Cowboy was an American
country rock
Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...
and
southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals.
History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...
band formed in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
, in 1969. The group's main members consisted of songwriters
Tommy Talton and
Scott Boyer, alongside a rotating group of musicians. They released four albums on the
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre.
History Label and studio fou ...
label in the 1970s: ''Reach for the Sky'' (1970), ''
5'll Getcha Ten'' (1971), ''Boyer and Talton'' (1974), and ''Cowboy'' (1977). The song "Please Be with Me"–perhaps their best-known song–featured a performance from
Duane Allman
Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock and blues guitarist and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fam ...
. It was also later covered by
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
on his album ''
461 Ocean Boulevard
''461 Ocean Boulevard'' is the second solo studio album by English musician Eric Clapton. It was released in late July 1974 by RSO Records, after the record company released the hit single "I Shot the Sheriff" earlier in the month. The album to ...
'' (1974).
The group's sound has been compared to
Hearts & Flowers,
the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (sometimes abbreviated NGDB), also known as the Dirt Band, is an American band founded in Long Beach, California, in 1966. Since 2018, the band has consisted of Jeff Hanna and his son Jaime Hanna, both guitarists and voc ...
, and
Pure Prairie League
Pure Prairie League is an American country rock band which featured in its original lineup singer and guitarist Craig Fuller, drummer Tom McGrail and steel guitarist John David Call, all from Waverly in southern Ohio. Fuller started the band i ...
.
Steve Leggett of
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
considered Cowboy "one of Capricorn Records' and
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals.
History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...
's best-kept secrets during the genre's golden age in the 1970s."
The group reformed in 2007 and recorded an album, released a decade later as ''10'll Getcha Twenty''. In addition, this iteration also issued a live album, ''Boyer & Talton: Cowboy Reunion 2010''.
Biography
Cowboy was formed in 1969 in Jacksonville, Florida by singer-songwriters Scott Boyer and Tommy Talton, with pianist/guitarist Bill Pillmore, bassist George Clark, guitarist Pete Kowalke, and drummer Tom Wynn rounding out the original lineup. The six musicians, all from around the Orlando/Jacksonville area, rented a home in Jacksonville where they lived and rehearsed together. Previously, Boyer had played with
Duane Allman
Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock and blues guitarist and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fam ...
and his brother,
Gregg, in the folk-rock group
the 31st of February.
Duane, at that point of
the Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...
, suggested them to
Phil Walden
Phil Walden (January 11, 1940 – April 23, 2006) was a co-founder of the Macon, Georgia-based Capricorn Records, along with former Atlantic Records executive Frank Fenter.
Biography
Walden received his undergraduate degree in economics from Ma ...
, owner of Capricorn Records. Leggett writes that the band's lineup was ever-changing during this time, besides "Talton and Boyer, both of whom became de facto members of the Capricorn house band, playing with
the Allman Brothers
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar, ...
,
Gregg Allman
Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman B ...
,
Alex Taylor, and
Bonnie Bramlett
Bonnie Bramlett (born Bonnie Lynn O'Farrell, November 8, 1944) is an American singer and occasional actress known for performing with her husband, Delaney Bramlett, as Delaney & Bonnie. She continues to sing as a solo artist.
Life and career
...
." Their debut album, ''Reach for the Sky'', was released in 1971, and their second, ''
5'll Getcha Ten'', followed later that year. The latter album featured "Please Be with Me", which featured Allman on
dobro
Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar.
The Dobro was originally a gui ...
.
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
later covered the song for his album ''
461 Ocean Boulevard
''461 Ocean Boulevard'' is the second solo studio album by English musician Eric Clapton. It was released in late July 1974 by RSO Records, after the record company released the hit single "I Shot the Sheriff" earlier in the month. The album to ...
'' (1974).
By 1972, much of the original Cowboy lineup departed. "People just started moving in different directions. I don't remember there being any animosity about it," Talton recalled in 2014.
He and Boyer continued on as Cowboy, supporting Gregg Allman on his first solo effort ''
Laid Back
Laid Back is a Danish electronic music duo group from Copenhagen, formed in 1979. The duo consists of John Guldberg (vocals, guitar, bass) and Tim Stahl (vocals, keyboards, drums, bass). They are best known for the hits " Sunshine Reggae" and ...
'' in 1973, and accompanying him as his backing band on its ensuing tour, which was captured on the 1974 live album ''
The Gregg Allman Tour''.
The band's third album, ''Boyer & Talton'', saw release the same year.
Their final, self-titled record was released in 1977. Leggett also notes that "the 1976 album ''Happy to Be Alive'', attributed to the trio of Tommy Talton, Bill Stewart, and
Johnny Sandlin
John Everett Sandlin Jr. (April 16, 1945 – September 19, 2017) was an American recording engineer and record producer. He is best known for producing albums by bands such as the Allman Brothers Band, Widespread Panic, Wet Willie, and Col. Bruce ...
, might be considered a Cowboy album in all but name."
Boyer and Talton continued to work together sporadically over the years. They reformed Cowboy thirty years after their dissolution in 2007. This iteration recorded at least an album's worth of music with Sandlin at his studio, Duck Tape Studio, in
Decatur, Alabama
Decatur () is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County, Alabama, Morgan County (with a portion also in Limestone County, Alabama, Limestone County) in the U.S. state of Alabama. Nicknamed "The River City," it is located in North Alabam ...
. When asked about the album in an interview some years later, Boyer told
AL.com that "the project fell to the wayside. We ran into some technical difficulties."
In 2010, they performed their first concert in over thirty years, billed as Cowboy/Boyer & Talton, at the
Cox Capital Theatre in Macon. They were joined by Stewart on drums, Stan Robertson on bass, and Randall Bramblett on keyboards, saxophone, and vocals.
It was issued the following year as a live album, titled ''Boyer & Talton: Cowboy Reunion 2010''.
Boyer died on February 13, 2018. His musical partner Talton said, "No one could write a more beautiful ballad than Scott Boyer. I love him and I miss him more than anything that can be said."
Later that year, the band's final reunion album, titled ''10'll Getcha Twenty'', was released. It features the recordings made in 2007, and marks not only the original members' final recordings, but producer Sandlin's as well. Tommy Talton died on December 28, 2023, at the age of 74.
Discography
;Albums
;;Studio albums
* ''Reach for the Sky'' (1970)
* ''
5'll Getcha Ten'' (1971)
* ''Boyer & Talton'' (1974)
* ''Cowboy'' (1977)
* ''10'll Getcha Twenty'' (2018)
;;Live albums
* ''Boyer & Talton: Cowboy Reunion 2010'' (2011)
;; Compilation albums
* ''Why Quit When You're Losing'' (1973)
* ''The Best of Cowboy - A Different Time'' (1993)
;Singles
* "It's Time" (1970)
* "A Patch & A Pain Killer" (1974)
* "I Will Be There (Pat's Song)" (1977)
* "Takin' It All The Way" (1977)
* "10'll Getcha Twenty" (2018)
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Southern rock musical groups from Jacksonville, Florida
American country rock groups
Capricorn Records artists
Musical groups established in 1969
Musical groups disestablished in 1977
Musical groups reestablished in 2007
Musical groups disestablished in 2011
1969 establishments in Florida
2011 disestablishments in Florida