Saddle up!

Well, I missed a good story, I guess. Pull up a chair and I'll tell you about it.

Sorry it's been a few days since I've ducked in here. I've felt sluggish since Thanksgiving, first with a migraine, then with a bad cold. Such is life. Could be worse.

Doing as little as possible, however, gave me a chance to climb back in the saddle with my childhood heroes.

I told you last month about watching "Gunsmoke." That show stands the test of time. I'm alternating between the early 30-minute monochrome episodes (all of which I own on DVD) and the later color episodes, which air three times a day on TV Land.

I like Festus better than Chester, but I prefer the lean, mean writing and grit of the early shows. (My buddy Charles Williams says he likes them because, as he puts it, "Kitty was sluttier.")

I like 'em all, mainly because the good guys usually win. And, even when they don't, karma usually bites the bad guy in the butt.

When I can't sleep (which is often), I watch old episodes of "Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre," a surprising number of which can be found on YouTube.

Saturdays, of course, mean "Riders of the Silver Screen" with Marshal Andy Smalls and Deadwood Don Calhoun on East Tennessee PBS, which leads me to the tale about the story I missed. Rex Allen Jr. was in town a few weeks ago and I found out about it too late to talk to him.

Don told me that Rex Allen's son was making an appearance on the show to promote his new CD. I've been a fan of his since he had a country hit a few years ago with "I'm Getting Good At Missing You (Solitaire)."

After I posted something about it online, turns out Rex Jr. is friends with a friend from Halls, Paula Proffitt. Small world, ain't it? Well, maybe one of these days I'll run into Rex and be able to tell him how much I like his singing and how much I enjoyed both his daddy's motion pictures and Rex Sr.'s song about that Arizona sky.

Tonight after deadline, I think I'm going to saddle up with Dale Robertson and watch "Tales of Wells Fargo." I haven't seen the series in years, but found the first two seasons' worth of DVDs for next to nothing. Always felt like that show was underrated.

Well, here's to ya, partner. I'm going to mosey down to Delmonico's and grab me a bite to eat before hitting the trail with some small screen cowboys.

Saddle up!

A great get well gift

Talk about a great "get well" gift.

My friend Charles Robert Davenport, former teacher at the old Brickey Elementary and a long-time librarian (now retired) in the Knox County Schools, called me last week.

"I've got some vinyl records here if you'd like to have them," he said in his trademark laconic tone.

I did not meet Mr. Davenport until briefly working in public relations for Knox County in late 2002/early 2003 until illness forced me to resign the position. "Mr. D" had left Brickey long before I became a student there.

So, I met him for lunch today just before going to the medical center to receive my CPAP machine. He pretty much let me take my pick of a variety of vinyls, including country, classical, gospel, and Broadway and film soundtracks.

As I type this, I'm listening to the late and great Eddy Arnold sing "Faded Love" and "The Tennessee Waltz" and (on another album), one of my favorites, Eddy's excellent cover of "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye," performed in the crooner style that became his trademark. Every time I hear Eddy, he always makes me think of Marshal Andy Smalls, who has to be Eddy Arnold's biggest fan.

Next up is either Glen Campbell or "South Pacific." We'll see when I summon the energy to get up.

Wish me luck on this CPAP, y'all. I think it might make me a new man.

'Riders of the Silver Screen'

As our week-long salute to western movies comes to a close, I thought I would share with you my list of favorite B-western stars.

I cherish these films. Most of them were made on the cheap, and yet, the producers still managed to churn out entertaining pictures that are enjoyable even today.

My heroes have always been cowboys, so here are a few of my favorites from the so-called B-westerns:



Roy Rogers The great debate between B-Western fans is over who was better -- Roy or Gene. Truth be told, they both were great. But, Roy has always been my favorite.

Can't really tell you why, other than I just liked his look, his aw-shucks sincerity, his attractive wife Dale Evans and his entertaining TV series. Oh, and his horse Trigger probably has something to do with it as well.

Roy was a gentleman and a great role model for kids. It's too bad his TV series hasn't gotten better treatment in syndication or on DVD.



Tex Ritter How can you not like Tex? He had a fantastic voice, a likable screen persona and an entertaining way about him. Sometimes, famous friends would show up in his pictures, too, like Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. His son, the late John Ritter, once said he used to watch his parents' movies as a child and think that was real life. If only...



Hopalong Cassidy Hoppy was a bona fide cult hero during his heyday. William Boyd's character was unusual in that he was a good guy who wore a black hat. Like Tex Ritter, he had a fantastic voice. His films are some of the more entertaining in the genre. A really cool box set (collected in a lunch box!) of his complete films is available on DVD.



Sky King I know this was a TV show, but I have to throw Sky King into the mix because a) it's basically a western with the hero using an airplane instead of a horse and b) the star, Kirby Grant, also appeared in several B-movies. Sky King is another character that was/is a great role model for kids. I have no idea why this hasn't been seen on TV in decades. A complete series box set is available, but it's rather expensive.



Gene Autry You can't leave Gene out of the mix. He had the best voice of any of the singing cowboys and could throw a mean punch. I like his TV series a bit better than his movies, although Pat Buttram gets on my nerves. Gene is one of the cowboy legends, no doubt about it.



Allan "Rocky" Lane I can't tell you why I like Allan Lane as much as I do, other than I've seen several of his movies on Marshal Andy's "Riders of the Silver Screen" and have enjoyed them to the hilt. His career spanned nearly 40 years -- and don't forget he was the voice of TV's "Mr. Ed"!

You can see many of these B-western heroes at 10:30 a.m. Saturdays on Marshal Andy's "Riders of the Silver Screen," which airs in Knoxville on Channels 2 and 15. Don't forget about the special live taping of the show at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Sept. 19).

'Ride the High Country'

My father says there's only right and wrong -- good and evil. Nothing in between. It isn't that simple, is it?

No, it isn't. It should be, but it isn't.

When I interviewed "Deadwood" Don Calhoun for an article that appears in today's (Monday, Sept. 14) Shopper-News, (read it at www.ShopperNewsNow.com) he reminded me of a classic western, Randolph Scott's last film, "Ride the High Country," from 1962. Rented it from Netflix and watched it again over the weekend.

Put simply: what a beautiful flick.

The film is an elegy in many ways to the end of an era, a tip of the cap to the Golden Age of American westerns. But, it is also a commentary on how a man faces mortality, how a gunfighter meets his fate. It is an unsentimental western released in a time dominated by unambiguous corn.

Scott plays Gil Westrum, partner to ex-law officer Steve Judd (Joel McCrea), who is hired to transport gold from a tough mining community through a rough patch of wild country. Westrum has become a barker in a wild west show and is glad for the work. Judd is getting old but wants to prove he's still got it.

So they join up with youngster Heck Longtree (Ron Starr) to ride the range one last time. Along the way, though, they run into Elsa (Meriette Hartley) and her fundamentalist father Joshua (R.G. Armstrong). Elsa is set to marry a man in the mining camp, played by James Drury, who brings with him an outlaw gang of a family.

Without giving away too much, the gist of this film is that Judd has no idea that Westrum, his former partner, and the youngster Longtree, are planning to double-cross him and steal the gold. He faces all this in addition to the problems that arise in the mining camp.

I won't spoil the ending other than to tell you that director Sam Peckinpah delivers an honest motion picture that doesn't shy away from the sad fact that the world isn't black-and-white, that both good and bad lie within all of us, and that human beings, even those who are basically decent, are also fairly complicated.

Scott finished a brilliant career with this film. He spent several years making average westerns, then jumped to a series of classics directed by Budd Boetticher. (The best one is "Seven Men From Now," which I will review in a day or so.) Peckinpah went on to direct several fine films, including "Straw Dogs" and "The Wild Bunch." McCrea made a few more films, but more or less said good-bye to a good career in this underrated classic. Hartley said she never topped this role, which was her first.

I guess my favorite part is the climax, in which Westrum and Judd decide to go out with guns blazing, heads held high. As Judd says, "All I want is to enter my house justified."

This is a fine western, indeed a fine film of any genre, one you have to see if you pretend to know anything about American cinema. It speaks to our fears about mortality, our thoughts about character, our motivations as the multi-faceted human beings we really are.

Peckinpah directs a western that deals with all of this and gives Randolph Scott a fitting epitaph. See this film, if you haven't. Oh, it's good. Mighty good.

Check back for more this week on Don Calhoun, A- and B-Westerns, TV cowboy favorites and other info on classic oaters. Don't forget that Marshal Andy Smalls will host a special live taping of "Riders of the Silver Screen" at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Knoxville PBS station on E. Magnolia Ave. Show up, have breakfast and enjoy the show. It will air on Channels 2 and 15 at the same time.

Ooo, wee, ride me high...

Came home riding a high.

You do that when you meet a legend. And, I don't care what you say, Marshal Andy is a local legend.

But, I was nursing a headache and there's no baseball on tonight. (I don't count the silly home run derby.) So, I plopped down in the recliner to enjoy an old western. Starring Rex Allen Sr., no less.

Somewhere before the big fight at the end, I fell asleep, missing the climax and a couple of phone calls. But that's OK. I saw it all later. God bless TiVO.

I wanted to read Alan Alda's second memoir, the tome with the title "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself." He is such a decent guy. Not to mention the star of my all-time favorite show.

But, headache had other plans, so I sat out on the porch and watched the sun set. It was quiet. It was perfect.

I thought about the last few days, the old friendships renewed, the wonderful, horrible surprise that is life, the good times, the laughs and the tears.

You take from it what you will. For me, it's the people, the music, a little beer and a lot of laughs, midnight Krystal runs and early morning dreams.

And it's funny. If the old dreams didn't work out, well, the new dreams will. We can't change the past. But we can do a little something about the future.

Now, it's off to bed. Big day tomorrow. Lunch and interns and seeing whether the National League can finally win the mid-summer classic.

Oh, I forgot to tell you the best part about last night. The headache went away.

Amazing what happens when you come home riding a high.