''Cowboy Songs III – Rhymes of the Renegades'' is the eighteenth album by American singer-songwriter

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was one of the founding artists of progressive country. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs (Michael Martin Murphey alb ...

and his third album of

cowboy songs Western music is a form of music composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout the Western United States and Western Canada. Western music celebrates the lifestyle of the cowboy on the open range, along the Rocky Mountains, ...

. The album is devoted to cowboy folklore and true tales of the West and focuses on real-life outlaws, from Jesse James to Billy The Kid to Belle Starr. Murphey performs these songs "with a scholar's eye and a fan's heart."

Track listing

# " Big Iron" (with

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

) (Robbins) – 4:09 # "Rhymes of the Renegades" (Murphey) – 4:35 # " Riders in the Sky" (Jones) – 3:28 # "

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

" (Robbins) – 4:52 # "

Sonora's Death Row "Sonora’s Death Row" is a story song written by California songwriter Kevin "Blackie" Farrell and published by Drifter Music/Bug Music ( BMI)''Sing Out!'', Vol. 39 #4, p. 86, Spring 1995 (seSing Out! index.The early Leo Kottke recording lists the ...

" (Farrell) – 4:30 # "Ballad of Billy the Kid" – 4:03 # "Billy Gray" (with Debbie Nims) (Blake) – 4:10 # "Roses and Thorns" (with

Ryan Murphey Ryan Murphey is a Grammy-nominated music producer, songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist. Since 1988, Ryan has toured with his father, Michael Martin Murphey, as lead guitarist and vocalist in the Rio Grande Band. Ryan is Michael's oldest son, a ...

) (Murphey) – 4:18 # "Strawberry Roan" (with

Chris LeDoux Christopher Lee LeDoux (October 2, 1948 – March 9, 2005) was an American country music singer-songwriter, bronze sculptor, and hall of fame rodeo champion. During his career, LeDoux recorded 36 albums (many self-released), which have sold mor ...

) (Fletcher) – 3:44 # "The Wild West Is Gonna Get Wilder" (Murphey) – 4:28 # "The Ballad of Jesse James" – 4:18 # "Frank James' Farewell" (with

Hal Ketchum Hal Michael Ketchum (April 9, 1953 – November 23, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He released eleven studio albums from 1986 to 2014, including nine for divisions of Curb Records. Ketchum's 1991 album ''Past the Point ...

) (Burr, Ketchum) – 3:41 # "Cole Younger" (with

) (Traditional) – 3:57 # "Belle Star" (with Bill Miller) (Murphey) – 6:02 # "Queen of Heartaches" (Murphey, Rains) – 4:23 # "Sam Bass" (Traditional) – 4:51 # " Birmingham Jail" – 4:52

Credits

Music *

– vocals, producer, liner notes *

– vocals * Debbie Nims – vocals *

– vocals *

– vocals * Bill Miller – vocals * Sam D. Bass – author * Pat Flynn – acoustic guitar * Chris Leuzinger – 6-string bass, 12-string guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass * Mark Casstevens – acoustic guitar, harmonica, jaw harp *

John McEuen John McEuen, born December 19, 1945, in Oakland, California, is an American folk musician and a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Career Solo work John McEuen was born in Oakland, California. In 1964, at age 18, he became intereste ...

– banjo * David Coe – mandolin * Sonny Garrish – dobro, steel guitar * Alisa Jones Wall – hammer dulcimer *

Joey Miskulin Joseph Michael Miskulin (born January 6, 1949) is an American accordionist and producer. In a music career spanning more than four decades, Joey Miskulin has collaborated with a range of artists including Johnny Cash, John Denver, Emmylou Harris, ...

– accordion, piano, producer * Dennis Burnside – piano, synthesizer * David Hoffner – synthesizer * Rob Hajacos – fiddle *

Sam Bush Charles Samuel Bush (born April 13, 1952) is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. ...

– fiddle, mandolin *

Stuart Duncan Stuart Ian Duncan (born April 14, 1964) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. Life Duncan was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school ...

– fiddle, mandolin * George Tidwell – trumpet *

– background vocals * Dennis Wilson – background vocals * Roy M. "Junior" Husky – acoustic and electric bass * Craig Nelson – acoustic and electric bass * Roy Huskey, Jr. – acoustic and electric bass *

Lonnie Wilson Lonnie Wilson is an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer, known primarily for his work in country music. Life and career Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Wilson was originally the lead singer of the band Bandana, which charted ten single ...

– drums, percussion * Tommy Wells – drums, percussion * Sam Bacco – Percussion Production * Toby Seay – engineer * Gary Paczosa – engineer * Ed Simonton – engineer, assistant engineer * John Kunz – assistant, assistant engineer * Marshall Morgan – mixing * Denny Purcell – mastering * Patricia Miskulin – production coordination * Laura LiPuma – art direction * William Matthews – cover design * Prof. Thomas Dimsdale – liner notes * Garrett Rittenberry – design * David Michael Kennedy – photography * Willie Matthews – paintings

References

External links

Michael Martin Murphey's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowboy Songs III 1993 albums Michael Martin Murphey albums Warner Records albums Sequel albums