Remember The Alamo (song)
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"Remember the Alamo" is a song written by
Texan Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and has an international border wit ...
folk
singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
and
songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...
Jane Bowers. Bowers details the last days of 180 soldiers during the
Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a siege of the Alamo, 13-day siege, Mexico, Mexican troops under president of Mexico, President Antonio Là ...
and names several famous figures who fought at the Alamo, including Mexican
general Santa Anna A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online ...
and Texans:
Jim Bowie James Bowie ( ) (April 10, 1796 – March 6, 1836) was an American military officer, landowner and slave trader who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of him ...
, William Barrett Travis and
Davy Crockett Colonel (United States), Colonel David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American politician, militia officer and frontiersman. Often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier", he represented Tennesse ...
. It champions the Texans' efforts against Mexico to establish an independent republic.
Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a singer, and an actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s. He was the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John Ritter, grandso ...
first released the song as the b-side of "Gunsmoke" in 1955. It was the first song in the catalogue of his and
Johnny Bond Cyrus Whitfield "Johnny" Bond (June 1, 1915 – June 12, 1978) was an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and composer and publisher, who co-founded a music publishing firm. He was active in the music industry from 1940 until the ...
's music company Vidor Publications. Ritter's recording was used in the film '' Down Liberty Road'' the following year. While the song was never a hit single and did not initially make a big impact on the folk community, it has since been covered by many important folk and country artists. 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 Western fiction is a genre of literature set in th ...
chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.


Covers


The Kingston Trio's recording

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...
met Jane Bowers while playing shows in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
in the late 1950s. They went on to record several of her songs, including "Remember the Alamo". The song was released with slightly different lyrics on their 1959 album '' At Large'', which subsequently reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' pop album charts in the United States.


Johnny Cash's recording

In the early 1960s
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
recorded "Remember the Alamo" with Tex Ritter's original lyrics. He also utilized different instrumentation from the Kingston Trio's version by adding a military drumbeat and lush backing vocals. The song was included on his 1963 album '' Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash'' which also reached No. 1 in the United States.


Willie Nelson's recording

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...
recorded the song for his 1968 concept album '' Texas in My Soul''. This version is very similar to the one by
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
.


Donovan's recording

British singer-songwriter
Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...
recorded "Remember the Alamo" with a mix of both Kingston Trio revised lyrics and Tex Ritter's original lyrics in early 1965 for inclusion on his debut album '' What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'': Although he had never visited the United States, Donovan was deeply interested in the American folk tradition. He stripped away all backing vocals, military drumbeats and militant guitar strumming and simply sang the song with an acoustic guitar as accompaniment. In early 1966, Donovan was still suffering from the legal battles between his original record label
Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...
and his new label
Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...
. During the dispute, Pye Records released "
Josie Josie may refer to: People * Josie (name), various people and fictional characters with the given name, a diminutive of Josephine * Edith Josie (1921–2000), Canadian writer and newspaper columnist * Peter Josie, Saint Lucia politician Music ...
" without Donovan's approval and the single failed to chart. Not long after, Pye Records culled "Remember the Alamo" from ''What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'' and prepared it for single release in the United Kingdom. The song was backed with "The Ballad of a Crystal Man" and released in April 1966 (Pye 7N 17088). The single was quickly withdrawn from the market not long after its release, ostensibly due to the ongoing contractual battles, and never charted.


John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett's recording

British musicians
John Otway John Otway (born 2 October 1952) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring. Biography Early life Otway was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. From the age of nine all he ever wanted ...
and Wild Willy Barrett recorded the song on their 1978 album '' Deep & Meaningless''. The album was re-released in 2007. The version is a colourful one, with strangled singing, pounding drums and the sound of cannon. Unlike in other versions, the courier referred to in the third verse is a woman.


Asleep at the Wheel's recording

Texas Swing band
Asleep at the Wheel Asleep at the Wheel is an American country music, Western swing music group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, in 1970, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards, released over 20 albums, and has charted more t ...
released its version of the song in 2003 on ''Asleep at the Wheel Remembers The Alamo''. Since the early 1970s this group has performed big band
Western swing Western swing, country jazz or smooth country is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which att ...
in the style of
Bob Wills James Robert "Bob" Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although Spade C ...
and
The Texas Playboys James Robert "Bob" Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although Spade C ...
, and has a devoted following in the US and the UK as well. The song is part of a theme album about the Battle of the Alamo, and includes traditional tunes (" Deguello", " The Yellow Rose of Texas") and more recent whimsical songs ("
The Ballad of Davy Crockett "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Thomas W. Blackburn. It was introduced on ABC's television series ''Disneyland'', in the premiere episode of October 27, 1954. Background Fess Parker is shown per ...
", "Don't Go There"). "Remember the Alamo" is sung by longtime frontman
Ray Benson Ray Benson Seifert (born March 16, 1951) is an American musician, actor, and voice actor who is the frontman of the Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel. Biography Benson was raised Jewish. In 1970, Benson, a native of Philadelphia, formed ...
, and the band performs the song in the traditional free and flowing Texas Swing style.


References

{{Battle of the Alamo 1955 singles American folk songs The Kingston Trio songs Johnny Cash songs Donovan songs Songs about Texas 1955 songs Cultural depictions of James Bowie Cultural depictions of Davy Crockett Works about the Battle of the Alamo