Happy Trails: The Roy Rogers Collection, 1937-1990
Very few reconciled the often-conflicting agendas of art and entertainment as deftly as Roy Rogers. The King of the Cowboys owned a tenor voice so amiable and mellifluous that it had the power to disarm even the most jaded among us. Perhaps that's why he was such a popular figure in the years during and after World War II: his music was an antidote to the unsettled nature of the times, recalling the simple and sincere life of the cowboy, but revolving around timeless themes that even the slickest city boy could relate to. The bulk of this three-CD collection comes from Rogers's steady stream of radio shows, and the performances are highly professional yet never stiff, musically resonant yet never self-serving, and they usually are more exuberant and spontaneous than the original studio versions. The comprehensive set brilliantly showcases the range and depth of Rogers's talents: he could croon a congenial ballad one moment, yodel passionately and fluently the next, and lead a hot-swinging big band after that. Many of the cuts feature the incredible instrumental and vocal talents of theSons of the Pioneersor the harmonies of wife Dale Evans, while the studio numbers usually feature the top players of the day. The majority of his Western songs were written not on the prairie, the ranch, or the trail, but in Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley. Still, Rogers had an uncanny ability to make the unauthentic and calculated sound genuine and refreshing. And while this may not be authentic Western music, it is without question authenticHollywood-styleWestern music, which has its own distinct rewards. The result is an immensely charming collection that celebrates Rogers's charismatic performances, but more than that, pays homage to midcentury radio and film and their valiant (yet ultimately futile) attempt to recapture America's rapidly fading innocence.--Marc Greilsamer