NRR Project: 'I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart' (1935)

 

NRR Project: ‘I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart’

Words and music: Patsy Montana

Performed by Patsy Montana and the Prairie Ramblers

Recorded Aug. 16, 1935

3:10

I cannot do better than the analysis provided by Stephanie Vander Wel and Suzy Bogguss at the National Recording Registry concerning this tune – they are comprehensive.

Patsy Montana was the stage name of Rubye Blevins, a genuine country girl who grew up singing and playing the violin. Gradually she adopted the persona of Patsy Montana, singing, yodeling, and playing guitar. Her repertoire was limited, as country music was male-centric at the time. So, she wrote her own song.

It seems to be an adaptation of a song called “Texas Plains,” as well as phrases from “You’ve Got to Be a Football Hero.” Despite its derivativeness, the song was a big hit and became the first country song by a female to sell more than a million copies.

Montana’s voice is clear and feisty, carrying the yearnings of the song and throwing them into sharp relief. ‘Montana’s would-be cowgirl wants to rope and ride, strum her guitar and yodel. This was no shrinking violet but a real woman with a will of her own. It was delightfully subversive of the passive role assigned to women in the period.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next up: sounds of the ivory-billed woodpecker.