Ride for the Brand

The Poetry and Music of Red Steagall, including original artwork by members of the Cowboy Artists of America plus hand written lead sheets of Steagall's music.

Editor and foreward, Joyce Roach

Reviews:

This book gives you a chance to read the words of all those Red Steagall masterpieces performed on his CD's.
It shows the passion he has for the cowboy way of life that is promonant in his poems and songs.

By N. J. Carmichael

This book of poetry and songs tells wonderful, heart-warming stories of a day gone by. Many of them are very uplifting. Many are humorous. We will keep this book and pass it down through our family. The poems are becoming a part of us.

By Elizabeth Davis

Would a cowboy give up his life to save his horse? What happens to a cowpuncher's things when he dies? Is there still a work ethic that keeps one loyal to their employer? Those are just a few of the questions and answers you find in Red Steagall's book, "Ride For the Brand". Red is the cowboy poet of Texas that leaves you with a warm place in your heart and a feeling that it's great to be an American but especially one from West Texas. Most of the poems in "Ride For the Brand" are also available on Red's CDs and Tapes but if you want to know the exact words in the songs this book is essential.

There's a wide assortment of poems including those about faith and values but my favorite is, "The Wagon Tongue". It wasn't until reading this poem that I learned that on early cattle drives north to the railheads the cook would always point the cook wagon tongue toward the North Star in the evening so the men would know which way to start in the morning. That's because the North Star and the Sun were the only means of telling directions on the flat prairies of Texas.

This is one of my treasured books and if you believe in a life of faith, value, and hard work ethic I think it will become one of yours.

By Howard L. Dixon