Sons of the Pioneers

The Sons of the Pioneers was an American cowboy singing group founded in 1933 by Leonard Slye (better known by his later screen name Roy Rogers), with Tim Spencer and Bob Nolan. They were soon joined by others including Karl Farr, Hugh Farr, Lloyd Perryman, and Pat Brady. The group remained popular into the 1960s. Though all of the original members are deceased, the group continues today (2007), led by Dale Warren (a member since 1953 replacing Ken Curtis), and performs regulary at concerts in Branson, Missouri and other spots. It is claimed that the Sons of the Pioneers is the oldest continually performing private musical group in history.Fact|date=August 2008 Ken Curtis is best remembered as an actor (primarily for playing "Festus" on Gunsmoke), but was a member of the Sons from 1949 to 1953.

The Sons of the Pioneers recorded songs for the John Ford movies "Wagon Master" (in 1949 and "Rio Grande" in (1950), and performed the theme song for ""The Searchers" in (1953).

The six members who made the "Sons of the Pioneers" famous in the 1930s with their close-harmonied western style music were elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980. In 1995, they were inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

In 1977, the Smithsonian designated the "Sons of the Pioneers" as "national treasures". That year their album "A Country-Western Songbook" hit #50 on the US Country charts. [ [http://wc10.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gifqxql5ldfe~T5 Chart Positions] , Allmusic.com]

Writing in "Country Music Magazine" in 1975, Wayne Forsythe noted, "The Sons of the Pioneers were the first country and western group to sing at Carnegie Hall and the first to perform at the lavish nightclubs in Las Vegas." (Country Music Magazine, April, 1975, "The Sons of the Pioneers" by Wayne Forsythe).

In 2001, Bill O'Neal, an author based in Carthage, Texas, published with Fred Goodwin a book about the group titled "The Sons of the Pioneers".

Some of the group's best known hits include (alphabetically):

*"Cool Water"
*"Happy Trails"
*"Ride Ranger Ride"
*"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky"
*"That Pioneer Mother Of Mine"
*"Tumbleweed Trail"
*"Tumbling Tumbleweeds"
*"Way Out There" "Sons of the Pioneers" was the name of a 1942 singing cowboy film starring Roy Rogers and featuring the Sons of the Pioneers.

References

External links

* http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/inductees.aspx?cid=187