Cowboy Slim Rinehart (born ''Nolan Alfred Rinehart''; March 11, 1911 in

Comanche County, Texas Comanche County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 13,594. The county seat is Comanche. The county was founded in 1856 and is named for the Comanche Native American tribe. H ...

– October 28, 1948 in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

), was an American singer. He was among the first of the "Singing cowboys" of the 1930s and 1940s (whose ranks included

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers ( – ) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Country Music", he is best known for his di ...

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

, and

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...

among others), and gained notoriety and national recognition as a broadcaster and singer on the infamous border radio station XEG during that time period. Rinehart was and is regarded among many as the original "King of Border Radio," preceding Dallas "Nevada Slim" Turner, and "

Wolfman Jack Robert Weston Smith (January 21, 1938July 1, 1995), known as Wolfman Jack, was an American disc jockey active for over three decades. He was famous for his gravelly voice, and credited it with his success, saying, "It's kept meat and potatoes on ...

," who were also famous for broadcasting from these stations." "Border Radio," also called "

Border Blaster A border blaster is a broadcast station that, though not licensed as an external service (broadcasting), external service, is, in practice, used to target another country. The term "border blaster" is of North American origin, and usually ass ...

s" were names applied to several super powered radio stations that broadcast out of Mexico, and therefore, were not regulated by the U.S. broadcasting laws. They were extreme media powerhouses from the 1930s through the 1970s. These stations had towers so powerful that they were capable of transmitting their signals to a very large portion of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Rinehart had his own

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

on XEG where he would sing and play guitar, as well as make infamous Border Radio product pitches for various items. The original "cowboy's sweetheart," Patsy Montana, was often featured on the program with him. Cowboy Slim Rinehart had a notable influence on many future musician's careers. In addition to having an influence on Big Bill Lister and others, Rinehart helped shape

Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), marked ...

's career. After Tubb signed onto

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, he tried in vain to get Rinehart to do the same. Rinehart was wary of the recording industry, and feared a record deal would hurt his music book sales through XEG. During the 1940s, his

persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...

had become notorious enough that

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

studios approached him to be featured in early singing cowboy

westerns The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...

, but he vehemenently declined the proposals after he was told he would have to change his surname to something less "German sounding." Rinehart had very good potential for a solid and legendary career in the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

scene, but tragically, his life came to an early end when he was killed in a car accident while on the way to finally record his first commercial record. Although the world has no commercial recordings available of Cowboy Slim Rinehart, recorded tapes of his radio program on XEG are still widely available through collectors and traders, and several of his songs can be found on country music compilation albums. Rinehart was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in October 1996, in recognition of his being a pioneer of the Texas music scene.

External links

Texas Music Pioneers

(Dallas speaks of Slim Rinehart, who was his inspiration) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rinehart, Cowboy Slim 1911 births 1948 deaths American male singer-songwriters American radio personalities American country singer-songwriters American folk singers People from Comal County, Texas 20th-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Texas Road incident deaths in Michigan Country musicians from Texas 20th-century American male singers