Cowboy songs and stories
Swedish-Norwegian in ancestry, Glenn Ohrlin was born in Minneapolis in 1925, and has been a cowboy virtually all of his life. Glenn was 14 when his family moved to California. At age 16 he left home to become a rodeo bronco rider in Nevada. He worked as a ranch hand and rode the rodeo circuit for a number of years. Today, he ranches and runs a cow outfit in the Ozark hills near Mountain View, Arkansas. Glenn has spent a lifetime absorbing cowboy lore and traditions. He is a superb teller of tall tales, and an illustrator who draws cowboys and their paraphernalia with loving attention and detail. He is best known, however, as a collector and performer of cowboy songs, range ballads, stories, and poems, and has authored a book called "The Hell-Bound Train - A Cowboy's Songbook." Glenn draws mainly on the body of traditional material that developed in the period 1875-1925: old balladry carried west, mid-nineteenth century sentimental tunes, and journalistic poetry. Add to this folksongs that were popular with GIs during World War II, bawdy songs rarely in print, hobo ditties, and jukebox western hits, and you have some idea of Glenn's immensely varied and extensive repertoire. He sings all these songs in a laconic, unadorned style accompanied by a simple rhythm guitar technique; in performance, he mixes his music with storytelling and classic recitations. Named a National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellow in 1985, Glenn Ohrlin is a national treasure, with a mesmerizing style that is both understated and extremely powerful.
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Music Sampler: "The High-tone Dance"