Tex Ritter, the son of James Everett Ritter and Martha Elizabeth Matthews grew up on his family's farm in Panola County and attended grade school in Carthage. He then attended South Park High School in Beaumont. After graduating with honors, he entered the University of Texas at Austin; he studied pre-law, majoring in government, political science and economics.
One of the early pioneers of country music, Ritter soon became interested in show business. In 1928, he sang on KPRC Radio in Houston, a thirty-minute show featuring cowboy songs. In that same year, he moved to New York City and quickly landed a job in the men's chorus of the Broadway show The New Moon (1928).
He appeared as "The Cowboy" in the Broadway production Green Grow the Lilacs (1930), which was the basis for the later musical Oklahoma!. He also played the part of Sagebrush Charlie in The Round Up (1932) and Mother Lode (1934).
Ritter also worked on various radio programs. In 1932, he starred on the WOR Radio show The Lone Star Rangers, which was New York's first broadcast western. He sang songs and told tales of the Old West. Ritter wrote and starred in Cowboy Tom's Roundup on WINS Radio in New York in 1933. This daily children's cowboy radio program aired over three stations on the East Coast for three years. These shows marked the beginning of Ritter's popularity in radio, which paved the way for his upcoming singing career. He also performed on the radio show WHN Barndance and sang on NBC Radio.
He appeared in several radio dramas, including CBS's Bobby Benson's Adventures and Death Valley Days.
Ritter began recording for American Record Company (Columbia Records) in 1933. His first released recording was "Goodbye Ole Paint." He also recorded "Rye Whiskey" for that label. In 1935, he signed with Decca Records, where he recorded his first original recordings, "Sam Hall" and "Get Along Little Dogie."
In 1936, he moved to Los Angeles, California. His motion picture debut was in Song Of The Gringo (1936) for Grand National Pictures. He starred in twelve movies for Grand National, "B" grade Westerns, which included Headin' For The Rio Grande (1936), and Trouble In Texas (1937) co-starring Rita Hayworth (then known as Rita Cansino).
After starring in Utah Trail (1938), Ritter left the financially troubled Grand National. Between 1938 and 1945, he starred in around forty "singing cowboy" movies, mostly to critical scorn.
Ritter made four movies with actress Dorothy Fay at Monogram Pictures: Song of the Buckaroo (1938), Sundown on the Prairie (1939), Rollin' Westward (1939) and Rainbow Over the Range (1940).
He recorded a total of twenty-nine songs for Decca, the last being in 1939 in Los Angeles as part of Tex Ritter and His Texans.
Tex helped start United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc, after his son, Thomas, was found to have cerebral palsy. Tex, Thomas, and John spent a great deal of time raising money and public awareness to help others with cerebral palsy.
Ritter was the first artist signed with the newly-formed Capitol Records as well as being their first Western singer. His first recording session was on June 11, 1942. His music recording career began what was his most successful period.
He achieved significant success with "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle," and in 1944, he scored another hit with "I'm Wastin' My Tears On You," which hit #1 on the country charts and #11 on the Pop charts. "There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder" was a country charts #2 and Pop charts #21. In 1945, he had the #1, #2 and #3 songs on Billboard's "Most Played Jukebox Folk Records" poll, a first in the industry. Between 1945 and 1946, he registered seven consecutive Top 5 hits, including "You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often," a country #1 written by Jenny Lou Carson, which spent eleven weeks on the charts. In 1948, "Rye Whiskey" and his cover of "Deck Of Cards" both made the Top 10 and "Pecos Bill" reached #15. In 1950, "Daddy's Last Letter (Private First Class John H. McCormick)" also became a hit.
In 1952, Ritter recorded the movie title-track song "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin')", which became a hit. He sang "High Noon" at the first Academy Awards ceremony to be televised in 1953, and he recorded the song a number of times. It received an Oscar for Best Song that year.[1]
Ritter first toured Europe in 1952. In 1953, he began performing on Town Hall Party on radio and television in Los Angeles. He formed Vidor Publications, Inc., a music publishing firm, with Johnny Bond, in 1955. "Remember the Alamo" was the first song in the catalog.
In 1957, he released his first LP album, Songs From the Western Screen. He starred in his own television music series, Ranch Party, televised for four years, starting in 1959.
Even after the peak of his performing career, Ritter would be recognized for his contributions to country and western music and for his artistic versatility. He became one of the founding members of the Country Music Association in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1964, he became the fifth person and first singing cowboy to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He moved to Nashville in 1965 and began working for WSM Radio and the Grand Ole Opry. He also received a lifetime membership to the Opry. His family remained in California temporarily so that son John could finish high school there. For a time, Dorothy was an official greeter at the Opry. During this period, Ritter co-hosted a late night radio program with famed country disc jockey Ralph Emery.
In 1970, Ritter surprised many people by entering the Republican primary for United States Senate. Despite high name recognition, he lost overwhelmingly to Chattanooga, Tennessee Congressman Bill Brock, who then went on to win the general election.
Fool's Paradise
Tex Ritter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can't hold the teardrops from my eyes
For at sundown I will lay a-dyin'
At the door of the Fool's Paradise
Rode into this cattle town this mornin'
Left my burro to check the market price
And I walked into the nearest barroom
There the crowd was gay and girls were dancin'
And the men were playin' cards and dice
So I stepped up to the bar to join them
What a grand place this Fool's Paradise
It was then I showed to them your picture
I passed it around once or twice
Then a man insulted your sweet honour
At the bar of the Fool's Paradise
So I slapped his face and I told him, I says
"You eat them words Mister, or draw, that's my advice"
And he said, "Well, somebody might get hurt inside
But I'll be glad to meet you in the street at sundown
At sundown in front of the Fool's Paradise"
So goodbye my darlin', may God bless you
I go to make this sacrifice
And if ever you visit old Dodge City
Remember the Fool's Paradise
The lyrics of Tex Ritter's song "Fool's Paradise" is a story of a man who finds himself in a precarious situation in a cattle town. He is writing a letter to his lover, expressing his emotions and the circumstances that led to his likely death. The man rode into town and left his burro to check the market price while he walked into a nearby bar called the Fool's Paradise. The place was full of life, and the men and women were busy dancing, playing cards, and dice.
However, trouble arises when he shows a picture of his lover to the people in the bar, and one man insults her honor. This situation creates a conflict, and the man challenges the offender to a duel at sundown in front of the Fool's Paradise. He is well aware that this decision is likely to lead to his death since the duel is often deadly. Nonetheless, he accepts his fate and asks God to bless his lover and tells her to remember the Fool's Paradise if she ever visits old Dodge City.
The song "Fool's Paradise" tells a story of the Wild West, where people lived on the edge and conflicts were common. The lyrics are poetic and evoke deep emotions, such as fear, sadness, love, and sacrifice. It also highlights the importance of honor and reputation in the culture of that period. In summary, the song is a classic tale of a Wild West showdown that ends tragically but in high honor.
Line by Line Meaning
As I write this letter to you darlin', I can't hold the teardrops from my eyes
As I sit down to write this letter to you, my love, tears stream down my face because I know that by sundown tonight, I will be dead.
For at sundown I will lay a-dyin', At the door of the Fool's Paradise
By the time the sun sets tonight, I will be lying lifeless just outside of the Fool's Paradise.
Rode into this cattle town this mornin', Left my burro to check the market price
This morning I arrived in this town known for its livestock trade and left my donkey to check the market prices.
And I walked into the nearest barroom, They call it the Fool's Paradise
I decided to walk into the nearest bar, which the locals call the Fool's Paradise.
There the crowd was gay and girls were dancin', And the men were playin' cards and dice
Inside, I found a lively atmosphere with women dancing and men gambling on cards and dice.
So I stepped up to the bar to join them, What a grand place this Fool's Paradise
I decided to join in on the merriment, thinking what a great place this Fool's Paradise was.
It was then I showed to them your picture, I passed it around once or twice
While there, I showed everyone a picture of you and passed it around for them to see.
Then a man insulted your sweet honour, At the bar of the Fool's Paradise
But then, a man insulted your good name while we were standing at the bar in the Fool's Paradise.
So I slapped his face and I told him, I says, "You eat them words Mister, or draw, that's my advice"
Without thinking, I slapped him across the face and gave him an ultimatum to either take back his words or prepare to face me in a duel.
And he said, "Well, somebody might get hurt inside. But I'll be glad to meet you in the street at sundown
But he warned that someone could get hurt if we fought inside the bar and agreed that we would have to settle things by fighting outside at sundown.
At sundown in front of the Fool's Paradise"
We agreed to meet at sundown outside the Fool's Paradise to settle our differences.
So goodbye my darlin', may God bless you, I go to make this sacrifice
So this is goodbye, my love. I hope God blesses you because I am off to make the ultimate sacrifice.
And if ever you visit old Dodge City, Remember the Fool's Paradise
And if you ever visit Old Dodge City, remember the Fool's Paradise, the place where I met my untimely demise.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DANNY ELFMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tulika Tayshete
on Rye Whiskey
my my .. simply loved it