Cattle Call

**Cattle Call** is a song written and first performed by Tex Owens in 1934, but would later become synonymous with Eddy Arnold after his 1945 recording. Riders In The Sky have performed "Cattle Call" as part of their live shows as early as 1980, though it would not appear on an album until *Riders Radio Theater* in 1988, where it would be used as the framing song of the "Circus Train" sketch.

## Lyrics

(YODELING)

*The cattle are prowlin' and the coyotes are howlin'*

*Way out where the doggies bawl*

*His spurs are a-jinglin', this cowpoke is singin'*

*His lonesome cattle call*

(YODELING)

*He rides in the sun 'till his day's work is done*

*Then he rounds up the cattle each fall*

(YODELING)

*Singin' his cattle call*

*Oh for hours, he would ride*

*Over the range far and wide*

*'Till the nightwinds blow up a squall*

*And his heart is a feather*

*In all kinds of weather*

*As he sings his cattle call*

(YODELING)

*He's brown as a berry from ridin' the prairie*

*And he sings with an old western drawl*

(YODELING)

*His lonesome cattle call*

(YODELING)

*Singin' his cattle call*

## "Cattle Call" Skits

Since the song's inclusion in their live set list in the late 1970s/early 1980s, "Cattle Call" has been used as a framing song for two skits: the "Yodel" sketch and the "Circus Train" skit.

### The Yodel Sketch

Performed as early as 1980, the "Yodel" sketch starts with "Cattle Call" being performed almost in it's entirety before Ranger Doug starts to repeat the song's yodel chorus, increasing the pitch and key of his playing and yodeling with each attempt (much to the shock of Woody Paul and Too Slim). This version skit was performed on Riders In The Sky's first appearance on *Austin City Limits* in 1981. It is unknown when this iteration of the sketch was retired.

### Circus Train Skit

Beginning with the 1988 *Riders Radio Theater* album (or possibly earlier), "Cattle Call" also served as the kick-off to the "Circus Train" skit. In this version, Ranger Doug introduces "Cattle Call" as "a portrait in song", and briefly laments the passing of the west before launching into the song's first verse. Following the beginning of the second verse, Too Slim begins to "add to the portrait" with a short scene of a lost baby calf being reunited with it's mother. Ranger Doug then attempts to get back to the song, only for Too Slim and Woody Paul to add more ranch animals to the portrait (such as a dog, a cat, and "the bunkhouse Jackass"). This line of thinking diverges into Too Slim describing the wreck of an approaching circus train in the field next to where the cowboy of "Cattle Call" is watching over his herd. The once quiet scene turns into a chaotic symphony of sound effects provided by Slim and Woody of various circus animals escaping the train and attacking the cowboy, only for Too Slim to realize that Ranger Doug has stopped playing "Cattle Call" altogether and has been silently watching with annoyance as Slim and Woody destroy his "portrait in song." As Ranger Doug attempts to play "Cattle Call" again, he either gives up (in the live show version) or is told by Texas Bix Bender that they've run out of time (in both the Riders Radio Theater album and series). This version of the sketch has been used as early as 1988, and continues to be performed to this day.

## Riders Recordings

* *Austin City Limits* (1981) (live performance) ("Yodel" version)
* *The Cowboy Way* (1987) (live performance) (cut from final album) (version unknown)
* *Riders Radio Theater* (1988) (first studio recording) ("Circus Train" version)
* *Riders Radio Theater* (series)
	+ *Meltdown On The Mesa* Chapter Two (1988) ("Circus Train" version)
	+ *Return of The Phantom* Chapter Twelve (1990) ("Circus Train" version)
	+ *Raiders of The Vanishing Everglades* Chapter One (1992) (no skit)
* *Saturday Morning With Riders In The Sky* (1992) (reuses *Riders Radio Theater* album recording)
* *Always Drink Upstream From The Herd* (1995) (new recording) (no skit)
* *Cowboy Songs* (1996) (reuses Always Drink Upstream From The Herd recording)
* *Live At The Sarsaparilla Saloon* (1999) (live performance) ("Circus Train" version)