Empty Saddles (in the Old Corral)

"Empty Saddles (in the Old Corral)" is a classic American cowboy song written by Billy Hill. Hill based the song on a poem by J. Keirn Brennan grieving for lost companions.^[1] The song became widely known to the public in July 1936, when Bing Crosby sang it with deep emotion in the Paramount musical Rhythm on the Range,^[2] and his Decca recording of it, made on July 14, 1936, with Victor Young and His Orchestra,^[3] reached the Top 10 that September.^[4]

Record label for Bing Crosby's 1936 Decca recording of "Empty Saddles"

Crosby's recording of this and other "country" songs gave them a legitimacy by showing that they could appeal to pop sophisticates as well as rural audiences. He performed them with integrity and did not "look down his nose" at the music.^[5]

"Empty Saddles" was later recorded by many artists, including the Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Bond, and Sons of the San Joaquin.^[2] Particularly notable recordings were by Roy Rogers (1947), Burl Ives (1961), Dean Martin (1966), and Jimmie Rodgers (1983).^[4]

Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.^[6]