Monday, May 5, 2014

Monday Music "Ghost Riders in the Sky " and a very Busy weekend..

I decided to go with Johnny Cash, I always liked him partly because my Dad was a big fan and he had several of his albums so I always knew who the " Man in Black was".   When I started doing research for this weeks "Monday's Music" I find out that quite a few artist had made covers of this song, but I remember Johnny Cash singing it so that is the version I went with.
    But to my very busy weekend, a month ago, My sons Boy Scout Trailer was stolen it was next to the scout hut at the back of the Charter organization(Church) parking lot.  Somebody went on a Saturday night and stole it.   We have been telling people that the person that stole it probably was never a scout and never was exposed to the positive virtues of being a scout.  I and many others were very angry about it.  But we try to listen to the better angels of our nature and "forgive" them.  I do try, but I am a human being and it can be hard.
  This picture was taken right after a return from a camping trip, the trailer gets used a lot...or it did. 
     We got put on the local news, The outpouring from the community was overwhelmingly positive.
Boy scouts make plea for stolen trailer - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5
 We discovered that the Church had only "liability" insurance on the trailer, and it doesn't cover theft.  Boy Scouts are "Non-Profit" so we cannot "Own" anything, everything that the boy scouts use belongs to the charter organization(Church). So we have to fund raise to replace the trailer and the equipment that was inside of it.  That is what We did this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Gander Mountain opened up and the manager asked us if we would hand out coffee and donuts at the grand-opening.  We asked of we could do a fund raiser at the same time.  They were very supportive and said "Yes".  So I spend that time running the grill and doing "gopher runs" and what ever else was necessary to help get the job done.  When I left Sunday afternoon, we had raised about $1600.00 which was a very impressive amount.  We are pleased but we still have to do more work. 

On a personal note, I DID buy some .22 ammo there, it was a special shipment for the grand opening,  So for the moment, there was ammo available, but soon they will be like the others, if you find any at all, you will be lucky.  I will be glad when the supply catches up with the demand.


"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" is a cowboy-styled country/western song written in 1948 by noted American songwriter, Stan Jones. A number of versions were crossover hits on the pop charts in 1949. The ASCAP database lists the song as "Riders in the Sky" (title code 480028324), but the title has been written as "Ghost Riders", "Ghost Riders in the Sky", and "A Cowboy Legend".

The song tells a folk tale of a cowboy who has a vision of red-eyed, steel-hooved cattle thundering across the sky, being chased by the spirits of damned cowboys. One warns him that if he does not change his ways, he will be doomed to join them, forever "trying to catch the Devil's herd across these endless skies". Jones said that he had been told the story when he was 12 years old by an old cowboy friend. The story resembles the northern European mythic Wild Hunt.
More than 50 performers have recorded versions of the song. Charting versions were recorded by The Outlaws, Vaughn Monroe ("Riders in the Sky" with orchestra and vocal quartet), which topped the Billboard magazine charts, by Bing Crosby (with the Ken Darby Singers), Frankie Laine, Burl Ives (two different versions), Marty Robbins, The Ramrods and Johnny Cash. Other recordings were made by Eddy Arnold, Peggy Lee (with the Jud Conlon Singers) and Spike Jones and his City Slickers. Gene Autry sang it in the 1949 movie, "Riders in the Sky." Jones himself recorded it for his 1957 album "Creakin' Leather." Children of Bodom, Impaled Nazarene and Die Apokalyptischen Reiter have also made covers.
The melody is based on the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." According to Robby Krieger, it inspired the classic Doors song "Riders on the Storm."
The song was also the inspiration for the Marvel Comics Western character "Ghost Rider" later renamed Phantom Rider (not to be confused with the later character named "Ghost Rider.")
The song may have also been the inspiration for the REO Speedwagon song Ridin' The Storm Out.
The chorus lines of this song are and have been since the 1960s a terrace song of the Aston Villa Football Club of England. The words have been modified to include the line "Holte Enders in the Sky," a reference to the occupants of the vast stand behind the goal at the southern end of the Villa Park stadium.
The song is also referenced in the Def Leppard song Foolin', with the line "On and on, we rode the storm".
 Johnny Cash at the Muppets show...Singing "Ghost Riders in the sky"..What can I say, I seem to find a link from songs that I like that seemed to have appeared on the Muppet Show.

5 comments:

  1. Ghostriders in the sky was the music for my eponymous squadrons going away song. At the conclusion of a pilot's tour in the Juvats, the Boys Choir would pen verses based on the accomplishments (read foibles) of the departing pilot's tour. The chorus was changed to Juvats away, Juvats away, Juvats in the night. One of my favorite songs, and Yes, Johnny Cash does one of the better versions. (We were pretty darn good also, especially after a beer or three).

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    1. Sorry about the trailer, that was a pretty low thing done to your troop.

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  2. Yep, that was our 'song' on particular dets, since that was our callsign... :-) Any way we can donate to help the kids out?

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  3. Gander Mountain now in Metro Atlanta? That's news right there. Glad to see the scouts are recovering after some no good varmint snatched their trailer (the news of help from your local sheriff in a follow up post was even better). Some of my best memories from being a kid were times with my scouting friends.

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  4. Hey Juvat;
    It is a good song and somewhat haunting.....And yes that was pretty low ripping off th4e trailer.

    Hey Old NFO;
    Iin a later post we are having a foundation going to give us a the funds to get a trailer.
    Hey Doug;
    Yep Gander mountain is in McDonough off Jonesboro road. It is a cool store...something about being a toy store for guys.

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