"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" is a cowboy-styled

country/western Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ol ...

song written in 1948 by American songwriter, film and television actor Stan Jones. A number of versions were

crossover hit Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience. This can be seen, for example, (especially in the United States) when a song appears on two or more of the record charts which track differi ...

s on the

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

charts in 1949, the most successful being by

Vaughn Monroe Vaughn Wilton Monroe (October 7, 1911 – May 21, 1973) was an American baritone singer, trumpeter, big band leader, actor, and businessman, who was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for rec ...

. The

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

database lists the song as "Riders in the Sky" (title code 480028324), but the title has been written as "Ghost Riders", "Ghost Riders in the Sky", and "A Cowboy Legend". Members of the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include historian ...

chose it as the greatest Western song of all time.

Overview

The song tells a folk tale of a cowboy who has a vision of red-eyed, steel-hooved cattle thundering across the sky, being chased by the spirits of damned cowboys. One warns him that if he does not change his ways, he will be doomed to join them, forever "trying to catch the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

's herd across these endless skies". The story has been linked with old European myths of the

Wild Hunt The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature) that occurs in the folklore of various northern European cultures. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by ...

and the Dutch/Flemish legend of the

Buckriders The Buckriders ( nl, Bokkenrijders, french: Les Chevaliers du Bouc) are a part of Belgian and Dutch folklore. They are ghosts or demons, who rode through the sky on the back of flying goats provided to them by a demon. During the 18th century, ...

, in which a supernatural group of hunters passes the narrator in wild pursuit. Stan Jones stated that he had been told the story when he was 12 years old by an old Native American who resided north-east of the

Douglas, Arizona Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States that lies in the north-west to south-east running Sulpher Springs Valley. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico at Agua Prieta and a history of mining. The population was 16,531 ...

border town, a few miles behind D Hill, north of

Agua Prieta Agua Prieta (English: ''Dark Water'', Opata: ''Bachicuy'') is a town in Agua Prieta Municipality in the northeastern corner of the Mexican state of Sonora. It stands on the Mexico–U.S. border, adjacent to the town of Douglas, Arizona. The mu ...

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

. The Native Americans, possibly

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...

, who lived within

Cochise County Cochise County () is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after the Native American chief Cochise. The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Bisbee and the most populous city ...

, believed that when souls vacate their physical bodies, they reside as spirits in the sky, resembling ghost riders. He related this story to Wayne Hester, a boyhood friend (later owner of the

Douglas Cable Company Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

). As both boys were looking at the clouds, Stan shared what the old Native American had told him, looking in amazement as the cloudy shapes were identified as the "ghost riders" that years later, would be transposed into lyrics. The melody is based on the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

-era popular song " When Johnny Comes Marching Home". Hundreds of performers have recorded versions of the song.

reached number 1 in ''Billboard'' magazine with his version ("Riders in the Sky" with orchestra and vocal quartet). Other artists that made the charts with the song include The Outlaws,

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

(with the Ken Darby Singers),

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final ...

, Burl Ives (two different versions),

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and NASCAR racing driver. Robbins was one of the most popular and succ ...

, The Ramrods and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...

Notable and charting recordings

* The original version by Stan Jones was recorded in late 1948 or early 1949. A recording by Stan Jones and his Death Valley Rangers was issued on Mercury 5320 in May 1949. Fellow songwriter

Eden Ahbez George Alexander Aberle (April 15, 1908 – March 4, 1995), known as eden ahbez, was an American songwriter and recording artist of the 1940s to 1960s, whose lifestyle in California was influential in the hippie movement. He was known to frien ...

sent the song to Burl Ives, who recorded his own version in early 1949. *

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

recorded the song on February 17, 1949, and the song was released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

as catalog No. 38445. The recording first appeared on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' charts on April 22, 1949, lasting six weeks and peaking at No. 21. * The version by

and His Orchestra with Vaughn Monroe and The Moon Men on vocals, was recorded on March 14, 1949, and released by

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ari ...

as catalog No. 20-3411 (in USA) and by EMI on the

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

label as catalog No. BD 1247, HN 3014, HQ 2071, IM 1425 and GY 878. The recording first appeared on the ''

'' charts on April 15, 1949, lasting 22 weeks and reaching No. 1. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1949. * The

version was recorded on March 22, 1949, and released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

as catalog No. 24618. The recording first appeared on the ''

'' charts on May 6, 1949, lasting 6 weeks and peaking at No. 14. * The

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

version was recorded on April 18, 1949, and released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

as catalog No. 57-608. It reached No. 2 on ''Billboard''s Most Played By Disc Jockeys listing without appearing in the retail Top 30. * The Ramrods released an

instrumental rock Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes musical instruments and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style. Instr ...

version in 1961 with eerie and evocative overdubbed shouts, whistles and cattle calls. The record was made a "Pick of the Week" by

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

, and rose to No. 30 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and No. 8 on the

UK singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. *

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the '' The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, te ...

and His Orchestra released an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

version in 1961, featuring Neil Levang on guitar, which spent three weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, reaching No. 87. * The

version, recorded for the album ''

Silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

'', was released by

as catalog No. 3-10961 on April 1, 1979. It first appeared on ''

''s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart on April 15, 1979, lasting 16 weeks and peaking at No. 2 on July 27. * An instrumental version by

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

reached No. 12 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in January 1980. * The Blues Brothers Band recorded the song as part of the film ''

Blues Brothers 2000 ''Blues Brothers 2000'' is a 1998 American musical comedy film directed by John Landis from a screenplay written by Landis and Dan Aykroyd, both of whom were also producers. The film, starring Aykroyd and John Goodman, is a sequel to the 1980 fi ...

''. * Rock band

Outlaws An outlaw is a person living outside the law. Outlaws or The Outlaws may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''The Outlaws'' (1950 film), an Italian crime film * ''Outlaws'' (1985 film), a French film * ''The Outlaws'' (2017 film), a Sou ...

made a recording on their 1980 album '' Ghost Riders'' that omitted the last verse. This version spent 15 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 31 in March 1981. * Rock band

Spiderbait Spiderbait is an Australian alternative rock band from Finley, New South Wales, formed in 1991 by bass guitarist and singer Janet English, drummer and singer Kram, and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004 the group's cover version of the 1930s Lead ...

recorded the song as part of the 2007 film ''

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

''.

References

External links

Burl Ives - The original recording of Ghost Riders In The Sky

Riders In The Sky - Vaughn Monroe (1965 concert performance)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghost Riders In The Sky A Cowboy Legend Western music (North America) 1948 songs Number-one singles in the United States Burl Ives songs Bing Crosby songs Gene Autry songs Johnny Cash songs Peggy Lee songs Vaughn Monroe songs Vic Damone songs Outlaws (band) songs Songs about ghosts Songs about cowboys and cowgirls