Posted on 06/15/2026 5:36:41 AM PDT by Twotone
In 2010 the Western Writers of America surveyed its members and compiled a list of the top 100 western songs of all time. They presented it at their annual convention in Knoxville, Tennessee, and holding down the top three spots were, in descending order, "Ghost Riders in the Sky", Marty Robbins' "El Paso" and the chestnut "Cool Water", recorded most famously by The Sons of the Pioneers.
"El Paso", the most cinematic of all three songs, was never featured in a movie, while Stan Jones' "Ghost Riders" has showed up in many, starting with Gene Autrey's 1949 film Riders in the Sky. None of them, however, really lived up to the promise of the song's wistful supernatural theme, which is still waiting for a great ghost story western to fulfill it's promise.
"Cool Water", written by Canadian Bob Nolan, would appear first in a Roy Rogers film, Along the Navajo Trail, performed by Nolan and his group, The Sons of the Pioneers, and showed up in the Coen Brothers' 2018 western comic anthology The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. It isn't until number six that the list includes a song written explicitly as the theme for a western movie – Dmitri Tiomkin's "The Ballad of High Noon", also known as "High Noon" or "Do Not Forsake Me".
You have to scroll all the way down to number thirty-six – past "Tumbling Tumbleweeds", "Home on the Range", "Don't Fence Me In", "Happy Trails", "Rawhide" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" to get to "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", the song that (depending on who tells the story) was meant to be the theme tune of John Ford's 1962 western (Pitney insists that Paramount Pictures paid for the recording session) even though the song wasn't finished until after...
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
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Also in Blues Brothers II, where in the film it is performed at the Cynthiana (KY) state fair, in the district of the soon-to-be-ex-congressman Massie.
“Nothing’s too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance.”
It is played at the very beginning, with the camera focusing in on one of the bad guys, played by Lee Van Cleef. IIRC he was offered the Gary Cooper role on the proviso that he get his nose fixed, and he refused.
Armchair analysis aside, many folks, of an age, consider ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’ to be their favorite Western.
Their favorite genre, their favorite actors, their favorite director.. Plenty of action without the gore of ‘The Wild Bunch’. A Good plot with a nifty twist at the end. Good music. Some things don’t need to be over-thought...
A great movie, but I’ll take The Searchers any day.
Not necessarily the greatest western song, but the greatest western movie theme of all time must be The Magnificent Seven.
“A great movie, but I’ll take The Searchers any day.”
YES! One of my all time favorites.
That, closely followed by “The Ecstasy of Gold” in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
clintonh8r wrote: “Not necessarily the greatest western song, but the greatest western movie theme of all time must be The Magnificent Seven.”
That movie has one of my all time favorite lines: ‘when asked why he took off all his clothes and jumped into a spreading cactus plant, the cowboy replied: “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”’ That is the perfect response to any question of why one did something.
Yes, The Searchers was a great movie. So was The Unforgiven with Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn.
The best western in recent years was Hostiles with Christian Bale.
A good summary of the movie and some good commentary, but I disagree wholeheartedly with the main points. I do not believe that the Jimmy Stewart character has become a blowhard he is indeed a distinguished Senator he just knows that his backstory includes credit for a killing that really was done by John Wayne and a reason for fame which is not really the kind of thing Jimmy Stewart wanted to be known for. And I think he makes a comment that you knew the John Wayne character was going to end up in a pauper’s grave. I think that’s the furthest thing possible from the truth. John Wayne was incredibly respected and he was building a ranch where he hoped to live with his beloved hallie. When she chose Jimmy Stewart over him and when he heroically propelled to Jimmy Stewart to fame and fortune, that’s when he burned his Ranch down and live the simple life. They also complain of course about the black character even though he’s inclusion in the movie was terrific and show that John Wayne was not in any way Prejudice and had great respect for his companion. So I think they put a little more negative spin on the movie than it deserves. The story is ironic but the characters are far from blowhards. And Jimmy Stewart still has nobility as a senator.
I agree with you that Stewart’s character wasn’t a blowhard. But I think he was respectful of Pompey’s role, & thought it could’ve been expanded on. A backstory to the relationship would’ve been interesting.
There was an awful Western made in the mid-60s inspired the the “El Paso” song. Yes it starred Marty Robbins.
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