If you’ve sat in my office at work, you’ve seen this album hanging on the wall for many years. This album was one of the entry points into my obsession with the Old West. I remember playing it top to bottom over and over, trying to immerse myself in songs of the prairie and gunslinger battles.

The song is called “Cattle Call,” written by Tex Owens in 1934. Tex was born in Bell County, Texas, in 1892 and held many odd jobs as a young man, including working as a cowboy at the famous King Ranch in southern Texas. Eventually, he moved into the radio business and, in 1931, became a regular on KMBC in Kansas City, Missouri. One day in 1934, while waiting to broadcast from the 11th floor of the Pickwick Hotel, he watched the snow begin to fall. Thinking of all the cattle out in the cold, a wave of sympathy washed over him, and he wrote “Cattle Call” in just 30 minutes.

This version by Eddy Arnold is from his album Cattle Call. Eddy had tremendous success with this album—it was his first to make it onto the Billboard album charts. “Cattle Call” became one of Eddy’s signature songs, one he performed for the rest of his life.

Fun Fact: Eddy’s manager for nearly 10 years was Colonel Tom Parker, who later became the famous manager of Elvis Presley. They parted ways after a falling out.

Nickname Fact: When Eddy was 11, his father passed away, forcing him to drop out of school and help on the farm. This earned him the nickname “The Tennessee Plowboy.” As a young man, he sometimes entered events and shows riding a mule, with a guitar strapped to his back.

Recording Fact: Eddy Arnold recorded “Cattle Call” five times! The first in 1944, again in 1949, with an orchestra in 1955, and the version we hear on Cattle Call in 1963. The fifth version was a duet with LeAnn Rimes in 1996.

Sad Fact: Tex Owens, the writer of this song, moved to California in the mid-1940s and landed a role in the John Wayne film Red River in 1948. During a chaotic stampede scene, he broke his back and fractured his arm. After spending a year in the hospital, he resumed his radio career but died unexpectedly in 1962 at his Camp Creek home.

Listening Tips: One of the most impressive aspects of this track is the yodeling. The instrumentation is simple—just acoustic guitar, background vocals, bass, light cymbals, and Eddy’s fantastic voice. Pay attention to his smooth transitions between yodeling and his regular singing. It’s almost criminal how short the song is. That’s why I love listening to the entire album—you can fully immerse yourself in the beauty of the Old West.

Hope you enjoy!

The cattle are prowlin’
The coyotes are howlin’
Way out where the dogies bawl

---

Where spurs are a-jinglin’
A cowboy is singin’
This lonesome cattle call

Recent Posts

My name is Michael Sanchez and I’m an avid record collector and obscure song searcher. My goal is to post one song a day that’s been on my stereo/turntable frequently. If you don’t like the song… too bad 🙂 You can just wait for the next one.

Subscribe below to get some great tunes in your inbox each day. Or maybe forward to a friend you think would love the song. Hope you enjoy!