) on two jam-packed CDs. Included are the most famous of his works and plenty that may well become more famous now. As for the caliber of the reciters, the attuned who read this will only need last names of most: Hedges, Rieman, McMahan, Morton, Steiger, Nelson, Black, Beard, Swearingen, Zarzyski, Isaacs, Groethe, Snider, Hollenbeck and the list goes wonderfully on.

With a total of sixty tracks here to amuse and educate, this collection makes me, born and bred New Mexican, particularly proud to recall that Mr. Barker was one as well. Highly recommended. Lovers of content should be very contented!

Praise for previous CD volumes:

“This album [MASTERS (2017)] represents four of the finest poets to ever come out of cowboy culture. We are not likely to see their kind again and the world should be grateful to Cowboypoetry.com for preserving their voices.” Andy Hedges, songster and host of COWBOY CROSSROADS

“…The annual anthology takes listeners on an oral excursion to places throughout the West, introducing them to colorful cowboy characters, explaining their connection to the land, and telling their tales of tough times and the rewards they receive from living the Western lifestyle…” Jennifer Denison, Senior Editor, Western Horseman

“The Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry’s annual anthologies are creating a valuable, high quality and thoroughly enjoyable resource for everyone…” Steve Green, Archivist, Western Folklife Center

“…without peer…intelligently produced… I equate them to one of those Ken Burns specials, like his Civil War, Jazz, or Baseball….the best of the best.” Rick Huff, Rick Huff’s Best of the West Reviews

“For those of us who love cowboy poetry, this is perhaps the best anthology we’ve yet heard.” Cowboy Magazine

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Our twelfth CD (following ten volumes of The BAR-D Roundup and the first MASTERS volume) is MASTERS: VOLUME TWO (April 2018).

MASTERS: VOLUME TWO has over 60 tracks in a double CD of the poetry of S. Omar Barker. Many of today’s top reciters and poets—including individuals, siblings, couples, parents and their offspring—bring forth Barker’s humor and humanity.

Andy Hedges introduces the CD and it includes the voices of J.B. Allen, Amy Hale Auker, Floyd Beard, Valerie Beard, Baxter Black, Almeda Bradshaw, Jerry A. Brooks, Marleen Bussma, Jim Cathey, Ken Cook, Geff Dawson, Sam DeLeeuw, DW Groethe, Andy Hedges, Jessica Hedges, Maggie Rose Hedges, Yvonne Hollenbeck, Chris Isaacs, Linda Kirkpatrick, Susie Knight, Ross Knox, Jarle Kvale, Deanna Dickinson McCall, Rusty McCall, Gary McMahan, Rod Miller, Waddie Mitchell, Dick Morton, Terry Nash, Andy Nelson, Jim Nelson, Joel Nelson, Rodney Nelson, Kay Kelley Nowell, Kent Reeves, Rex Rideout, Randy Rieman, Kent Rollins, Sandy Seaton Sallee, Jay Snider, Red Steagall, Gail Steiger, Tom Swearingen, Smoke Wade, Keith Ward, and Paul Zarzyski.

S. Omar Barker (1894-1985) wrote some 2,000 poems in his long career. He was one of the founders of the Western Writers of America, Inc. and many of his poems were published by Western Horseman.

It’s told that Barker enjoyed signing his name with his brand, created from his initials and laid sideways for “Lazy SOB,” but, that’s not a completely accurate story. In an article written by Barker for Hoofs and Horns magazine, Barker introduces himself, “This S.O.B. (my initials, not my ancestry) has never claimed to qualify as a sure ‘nough cowboy.” Later in the article, he comments, “Incidentally, when I applied for (Lazy S O B) for our cattle brand, they wrote back that some other S O B already had it. So we had to be satisfied with (Lazy S B).”

The photo below of S. Omar Barker and his horse, which appears inside MASTERS: VOLUME TWO, is courtesy of the S. Omar Barker Estate. Find more about Barker at CowboyPoetry.com.

barkerhorserifle © Estate of S. Omar Barker; request permission for reproduction

The MASTERS CD is dedicated to all those who proudly carry on the ranching tradition.

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The Center’s Cowboy Poetry Week celebration—recognized by unanimous U.S. Senate resolution—takes place each April during National Poetry Month. Each year, a compilation CD and the celebration’s poster (by Clara Smith in 2018) have been offered to libraries in the Center’s Rural Library Program. The outreach program is part of the Center’s commitment to serve rural communities and to preserve and promote our Western heritage.

The annual CD is a premium for our supporters and also available for purchase. Find information about past years’ CDs here.

We need your support to continue and expand these programs. Join us and be a part of it all.

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Below:

Track list and sources
Acknowledgements
Order information

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Track list and sources

Tracks were recorded for MASTERS: VOLUME TWO except where noted.

DISC 1

1. INTO THE WEST by S. Omar Barker; Andy Hedges
from Cowboy Songster Vol. 2 (2016)

2. ABOUT S. OMAR BARKER Andy Hedges

3. “PURT NEAR!” by S. Omar Barker; Randy Rieman
from Old Favorites (2003)

4. COW COUNTRY SAYING by S. Omar Barker; Brigid Reedy

5. THE MAIN ITEM by S. Omar Barker; Gary McMahan .

6. COWPUNCHER’S CREED by S. Omar Barker; Amy Hale Auker

7. COW WORK WON’T WAIT by S. Omar Barker; Ken Cook

8. COWBOY’S COMPLAINT by S. Omar Barker; Dick Morton
from Cowboy Classics (2006)

9. ROPE MUSIC by S. Omar Barker; Gail Steiger

10. RAIN ON THE RANGE by S. Omar Barker; Joel Nelson courtesy of the Western Folklife Center, recorded at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering (2015)

11. SNOWED UNDER by S. Omar Barker; Johnny Reedy

12. COWBOY SAYING by S. Omar Barker; Baxter Black

13. CODE OF THE COW COUNTRY by S. Omar Barker; Geff Dawson

14. COWPUNCHER PRAISE by S. Omar Barker; Floyd Beard

15. WELL GROUNDED by S. Omar Barker; Keith Ward

16. COWBOY’S OPINION by S. Omar Barker; Tom Swearingen

17. HOSSES VERSUS HORSES by S. Omar Barker; Paul Zarzyski
from Spurrin’ the Words (2005), Montana 4-H

18. GRAND CANYON COWBOY by S. Omar Barker; Rusty McCall (1986-2013) from an unreleased CD, Contemporary and Classic Cowboy Poetry (2006)

19. SOME HORSES I HAVE RODE by S. Omar Barker; Floyd Beard

20. MEMO ON MULES by S. Omar Barker; Sandy Seaton Sallee

21. YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED by S. Omar Barker; Kent Reeves

22. BEAR HUNTERS BOLD by S. Omar Barker; Ross Knox
from Make Me a Cowboy Again for a Day (2006)

23. BRUIN WOOIN’ by S. Omar Barker; Andy Hedges
from Cowboy Recitations (2017)

24. BEAR ROPIN’ BUCKAROO by S. Omar Barker; Terry Nash
from December Stragglers (2013)

25. RULE OF THE RANGE by S. Omar Barker; Chris Isaacs

26. RAWHIDE ROOSTER by S. Omar Barker; Smoke Wade

27. THE RINGTAILED WOWSER by S. Omar Barker; Jerry A. Brooks

28. THE BUFFALO by S. Omar Barker; Susie Knight

29. THE COYOTE by S. Omar Barker; Jarle Kvale

30. CRY, COYOTE! by S. Omar Barker; DW Groethe

DISC 2

1. OLD TIME COWBOYS by S. Omar Barker; Jay Snider

2. THE RIDERS by S. Omar Barker; Andy Hedges
from Episode 3 of the Cowboy Crossroads podcast (2017)

3. ONE OR THE OTHER by S. Omar Barker; Rod Miller

4. WHAT’S A BRONCO? by S. Omar Barker; Gary McMahan

5. RULE FOR RIDIN’ by S. Omar Barker; Geff Dawson

6. FOUR FOOTED DYNAMITE by S. Omar Barker; Chris Isaacs

7. MUSTANG MANNERS by S. Omar Barker; Almeda Bradshaw

8. CORRECTION PLEASE by S. Omar Barker; Maggie Rose Hedges

9. NO DIFFERENCE by S. Omar Barker; Jim Nelson

10. USELESS QUESTION by S. Omar Barker; Kay Kelley Nowell

11. TEXAS ZEPHYR by S. Omar Barker; Linda Kirkpatrick

12. THE CHUCKWAGON by S. Omar Barker; DW Groethe

13. BUCKAROO BREW by S. Omar Barker; Kent Rollins

14. CANNED TERMATERS by S. Omar Barker; J.B. Allen (1938-2005)
from Classics (2005)

15. JACK POTTER’S COURTIN’ by S. Omar Barker; Randy Rieman
from Old Favorites (2003)

16. MUSSED MISS by S. Omar Barker; Andy Nelson

17. OPEN AND SHUT CASE by S. Omar Barker; Yvonne Hollenbeck

18. CAREFUL, COWBOY! by S. Omar Barker; Jessica Hedges

19. DOUBLE ATTRACTION by S. Omar Barker; Valerie Beard

20. BEDTIME STORY by S. Omar Barker; Sam DeLeeuw

21. WATCHIN’ EM RIDE by S. Omar Barker; Keith Ward

22. RANCH MOTHER by S. Omar Barker; Deanna Dickinson McCall

23. RANCHMAN’S WIDOW by S. Omar Barker; Almeda Bradshaw

24. TRAIL DUST by S. Omar Barker; Marleen Bussma

25. COAL MINE by S. Omar Barker; Jerry A. Brooks

26. THE WHITE MUSTANG by S. Omar Barker; Rex Rideout

HOLIDAY POEMS

27. THANKSGIVING ARGUMENT by S. Omar Barker; Waddie Mitchell

28. THREE WISE MEN by S. Omar Barker; Red Steagall

29. COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS PRAYER by S. Omar Barker; Ol’ Jim Cathey

30. COWBOY’S NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS by S. Omar Barker; Jay Snider

31. RANCHMAN’S RESOLUTIONS by S. Omar Barker; Gail Steiger

32. A COWBOY TOAST by S. Omar Barker; Rodney Nelson

33. CENTER FOR WESTERN AND COWBOY POETRY RADIO PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT (PSA) Andy Hedges

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the poets, reciters, and families and to the estate of S. Omar Barker, Andy Hedges, Margaret Allen, Montana 4-H, the Western Folklife Center, the Cowboy Crossroads podcast, Andy Nelson and Clear Out West (C.O.W.) radio, Totsie Slover and The Real West from the Old West radio, Craig Stuke, and Chris Kirby. Produced by Margo Metegrano and compiled and mastered by Butch Hause at the Ranger Station Studio, Berthoud, Colorado, all with generous funding support from Laura and Edmund Wattis Littlefield, Jr. and our community’s all-important sustaining donors.

Dedicated to all those who proudly carry on the ranching tradition.

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Order information

The MASTERS: VOLUME TWO CD is available for $25 postpaid. Order with a credit card at Paypal or by mail: CowboyPoetry.com, Box 1107, Lexington, VA 24450.

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Cowboy poetry records the heartbeat of the working West, a tradition that spans three centuries. Its enduring popularity is celebrated at today’s cowboy poetry gatherings and daily in social media and at CowboyPoetry.com, a program of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry, Inc.