Tex Ritter (1905-1974) came by his nickname honestly enough: born in microscopic Murvaul, Texas, he grew up around Houston and briefly worked in local radio before moving to New York to pursue an acting career on Broadway. At the height of the Great Depression, Ritter headed out west to become one of Hollywood's singing cowboys, acting in dozens of films while album gaining fame as one of the first star artists on the newly-formed Capitol Records label. A country hitmaker in the late 1940s, Ritter's best-known songs include his version of the folk tune "Rye Whiskey" "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle," and the recitation novelty number "Deck Of Cards." He became a household name in 1952 when he recorded the theme song for the film High Noon, a song that became one of the decade's best-known hits, and spent the rest of the decade hosting or starring in a variety of high-profile radio and TV programs. His last Top Ten hit was a 1961 version of the recitation tune "I Dreamed Of A Hill-Billy Heaven," and faced with the successive waves of the Nashville Sound, the Bakersfield Sound and the countrypolitan era, Ritter's popularity steadily declined, as his old-school persona left him out of touch with popular trends in the country world. Ritter's son, actor John Ritter (1948-2003) became one of the biggest television stars of the 'Seventies when he was cast in the part of Jack Tripper, in the sitcom Three's Company. Here's a quick look at Tex Ritter's career...

Tex Ritter "Country Music Hall Of Fame Series" (MCA Records, 1991)
Here are about half the songs he recorded for Decca in the 1930s, when he was a Hollywood box-office star. Several tracks are traditional cowboy songs, though the bulk of them were churned out by Tin Pan Alley tunesmiths, specifically for the movies. Ritter's style is poppy and stiff, but sometimes he hits the mark-- much moreso here than on his later Capitol recordings, which tend towards out-and-out corn.

Tex Ritter "Collectors Series" (Capitol Records, 1992)
A notoriously unaccomplished vocalist, Western movie matinee idol Tex Ritter came to Hollywood in the early 1940s, after over a decade working in the music business, at first on radio, and then as a recording artist for the fledgling Decca label. He had phenomenal success as a country-themed hitmaker, particularly on these tracks recorded for Capitol in the '40s, '50s and '60s. Ritter had a melodic flatness that almost made Ernest Tubb seem like a Caruso; indeed, he copied Tubb's barebones style on more than one occasion. But with the synergy of his acting and singing careers -- and the fact that he signed with the West Coast's maverick Capitol label right at its inception -- brought Ritter into the American mainstream in a way that few of his country brethren could hope to achieve. This collection has all his big hits -- including "Jingle Jangle Jingle," "Blood On The Saddle," "Deck Of Cards," classic novelty recitations like "Deck Of Cards" and "Hillbilly Heaven" (which is why I own the album), and exhaustively reveals the langor and flatness -- and the inevitable charm -- of Ritter's limited musicality. Also included is his last chart hit, from 1973(!), Gordon Sinclair's patriotic recitation, "The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)," the text of which resurfaced as an Internet hoax posting in the wake of the September, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center. All in all, this 25-song collection is as good as Tex Ritter gets!

Tex Ritter "Vintage Collection" (Capitol Records, 1996)
This set is fairly comparable, with ten fewer tracks, and a few included that were not on the Collector's Series set... Doesn't have "Deck Of Cards," though, so it's far from a definitive best-of.

Tex Ritter "High Noon" (Bear Family Records, 1992)
This collection is a single-disc best-of that rivals (some say surpasses) the Capitol collections listed above. With Bear Family's trademark sound quality and archival splendor... of course!

Tex Ritter "Blood On The Saddle" (Box Set) (Bear Family Records, 1999)
Then, for the Tex Ritter true believer, there are all of these massive, multi-disc box sets on the venerable Bear Family label... Probably more than enough Ritterology to satisfy even the most curious fan... This first volume, weighing in at four CDs, gathers all of Ritter's recordings from 1932-1947. Ride 'em, cowboy!

Tex Ritter "High Noon" (Box Set) (Bear Family Records, 2000)
Another 4-CD set...

Tex Ritter "Have I Stayed Away Too Long" (Box Set) (Bear Family Records, 2003)
Annnnndd... four more discs worth of vintage Ritter recordings. Whew! Who knew??

Tex Ritter "High Noon: 1942-1952" (ASV Living Era, 2000)

Tex Ritter "Sing, Cowboy, Sing: A Proper Introduction To Tex Ritter" (Proper Records, 2004)

Tex Ritter "America's Most Beloved Cowboy" (BACM, 2005)

Tex Ritter "Pledge Of Allegiance" (BACM, 2005)

Tex Ritter "Froggy Went A-Courtin’ & Other Children's Songs" (BACM, 2005)

Tex Ritter "Children's Songs And Stories" (Capitol Records, 1944) (78s)

Tex Ritter "Cowboy Favorites" (Capitol Records, 1946) (78s)

Tex Ritter "Songs For Children" (Capitol Records, 1948) (78s)

Tex Ritter & The Dinning Sisters "Tex Ritter & The Dinning Sisters" (Capitol Records, 1948) (78s)

Tex Ritter "Songs From The Western Screen" (Capitol Records, 1958) (LP)

Tex Ritter "Psalms" (Capitol Records, 1958-?) (LP)

Tex Ritter "Blood On The Saddle" (Capitol Records, 1960) (LP)
(Produced by Lee Gillette)

Tex Ritter "The Lincoln Hymns" (Capitol Records, 1961) (LP)

Tex Ritter "Hillbilly Heaven" (Capitol Records, 1961) (LP)
(Produced by Lee Gillette)

Tex Ritter "Stan Kenton! Tex Ritter!" (Capitol Records, 1962) (LP)

Tex Ritter "Border Affair" (Capitol Records, 1963) (LP)

Tex Ritter "Deck Of Cards" (Capitol Records, 1963)

Tex Ritter "The Friendly Voice Of Tex Ritter" (Capitol Records, 1965) (LP)

Tex Ritter & Bob Jones "Tex Ritter Sings..." (Spin-O-Rama Records, 1966) (LP)
A budget-line album with five old folk/western songs from Ritter's early years on Side One, and the flipside populated by equally generic folk songs by Bob Jones, a nebulous figure from the cheapie-label demimonde.

Tex Ritter "Just Beyond The Moon" (Capitol Records, 1967) (LP)

Tex Ritter "Sweet Land Of Liberty" (Capitol Records, 1967) (LP)

Tex Ritter "Tex Ritter's Wild West" (Capitol Records, 1968) (LP)

Tex Ritter "Bump Tiddil Dee Bum Bum!" (Capitol Records, 1968) (LP)

Tex Ritter "Chuck Wagon Days" (Capitol Records, 1969) (LP)

Tex Ritter "The Supercountrylegendary Tex Ritter" (Capitol Records, 1972) (LP)

Tex Ritter "Fall Away" (Capitol Records, 1974) (LP)

Tex Ritter "Comin' After Jinny" (Capitol Records, 1976) (LP)

• Wikipedia: Tex Ritter

• Discogs: Tex Ritter

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