Little Joe the Wrangler

Little Joe the Wrangler is a classic American cowboy song, written by N. Howard "Jack" Thorp. It appeared in Thorp's 1908 Songs of the Cowboys, which was the first published collection of cowboy songs.[1] The tune comes from the song 'Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane' written by Will Hayes in 1871. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[2]

For the 1942 film, see Little Joe, the Wrangler.

The song is about a solitary runaway who is taken in by a group of cowboys and put to work at a man's job. Little Joe's life ends tragically when his horse suffers a fall during a stampede, crushing the young fellow beneath him. The song has been sung over and over in cow camps for over a century, and has been recorded by many Western singers.

Performances

In the film Destry Rides Again, Marlene Dietrich sings a version with altered lyrics, in which Little Joe is shot by the sheriff. This version is a reference for "Surly Joe," sung by Tim Blake Nelson in the film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. [3]

References
  1. Thorp, N. (1921) Songs of the Cowboys, p. 96.: "'Little Joe, The Wrangler', by N. Howard Thorp. Written by me on the trail of herd of O Cattle from Chimney Lake, New Mexico, to Higgins, Texas, 1898. ... It was copyrighted and appeared in my first edition of Songs of the Cowboys, published in 1908.
  2. Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 19 October 2010.
  3. "Little Joe the Wrangler". Western Folklife Center. 2009-09-12. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-04. Includes lyrics and links to the song being performed.



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