Murphey has always been a cowboy...his second solo album was titled based on his classic song "Cosmic Cowboy." But early in his career his cosmic cowboy persona was a modernizing of the cowboy myth, a guy as he said could work cattle in the day and discuss philosophy in the night. This album was a return to his western roots, a tribute to the cowboy myth. And a very effective tribute it is. A mix of new songs celebrating the cowboy lifestyle and traditional cowboy songs, the album is very effective and ..
Cowboy songs existed before country music and became popular with a wider public in the thirties and forties because of their use in western movies. Marty Robbins and others continued to record them, but they gradually faded into obscurity. With this album, Michael revived the old songs and renewed public interest in them.
