Search - Claude King :: Cowboy in the White House

A mistake. Don't buy it.

07/12/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Claude King was a great country singer of the 1950's to 1970's and had a wonderful, expressive voice. I bought his albums through the years and there is also a great boxed set put out by Bear Family Records in Germany collecting his best material.
This CD, however, is newly recorded and contains a few new songs and some remakes of classics which should not have been released. His voice isn't what it once was, which is the most polite way of describing this embarrassing CD.
Supposedly the motivation was the creation of a new song, "Cowboy in the White House," which is referencing George W. Bush. Patriotism is one thing and politics another, but calling George Bush a cowboy is ridiculous. I've never heard of President Bush making a livelihood in the cattle industry, herding cattle, taking part in a roundup, branding, vaccinating or whatever....the man is from Texas and has a "ranch" he lived on, but that's not his livelihood and it's beyond imagination that anyone could call him a "cowboy." So, is the song supposed to be a joke? No. It's a catchy tune, it's patriotic and could be fun to sing, but the basis for the title and thus the song itself has no foundation in reality.
Singers, actors, etc. really ought to stay out of getting mixed up in advocating political beliefs and systems to the public. Jane Fonda, Warren Beatty, Jerry Springer, Charlton Heston, etc. permanently tainted their images by their political actions and alienated their fan base in doing so. I expected Claude King to be conservative, but this is release is just sad.
Apart from the title song, the rest of the songs are terrible remakes and Mr. King's voice can't hit notes he once was able to handle well.
Don't buy this CD, it's a waste of money and saddening."