Be ready for exciting, fast-paced, get-you-up-and-dancing country! All of your favorite old-time cowboy songs are found on this 12-track album, from "Git Along Little Doggies" to "The Old Chisholm Trail". The songs feature guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, accordion, steel guitar, harmonica, trumpet, drums, and all male vocals.

The songs are performed primarily by The Willis Brothers, but Johnny Bond, Arthur Smith, Jim Silvers, The Pinnacle Boys, Tommy Faile, and Merle Travis also lead a few songs. Typical for country tradition, most of the songs tell stories. "Fools of Forty-Nine" sings about the gold miners, while "Sky Ball Paint" feels like you're listening to your grandpa tell you an exciting story about the good 'ol days in the West. "Cheyenne" and "La Marcha De Los Mexicanos" are all-instrumental, which gives your little one a great opportunity to listen for new instruments and sounds. "Cimmaron (Roll On)" has a Spanish feel to it, with horns, an accordion, guitar and multiple singers harmonizing. Most of the songs have an interlude for some solos, portraying more intricate playing. The fast-paced "Cannonball Yodel" is a fun and technical fiddle solo in the middle, followed by an equally impressive banjo solo. "The Happy Cowboy" features an upbeat accordion solo between repeating choruses.

These classic country songs are perfect for singing along to, whether your little one is letting out a "Yippy Yi Yo!" in "Riders in the Sky", a "Whoopy ti-yi-yo, Whoppy ti-yi-ya" to a slower beat in "Back in the Saddle Again", or joining the chorus of "HI ho Whoppy Ki-yo, riding high and down you go" in Sky Ball Paint." There are plenty of opportunities to whoop and holler in every song - even if they are not real words! "Cannonball Yodel" is often a stand-out favorite because of the fun trying to imitate the yodeling. The stories told in the songs will engage your child's imagination; "Take Me Back To My Boots and Saddle" uses wooden blocks in the background so it sounds like a horse is clopping in time throughout the entire song. It's easy for listeners to imagine themselves trotting along at a nice easy pace on a horse while singing this song.

My five-year-old friend, Nick, said this is an "exciting" CD that "makes him want to be a cowboy, because they get to ride horses and yell 'whoopy ti-yi-yo, get along little doggies'!" I asked when he was going to start being a cowboy, and he responded with, "I'm already practicing, but I won't be a real cowboy until I can get a horse. So, probably when I'm old, like 16. Then I'll move to Texas."

--Audra

This recording is manufactured by CMH Records, Inc. in Los Angeles, CA.

1 - The Old Chisholm Trail - Arthur Smith (1:44)

2 - Sky Ball Paint - The Willis Brothers with Johnny Bond (2:05)

3 - Cannonball Yodel - Jim Silvers (2:25)

4 - The Happy Cowboy - The Willis Brothers with Johnny Bond (1:50)

5 - Cimmaron (Roll On) - The Willis Brothers (1:55)

6 - Riders in the Sky - The Willis Brothers (2:44)

7 - Cheyenne - The Pinnacle Boys (3:02)

8 - Back in the Saddle Again - Johnny Bond with the Willis Brothers (2:24)

9 - Fools of forty-Nine - Arthur Smith (2:29)

10 - Git Along Little Doggies - Tommy Faile (2:26)

11 - (Take Me Back to My) Boots and Saddles  Willis Brothers (3:07)

12 - La Marcha De Los Mexicanos - Merle Travis (1:38)