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Songwriter(s) Stan Jones"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" is a cowboy-styled country/western song written in 1948 by American songwriter, film and television actor Stan Jones.The tune sounds similar to "Spancil Hill" (traditional Irish folk song by Michael Considine, Irish emigrant to the United States in the 1870s).A number of versions were crossover hits on the pop charts in 1949, the most successful being by Vaughn Monroe. The ASCAP database lists the song as "Riders in the Sky" (title code 480028324), but the title has been written as "Ghost Riders", "Ghost Riders in the Sky", and "A Cowboy Legend". Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.OverviewThe song tells a folk tale of a cowboy who has a vision of red-eyed, steel-hooved cattle thundering across the sky, being chased by the spirits of damned cowboys. One warns him that if he does not change his ways, he will be doomed to join them, forever "trying to catch the Devil's herd across these endless skies". Jones stated he had been told the story when he was 12 years old by an old cowboy friend. The story resembles the northern European mythic Wild Hunt.More than 50 performers have recorded versions of the song. Charting versions were recorded by The Outlaws, Vaughn Monroe ("Riders in the Sky" with orchestra and vocal quartet), which topped the Billboard magazine charts, by Bing Crosby (with the Ken Darby Singers), Frankie Laine, Burl Ives (two different versions), Marty Robbins, The Ramrods and Johnny Cash. Other recordings were made by Eddy Arnold, Peggy Lee (with the Jud Conlon Singers), Christopher Lee, and Spike Jones and his City Slickers. Gene Autry sang it in the 1949 movie, Riders in the Sky. Jones himself recorded it for his 1957 album Creakin' Leather. Children of Bodom, Impaled Nazarene and Die Apokalyptischen Reiter have also made covers.The melody is based on the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."1948 The original version by Stan Jones was recorded in late 1948, and composer Eden Ahbez sent the song to Burl Ives, who recorded his own version a year later.1949 Burl Ives recorded the song on February 17, 1949, and the song was released by Columbia Records as catalog No. 38445. The recording first appeared on the Billboard charts on April 22, 1949, lasting six weeks and peaking at No. 21. The version by Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra with Vaughn Monroe and The Moon Men on vocals, was recorded on March 14, 1949, and released by RCA Victor Records as catalog No. 20-3411 (in USA) and by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog No. BD 1247, HN 3014, HQ 2071, IM 1425 and GY 878. The recording first appeared on the Billboard charts on April 15, 1949, lasting 22 weeks and reaching No. 1. Billboard ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1949. The Bing Crosby version was recorded on March 22, 1949, and released by Decca Records as catalog No. 24618. The recording first appeared on the Billboard charts on May 6, 1949, lasting 6 weeks and peaking at No. 14. The Peggy Lee version was recorded on April 18, 1949, and released by Capitol Records as catalog No. 57-608. It reached No. 2 on Billboard's Most Played By Disc Jockeys listing without appearing in the retail Top 30. Spike Jones recorded the song on May 24, 1949, and it was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog No. 20-3741. Copies of the original release, containing lyrics ridiculing RCA stockholder Vaughn Monroe, are rare. The recording parodies the original Monroe recording, injecting much of Jones' quintessential humor along the way.1950s In 1953 Goldtown Ghost Riders was a film starring Gene Autry. He sang the song "Ghost Riders in the Sky". It was the opening track of Scatman Crothers' 1956 album, Rock 'n' roll with Scat Man. Theodore Bikel sang a humorous version of the song in his An Actor's Holiday album (1956).Gene Autry also sang the sing for the first time in a 1950 film" Beyond the Purple Hills" which was quickly edited to include Autry singing the song after a chance meeting with Stan Jones in which he bought the rights to the song.1960s The song was recorded by the Norman Luboff Choir and released on their 1960 album, Songs of the Cowboy. Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra released an instrumental version in 1961, featuring Neil Levang on guitar, which spent 3 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching No. 87. Curtis Lance (Dick Jensen) and the Uniques recorded an instrumental version in 1961. The Brothers Four recorded a driven, up-tempo version. with edited lyrics and truncated to three stanzas, for their third LP, B.M.O.C.: Best Music On/Off Campus for Columbia Records in 1961. The Sons of the Pioneers included the song on their album Cool Water put out by RCA Records in 1961 under the name "Riders in the Sky". A twangy guitar instrumental version by The Ramrods — featuring the sounds of mooing cattle, bronco cheers, and sound of cracking whips — was recorded in late 1960 and it made the Billboard Top 30 in 1961, as well as the UK Top 10. This was covered by UK band The Scorpions (not the German rock band) on the "Parlophone" Label. The Ventures made a surf rock cover of the song in 1961. A live performance of the tune, featuring surf rock band The Original Surfaris appeared in the 1962 compilation album titled Surf's Up! At Banzai Pipeline. The performance incorporates the riff from the Jørgen Ingmann hit, "Apache". Bob James, recording as The Bob James Trio, included it as the last track on his very first album Bold Conceptions released in 1962. The Spotnicks, a Swedish instrumental rock band, covered this song on their 1962 album, The Spotnicks in London, Out-a space. Frankie Laine recorded the song on his 1963 album, Wanderlust. Frank Ifield recorded the song for his 1963 U.K. album, Born Free (Columbia 33SX 1534). Dick Dale recorded a surf-rock version for his second album, King of the Surf Guitar, released in 1963. Californian singer Peter Tevis recorded a version with orchestral and choral arrangements by Ennio Morricone for the 1965 album, Un pugno di...West. Baja Marimba Band recorded this song on the album, Watch Out, in 1966. Tom Jones recorded this song opening the album, Green, Green Grass of Home, in 1967. Takeshi Terauchi & Bunnys recorded an instrumental version of this song on their 1967 album, The World Is Waiting For Terry. Davie Allan and the Arrows recorded two versions, one on the 1967 Blues' Theme album (Tower Records) and the other on the 2008 Moving Right Along album (Spinout Records). Jimmy Wakely, a cowboy singer, recorded the song on Shasta Records. Burl Ives made a second version of this song for his 1969 album Got the World by the Tail.1970s Elvis Presley recorded it in June 1970 at MGM's soundstage in Culver City, California. Susan Christie released a version on her 1970 album, Paint a Lady. Roy Clark recorded an instrumental version for his 1973 album Roy Clark/Superpicker, an album of all instrumentals. The song reached No. 27 on the Hot Country Singles chart that year. Former REO Speedwagon guitarist Gary Richrath quoted the melody of the song during his unaccompanied guitar solo on the band's 1977 live album, Live: You Get What You Play For. Riders in the Sky recorded this song for their debut album, Three on the Trail, in 1979 and on several of subsequent albums. Johnny Cash made a recording of the song in 1979 for his album, Silver, which was faithful to the original, and peaked at No.2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. Johnny Cash also performs the song in his guest appearance on The Muppet Show in 1980.1980sCountry singer and rodeo cowboy Chris LeDoux recorded a version of the song for his 1980 album Old Cowboy Heroes. LeDoux's version swaps the placements of "yippie yi yay" and "yippie yi oh", and refers to the cowboy instead as a "cowpoke".A version by The Shadows reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart in 1980. This version was a semitone higher than the original.Australian band, the Fabulaires from Adelaide did a cover version on their Apocalypso 12" E.P. circa 1980.Rock band Outlaws made a recording on their 1980 album Ghost Riders that left out the last verse. They also released a live version of the song, recorded in 1982 at the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show, which appeared on Greatest Hits of The Outlaws... High Tides Forever.Dean "Red Elvis" Reed recorded the song on the album Country in 1982 in East Germany and Czechoslovakia.A Sesame Street version titled "The Dirtiest Town In The West" with altered lyrics first aired in 1982.Vic Damone recorded a version on his 1982 album Over The Rainbow.Psychobilly band King Kurt released a version in 1983 on their album Ooh Wallah Wallah.The Danish cowpunk band Disneyland After Dark (later just D-A-D) recorded the song "Riding With Sue" in 1986 for their album Call of the Wild where the riffs