Back in the Saddle

A few days ago I posted on FB a picture from my wonted vantage point at the Open Door Coffee Co. here in Hudson, Ohio. (See above.) I captioned it: "Back in the saddle again"--a phrase appropriate for the mere reason that I had not been there the day before but instead had been down at the Akron Red Cross having all of my blood drained (and returned!) as part of this immunotherapy process I am undergoing (I am one-third done!).

Anyway, I was pretty sure when I wrote that caption that the phrase came from that old singing cowboy (and once owner of the California Angels!) Gene Autry (1907-98), whom I often watched as a kid on TV--movies and his own series (1950-55). He had earlier starred in his own radio show (1940-43, 1945-56)..

I'll confess that as a kid I was not all that fond of the "singing cowboy" (Autry was one--also Roy Rogers and Tex Ritter and quite a few others--there's even a Wikipedia entry on all of them). I preferred the cowboys who eschewed singing and just shot the guys in the black hats. No nonsense.

Anyway, Autry had some hits as a singer--including "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," a song no decent cowboy would sing. (Link to Autry singing it.) It's still in the air everywhere during the Christmas season.

I did a little checking, and it was Autry who sang "Back in the Saddle Again" (1939), and it was a song that people long associated with him. Here's a link to Autry singing it on YouTube. He co-wrote it with Ray Whitley.

Now the story gets complicated: In the coffee shop the other day I was talking with Nigel about "Back in the Saddle," and he told me that there was another song with that phrase recorded by another group--Aerosmith, the song written in 1976 by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. Nigel quickly found it on his smart phone and played some of it for me. As I listened, I noticed another sound, too ... the bones of Gene Autry whirling in his grave?  Link to Aerosmith song.

Let's just say that there's not a lot of similarity between Gene Autry and Aerosmith--though Autry did dodge quite a few arrows in his Western adventures ...