The Rhine’s Own Cowboys - The Boss Hoss

By Bennett Owen

Credit: tonspionRhine as in Rhine River. These cowboys from Berlin are hugely popular in Germany, and are selling out concerts through much of Central Europe and Britain with their blend of country, rockabilly boogie and plain old good time rock and roll. OK, some sex appeal doesn’t hurt either. Oh right. And talent. As Sharon Stone once said, ‘you can only sleep your way to the middle.’

Credit: WhiteTrashFastFoodBoss Hoss’ 2005 debut was titled, ‘InterNashville Urban Hymns’, described as an effort to put a country spin on some of their all-time favorite songs and introduce them to a new generation of hip youngsters in the party capital of the world.  The seven man group has been steadily gaining popularity ever since.

Credit: semajblogeaterThey took a one and a half year hiatus and traveled to Texas to gather inspiration for their latest effort, ‘Liberty of Action.’  A tribute, they say, to the love of freedom. Along the way, they realized a lifelong dream, playing venues across the Lone Star State, including the landmark Continental Club in Austin. This video was filmed in Austin and it is infectious:

The BossHoss -- Don't Gimme That - MyVideo

The Houston Press described one of their concerts thusly: “We weren’t really sure whether we had witnessed…some kind of brutally ironic Berlin-intellectual post-industrialist art statement that we are too hick to understand. What we did know was that The Boss Hoss delivered the fun.”  Indeed. 

Boss Hoss Frontmen Sascha Vollmer and Alec Völkel are dedicated Elvis and Johnny Cash fans. “Elvis is ageless,” Vollmer says. “He was sexy, good looking, and even in his dotage had a voice like a young god. His music was a revolution.”  High praise from the Berlin hipsters.

Credit: WikipediaIn their new CD, The Boys have teamed up with Nena, of 99 Red Balloons fame for a cover of Nat King Cole’s evergreen, L.O.V.E.  OK, I sense some tongue in cheek on this one but I had the hots for Nena in the early 80s and it appears she has only gotten better with age.

Halloween Hits – A Cowboy Legend

By Bennett Owen

Credit: Stefano Costantini

My gut feeling is that Ghost Riders in the Sky was inspired by a western cloudburst, one that echoes off the mountaintops and where the lightning rips great holes in the firmament.  The author, Stan Jones says the lyrics are based on a tale a cowboy told him when he was a young lad.

But since its first release in 1949 ‘A Cowboy Legend’ has ensconced itself firmly into America’s discography, a unique and evocative tale that has been retold by more than 50 artists.  Burl Ives did it first but the Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins recorded their own classic versions.

Here’s an old recording by The Sons of the Pioneers with Stan Jones telling the story behind the song:

And here’s the Johnny Cash version:

Happy Birthday, Johnny Cash

by Jim Poulton

I can still remember when I first heard Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire. My sister and I were riding in the back seat of our family’s Ford Fairlane. Ring of Fire came on the radio – we were listening to KNAK – and by the end of the song, all four of us were trying to sing along with the chorus. My dad had a barrel-chest kind of voice – a little like Cash’s – and he was the only one who could get the deep notes of ‘and it burns, burns, burns.’ It is one of those memories that just stay lodged in your brain.

Yesterday was Johnny Cash’s birthday. He would have been 79. Although he passed away in 2003, Cash has continued to be one of the most influential country singers in history. Ring of Fire, I Walk the Line, Folsom Prison Blues … it’s easy to see why.

Happy Birthday, Johnny Cash, wherever you are.