"My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" by Willie Nelson

Song#:  0041
Date:  02/09/1980
Debut:  87
Peak:  44
Weeks:  10
Genre:  Country



Pop Bits:  Some folks forget that Nelson was a country star back in the 60s. At that time and into the very early 70s he was a clean-cut, suit-wearing performer with short hair. He had several country chart songs but only one reached the Top 10. And he couldn't make a dent in the pop chart. Label troubles and declining popularity sent him into a retirement phase and he moved to Austin. Invigorated by the scene there, he returned to recording and changed his sound. The resulting album, "Shotgun Willie," wasn't a major success but it started his "outlaw" persona that would lead to his classic "Red Headed Stranger" album and his first #1 country hit (and first pop hit - #21) "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain." "My Heroes..." was his first hit of the 80s and it was his fifth #1 country song.

ReduxReview:  For me, this is a turgid dud. I know it was a big country hit, but it is not a country style that I like. It could be the arrangement with its syrupy strings, keyboard, and harp(!). Or maybe cowboys were just never my heroes.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  Double Shot! 1) This was the theme song to the Robert Redford/Jane Fonda movie "Electric Horseman." 2) Just in case someone out there doesn't know this, Nelson wrote Patsy Cline's signature song "Crazy."

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