Cowboy Songs III – Rhymes of the Renegades is the eighteenth album by American singer-songwriter Michael Martin Murphey and his third album of cowboy songs. The album is devoted to cowboy folklore and true tales of the West and focuses on real-life outlaws, from Jesse James to Billy The Kid to Belle Starr. Murphey performs these songs "with a scholar's eye and a fan's heart."[2][3]

Cowboy Songs III
Studio album by Michael Martin Murphey
Released	October 12, 1993
Recorded	Nightingale Recording Studio The Reflections, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre	Country, cowboy music
Length	73:30
Label	Warner Bros. Records
Producer	Joey Miskulin Michael Martin Murphey
Michael Martin Murphey chronology
Cowboy Christmas: Cowboy Songs II (1991) Cowboy Songs III (1993) Sagebrush Symphony (1995)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Track listing

1. "Big Iron" (with Marty Robbins) (Robbins) – 4:09
2. "Rhymes of the Renegades" (Murphey) – 4:35
3. "Riders in the Sky" (Jones) – 3:28
4. "El Paso" (Robbins) – 4:52
5. "Sonora's Death Row" (Farrell) – 4:30
6. "Ballad of Billy the Kid" – 4:03
7. "Billy Gray" (with Debbie Nims) (Blake) – 4:10
8. "Roses and Thorns" (with Ryan Murphey) (Murphey) – 4:18
9. "Strawberry Roan" (with Chris LeDoux) (Fletcher) – 3:44
10. "The Wild West Is Gonna Get Wilder" (Murphey) – 4:28
11. "The Ballad of Jesse James" – 4:18
12. "Frank James' Farewell" (with Hal Ketchum) (Burr, Ketchum) – 3:41
13. "Cole Younger" (with Hal Ketchum) (Traditional) – 3:57
14. "Belle Star" (with Bill Miller) (Murphey) – 6:02
15. "Queen of Heartaches" (Murphey, Rains) – 4:23
16. "Sam Bass" (Traditional) – 4:51
17. "Birmingham Jail" – 4:52[2][3]

Credits

Music

• Michael Martin Murphey – vocals, producer, liner notes
• Marty Robbins – vocals
• Debbie Nims – vocals
• Hal Ketchum – vocals
• Chris LeDoux – vocals
• Bill Miller – vocals
• Sam D. Bass – author
• Pat Flynn – acoustic guitar
• Chris Leuzinger – 6-string bass, 12-string guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass
• Mark Casstevens – acoustic guitar, harmonica, jaw harp
• John McEuen – banjo
• David Coe – mandolin
• Sonny Garrish – dobro, steel guitar
• Alisa Jones Wall – hammer dulcimer
• Joey Miskulin – accordion, piano, producer
• Dennis Burnside – piano, synthesizer
• David Hoffner – synthesizer
• Rob Hajacos – fiddle
• Sam Bush – fiddle, mandolin
• Stuart Duncan – fiddle, mandolin
• George Tidwell – trumpet
• Ryan Murphey – background vocals
• Dennis Wilson – background vocals
• Roy M. "Junior" Husky – acoustic and electric bass
• Craig Nelson – acoustic and electric bass
• Roy Huskey, Jr. – acoustic and electric bass
• Lonnie Wilson – drums, percussion
• Tommy Wells – drums, percussion
• Sam Bacco – Percussion

Production

• Toby Seay – engineer
• Gary Paczosa – engineer
• Ed Simonton – engineer, assistant engineer
• John Kunz – assistant, assistant engineer
• Marshall Morgan – mixing
• Denny Purcell – mastering
• Patricia Miskulin – production coordination
• Laura LiPuma – art direction
• William Matthews – cover design
• Prof. Thomas Dimsdale – liner notes
• Garrett Rittenberry – design
• David Michael Kennedy – photography
• Willie Matthews – paintings[2][3]

References

External links

• Michael Martin Murphey's official website