Jack Thorp's Songs of the Cowboys

               In 1908, Nathan H. "Jack" Thorp published the very first book of cowboy songs.  The slim paperback book contained 23 songs and poems, the

           hard-earned results of Thorp's collecting efforts -- usually by horseback -- in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.  The

           book also contained some original compositions by Thorp, the most famous being "Little Joe, the Wrangler," a revered classic of authentic range

           songs. Today, Thorp's little book, which he paid a printer at Estancia, New Mexico, six cents a copy for 2,000 copies, fetches over $2000.00 in

           the rare book market.  Thorp produced a greatly expanded second edition in 1921, published by Houghton Mifflin Company of New York.  They

           both carried the title Songs of the Cowboys.

           As a tribute to Jack Thorp's contributions to cowboy music and New Mexico history and culture, Mark is working with the Palace Print Shop of

           the Museum of New Mexico to produce a special book and CD of 17 selected songs and poems collected and written by Thorp.  One of the

           working printing presses in the Palace Print Shop of the Museum of New Mexico is an 1883 Chandler & Price platen press manufactured in

           Cleveland, Ohio.  Amazingly enough, this very same press was originally a fixture in P. A. Speckmann's News Print Shop in Estancia, New Mex-

           ico, and according to Curator of the Press Tom Leech, there is a good chance that this press is the one that printed Jack Thorp's first cowboy

           songbook in 1908.

           The new book/CD, titled Jack Thorp's Songs of the Cowboys, is now available (click here to order).  A special limited edition (no more than

           150 copies) will be issued next year on the 100th anniversary of the first publication of Songs of the Cowboys.  The cover of this special edition

           will be constructed of handmade paper from blue denim cloth, and the endpapers will incorporate New Mexico buffalo grass.  The book will

           feature several spectacular illustrations by renowned New Mexico cowboy artist Ron Kil.   Mark has written a scholarly introduction to the book,

           and he performed several songs and poems for the CD.  Music historian Rex Rideout added his musical talents to the CD as well, which is an

           authentic re-creation of these historic ballads using vintage instruments.

           For more information on the limited edition printing of Jack Thorp's Songs of the Cowboys, and centennial activities planned at the Palace of the

          Governors, contact Tom Leech, Palace of the Governors, Museum of New Mexico, at 505-476-5096; tleech@mnm.state.nm.us.

                                                                                               OTHER PROJECTS

      THE POWER OF MUSIC

  As an historian of American popular music, Mark has been an avid collector of historic photographs of American musicians with their musical

            instruments.  A selection of these fascinating and important images -- gathered over a period of 25 years -- will be the subject of a travelling

            exhibition curated by Mark and produced by the professional exhibition firm of Smith Kramer in Kansas City.  The exhibit, titled "The Power

            of Music: Photographic Portraits of Americans and their Musical Instruments, 1860-1915," will begin touring U.S. museums and historic

            sites in late 2007.  For more information, or to book the exhibit, go to the Smith Kramer website here.