Lone Star Book Blog Tour: Yonderings: Trails and Memories of the Big Bend by Ben H. English

“Carabina Treinta-Treinta”                          Luis Aguilar

                                                                       Los Lobos

                                                                       Los Alegros de Teran

 -This tune is my favorite of the Mexican Revolution era. Anyone who has ever felt the balance of a Winchester ‘94, and jacked the lever on it understands what the unknown author was alluding to when he wrote the words down.  ‘La carabina treinta-treinta’ is one of the most popular rifles ever produced, and most experienced folks on either side of the river know why…

“Ghost Riders in the Sky”                            Johnny Cash

-If you have ever been surprised by a sudden gathering of storm clouds while on high ground somewhere in the lower Big Bend, then this song might have come to mind.  For me, it would be on top of Anguila Mesa when the fall rains come and lightning flashes about.  And yeah, you can almost see that ghost herd and riders coming for you…

“In Color”                                                     Jamey Johnson

-This song comes to mind when I am looking through old photos of days long past, often enough taken in black and white.  Life in the lower Big Bend, fifty or a hundred years ago or more, is not for the faint-hearted, the sickly, the pampered or the foolish.  In a harsh land that demanded constant attention and work just to get by, the words in this song tug at your heart and soul as the memories come to you.  Indeed, sometimes you were doing good just by holding on…

“La Adelita”                                                 Cuco Sanchez

-Another Mexican Revolution song with many versions, but I prefer the Cuco Sanchez recording.  In the decade from 1910-1920, Mexico and the Mexican people not only suffered through the brutalities of an almost genocidal war, but also the trio of pale horsemen of drought, starvation, and epidemic.  No one really knows how many died during those years, and when you hear a song like “La Adelita,” one must remember there was more than one face of death afoot during that time…

“Angels Can Do No More”                             Don Edwards

-Many of us know what it is to lose someone special at too early of an age and the loss felt when realizing that so much will always remain undone.  If one goes to the mostly forgotten cemeteries of Terlingua Abaja, San Vicente, Glenn Spring, the Dryden, and dozens of more in between, that feeling comes back.  You wonder who said words over those buried there, and who will do the same for you someday…

Theme song to the Movie El Dorado            George Alexander

-An adaptation to the poem of the same name; this song, along with some Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington prints, served as one of the finest intros to any movie I ever watched.  Listen to the words carefully, and picture yourself moving along the Dodson Trail below the highest points of the Chisos Mountains.  I’ve been there, with that song running through my head…

“Alla En El Rancho Grande”                          Jorge Negrete

-Not only was this another favorite of my grandfather, they just about ran the needle through the record in the old jukebox there at the Lajitas Trading Post.  Most of the selections available were Mexican in nature and were played far more frequently than the Anglo options.  And they wondered why I spoke English with a Mexican accent in Fort Stockton after my family left the lower Big Bend…

“The Place Where I Worship”                        Sons of the Pioneers

-This was written by Dale Evans and performed many times by herself, her husband Roy Rogers, and The Sons of the Pioneers.  Picture yourself standing in front of the opening for the Window on a clear day, seeing God’s Great Creation stretch out for miles upon miles for as far as your eyes can take you.  The sun and the sky above form the roof of this church, the walls of the Basin on either side serve as the walls, and the rocks lying about your choice of pews.  Yes, it is the place where I worship…

“Coyotes”                                                      Don Edwards

-Members of my family first drifted into the Big Bend from South Texas nearly 150 years ago now, and they brought their life experiences, culture, and belief system with them.  When Don Edwards sings this song, I imagine some of them having the same thoughts as the land they helped pioneer changed before their very eyes, never to be the same again…

“Cool Water”                                                  Marty Robbins

-If you have ever gone without water for a length of time in the hot, dry desert, then this song hits as close to home as any other you can think of.  I’ve been there before but never so much than while putting one foot in front of the other on a hundred plus degree day south of Glenn Spring.   I was carrying a fifty-pound pack and hadn’t had a drop of moisture in sixteen hours. And you have to keep moving, or you will surely die…

“Down To The River To Pray”                        Alison Krauss

-Another old song of faith usually sung for baptism services; my favorite version was actually done years ago in the First Baptist Church of Ozona, Texas.  The group of ladies singing it included my wife, Nanette Verner, Katrece Hale, and Vickie Davis.  Whenever I get near water deep enough to bend someone backwards into, their voices begin singing in my head again.  That is especially so when at old family haunts such as Hot Springs, Terlingua Creek, or just above the old crossing at Lajitas…

“This Ain’t Nothin’”                                        Craig Morton

-Everyone has a breaking point and often enough, it starts occurring sooner than later until we realize that so many others had so much more to bear than we ever shall.  Think of the endless physical labor in the darkness of a mine tunnel at the foot of California Mountain, the Mariscal, the Shafter mines, the Study Butte, or the Chisos Mining Company.  Think about what it took to produce candelilla wax, which has got to be one of the toughest jobs anyone could ever imagine.  Think about what your own ancestors went through when called upon. That’s when your own problems start to diminish, and you realize that what you are facing now “ain’t nothin”…

“Auld Lang Syne”                                            Randy Travis

-The traditional song for celebrating New Year’s Eve and which symbolizes welcoming the new while not forgetting the old.  I have heard innumerable versions of it, but this plaintive one done by Randy Travis with only a six string guitar has a special significance in its simplicity.  I picture myself thinking of the old standing where our pens used to be on the hill above Lajitas, or in front of the one room schoolhouse at Terlingua, or upon the ruins of the now mostly gone ranch headquarters at the Valenzuela.  Not too sure of the new often enough and I do miss the old, and I shall remember it…

“Happy Trails”                                         Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

-Everyone needs a happy song to remember when the storm clouds of life gather on the horizon, and a way to end a project or piece of work on a bright note.  I can think of no better way of doing so than passing along this song.  It is one from my earliest childhood, and has come to me time and again on so occasions since.  There is a reason why the last words in my book belong to Roy Rogers, and why this song is the last one for its playlist.

Happy Trails to all…