Ramrods

The Ramrods were an American instrumental pop group in the late 1950s and 1960s, who had a hit in 1961 with their version of the song "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky".
The group was formed in Stamford, Connecticut, United States in 1956 by Claire Lane (born Claire Litke) and her brother Rich Litke. Claire played drums, sang, and arranged the songs; Rich played saxophone. They added Vinny Lee on lead guitar, and Gene Morro on second guitar. At the end of 1960, they recorded their instrumental arrangement of "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky", a song written by Stan Jones which had been a big hit in 1949 for Vaughn Monroe. The Ramrods' version contained eerie and evocative overdubbed shouts, whistles and cattle calls, and was placed with Amy Records, a subsidiary of Bell Records in New York City. The record was made a "Pick of the Week" by Cash Box magazine, and rose to number 30 on the Billboard pop chartin early 1961. Released on the London label, it also reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart.
The follow-up, "Loch Lomond Rock", a rocked-up version of a traditional Scottish tune, with bagpipes solo, was not successful, and nor were two later singles on the Amy label.
Gene Morro left the group in the early 1960s, and was replaced by Russ Cook (born Russ Mumma) on bass. Vinny Lee later died and was replaced by Bernie Moore (no relation to Gene Moore), who was in turn later replaced by George Sheck, with Cook taking over on lead guitar. Claire Lane left the group in the late 1960s to pursue a solo career, and the remaining Ramrods became the Russ Cook Combo before disbanding in the early 1970s.
==Links to Peel==
Peel played their hit, (Ghost) Riders In The Sky, often on his shows and had kept a copy of the track's single in his record box. According to available playlists on this site, Peel didn't seem to play any other tracks from the band on his programmes.
==Shows Played==
;thumb|220x220px1987
*02 March 1987: (Ghost) Riders In The Sky (7") London
;1995
*21 April 1995: (Ghost) Riders In The Sky (7") London
;1999
*02 December 1999 (Radio Eins): (Ghost) Riders In The Sky (7") London
== See Also ==
*Gigography 1978
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists