We all know that beforeA Fistful of DollarslaunchedClint Eastwoodinto the public eye as a bankable Western movie star, the television programRawhidefirst gave Eastwood his due. In the series, he played ramrod Rowdy Yates, who became the trail boss in the final season afterEric Fleming’s Gil Favor was written out. Nowadays, Eastwood is the man most closely associated with the series, and for good reason. But there’s another cause for celebrating Eastwood’s 217 credited appearances onRawhide.As it turns out, the long-running horse opera was also responsible for launching the star’s musical career.
‘Rawhide’ Featured Clint Eastwood As a Singing Cowboy
ThroughoutRawhidehistory,Eastwood’s Rowdy Yatespicked up a guitar once or twice while on the open trail. It wasn’t an uncommon bit to see on the Western, but in Season 4, audiences saw a new side to the star’s musical talents. In the episode “The Pitchwagon,“Eastwood took television by storm when he performed a cover of “Beyond the Sun.“The audience in the episode was surprised to hear Rowdy’s tune, and so were viewers. “Thus Clint launched his musical career,” wrotePatrick McGilliganof the event in his biography,Clint: The Life and Legend. In 1959, Eastwood became a singing cowboy by recording his first record,Cowboy Favorites, after signing a deal with Cameo Records.
In conjunction with his popularity on theRawhideprogram,Eastwood’s debut album was reissued a few years later asRawhide’s Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites, complete with newRawhide-inspired singles such as “Rowdy” and “For All We Know.” Ironically,the classic “Rawhide” theme, performed in every episode byFrankie Laine, was noticeably absent from the lineup. Eastwood and Laine’s material would eventually be compiled for a dual album calledThe Singing Cowboysin 2014. During the television off-season, Eastwood and co-starPaul Brinegar, who played Wishbone (a role he reprised many years later), traveled to perform at rodeos, state fairs, and other festivals across the country, where they made as much as $15,000 per performance. The duo were sometimes joined by their otherRawhideco-star,Sheb Wooley, who played Pete Nolan.
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McGillian writes in his Eastwood biography, “People who have extolled Clint’s predilection for jazz usually ignore the less adventurous half of his split musical personality, as a country-and-western enthusiast.” Of course, longtime fans of the horse opera may not know of Eastwood’s particular love for jazz, a style of music that highly influenced him in his youth (his son,Kyle Eastwood, is a popular jazz musician himself). But as far as his career was concerned, Eastwood blended all his musical loves. The movie star performed musically in films such asA Fistful of Dollars,The Beguiled,Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil, and at the end credits ofGran Torino. Likewise, he performed in some musical Western productions, such as1969’sPaint Your Wagonand1982’sHonkytonk Man.
Over the years,Eastwood composed the scores formany of his own motion pictures, with some of the most notable soundtracks beingMystic River,Million Dollar Baby,Flags of Our Fathers, andJ. Edgar. He contributed certain tracks to movies likeUnforgiven,American Sniper, andAbsolute Power. In 1997,Eastwood married his love of the screenwith his love of the score for a live performance in New York City, eventually collected asEastwood After Hours: Live at Carnegie Hall. The concert pulled material from many of Eastwood’s compositions, as well as projects he’d headlined in the past (such asThe Good, the Bad and the Uglyand evenRawhide).
While Clint Eastwood is certainly best known as an impressive Western star and an exceptional director of motion pictures, his lesser-known music career (though not as extensive as his other artistic endeavors) is one we can trace all the way back to his initial on-screen performance.
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Gil Favor is trail boss of a continuous cattle drive. He is assisted by Rowdy Yates. The crew runs into characters and adventures along the way.
