Songs of the Cowboys Compiled by N. Howard “Jack” Thorp (1908, 1921)

[Green River Powell aka RonC]

http://www.ezfolk.com/library/songbooks/songs-of-the-cowboys/index.html
For anyone interested, I just came upon this while looking for some banjo music.
It looks like someone has scanned in the complete book. If I had time, I would copy and save each page.
How legitimate is the song book as representative of actual cowboy songs? I have no idea, but I plan to research it a bit.

Ron

[Green River Powell aka RonC]

OK. I managed to dig up some material.

Jack Thorp, Alice Corbin Henderson, and her daughter

"    As a cowboy poet, N. Howard Thorp—better known as "Jack Thorp" to his
    many friends in the Southwest—is the genuine thing.  He is an old-time
    cattleman and cowpuncher, and his songs are the fruit of experience.  His
    gift is instinctive and naive, like that of all real cowboy poets, and its
    charm is precisely in its fresh and "unliterary" quality.

                                      from the introduction to Songs of the Cowboys, by Alice Corbin Henderson

"Jack" Thorp (N. Howard Thorp, 1867-1940) collected cowboy songs and poems across the west for nearly 20 years, starting in the late 1800s. He first published them in 1908, in a small book called Songs of the Cowboys.

The next edition of the book, in 1921, was greatly expanded, and included over a hundred songs and poems, including 25 pieces written Thorp and a detailed introduction by Alice Corbin Henderson (reproduced below). 

Writer, editor, and poet Alice Corbin Henderson was perhaps best known as assistant editor to Harriet Moore, founder of Poetry magazine (Henderson is sometimes credited as the magazine's "co-founder").  Read more about Alice Corbin Henderson below, and one of her poems, Ten Thousand Texas Rangers, which is included in Songs of the Cowboys.
Our thanks to Mark L. Gardner and Rex Rideout, whose outstanding 2005 book and recording, Jack Thorp's Songs of the Cowboys (see our feature here) inspired us to create this feature, and who contributed additional information."

Rex Rideout, mentioned above, works as a technician in the Physics department of my university, do I will ask him more about Thorp. Rex has been an extra (playing banjo or mandolin) in several cowboy movies including the one with the aliens that appeared recently.
Ron

[GunClick Rick]

I think that feller stole my hat

[GunClick Rick]

Cool song book Greenriver~I posted that on Juni Fishers FB page,she will be her in June 26 a right around the corner from my place ay Maverick Roasting,she grew up with my sister in law.It will be a great show as that's the kind of music she plays
She will get a huge kick out of your link i posted.

Thanks for the story and the link,i an tryng to play this type of music on my geeetar,but it a whole different beat,and harmonation sometimes, alot of octave changes too.i cant do octave changes on my geetar yet....   

[GunClick Rick]

When ya gonna pull that video camera out and take off on "i got a pig"?

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Found this;

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,7190.0.html

[Green River Powell aka RonC]

Looks like Delmonico found info about Thorp. Good find, Sir Charles.

I liked the thought that Thorp put together the songs before the advent of the "singing cowboy" in movies. Nothing against Gene Autry and Roy Rodgers, but they sang their songs long after the brief period of the real, original cowboys.

Ron