Cowboy

This cowboy completes part one of today's series.  He appeared in an 

otherwise uninspiring photo spread near the back of the magazine.

 

Dick Dene

As many of you know, I have a sharp disdain for cowboy photos lacking at least some level of authenticity.  Chuck Renslow of Kris was a great photographer, but his cowboy themed work was nothing less than ridiculous, featuring BB guns, toy store hats, and a Shetland pony.  Bruce of LA generally did much better, and our last favorite model is one of his shots of Dick Dene.  Mr. Dene might not have been a real cowboy, but he certainly knew how to look like one.

 

Cowboy

Pat Rocco shot a lot of photos of naked men in iconic Los Angeles locations.  Many of those were published as a photo essay called I Love LA, but I'm not sure if this cowboy was one of those.

 

On the fence

I like this photo, but couldn't Jim French have acquired some real cowboy boots instead of those gay clone boots?  The hat wasn't exactly current for the time, but it's at least passable.

 

Barn

This was taken in a barn or hayloft during one of Jim French's cowboy shoots.

 

Chuck Gatlin

I really like this photo of Chuck Gatlin.

He could pass for a real cowboy.

 

Pgs. 8-9

Cowboy I.

 

Pgs. 10-11

Cowboy II.

 

12-13

If you pay attention to such matters, you might have noticed that Jim French sometimes used the same chaps for his leather/biker photos and for his cowboy shots.  They are really two quite different types, but I'll give Mr. French a pass on authenticity because his images are so hot.

 

Chuck Gatlin

Take it from someone who spent a significant part of his youth doing various things in hay barns,  this is not even remotely comfortable.  It's prickly, itchy, and prone to insect issues.  I hope Chuck Gatlin got paid well and had a fluffer standing by to help brush off the hay and pick off the bugs.

 

Ten from Playgirl

My viewers never seem to get tired of looking at classic Playgirl models, so it's time for another series.  We start the show with Biff Manard from a May, 1975 cowboy themed photo shoot.

 

Cowboy Tex

Tex Murdock freely admitted to his nickname being made up and even publicly said he'd never been south of Connecticut before he started modeling.  Despite all that, he did a very effective job at portraying a cowboy, and I would know.  Talent and good looks will do that.

 

Cowboy

This 1968 man in a cowboy hat might have been borrowed from an American magazine by FKK.

On the other hand, some pretty authentic cowboy re-enactors were popping up in German then.

 

Westerns

Despite his military background and athletic prowess, George O'Brien is probably remembered best for his westerns.  He used his own horse, Mike, shown above, and even did some of his own stunts.  (Mike got his own fan mail, believe it or not.)  Mr. O'Brien continued to be featured in westerns into his 50's, with director John Ford often in charge.  Below, he is in Fort Apache at age 50.

 

Western

This is from a group of western themed photos of Tex Murdock that I found on line.  

Despite his nickname, he admitted to never having been south of Connecticut before 

he began modeling.  We'll see him with his horse from this photo shoot later today.

 

Erwin E. Smith - A Lost World of Cowboys

Erwin Evans Smith was born in Honey Grove, Texas in 1886, but his soon widowed mother remarried and moved him to Bonham, Texas as a small child.  Bonham was the home town of legendary cattleman John Chisum, but real ranch country was about a hundred miles west of there.  Two things were noticed about young Erwin early on.  He was artistic, taking up drawing at age five and photography at age 12, and he was obsessed with becoming a cowboy.  He convinced his stepfather to send him to work on ranches during summer breaks from school.  This continued after he went away to art school in Chicago and Boston, and he became both a competent cowboy and photographer.  Knowing the days of real traditional cowboys were numbered, he made it his business to photograph the lives of the men he worked and lived with.  The fact that he was one of them made his 1908-1912 work all the more poingnant and meaningful.  Today is the first of several series of posts I will be doing featuring his photos.  Below, Mr. Smith on his horse:

I feel a personal connection to Erwin Smith's work for two reasons.  First, I grew up in the remnants of the culture he so beautifully chronicled, and second, he actually photographed at least one blood relative.  My grandmother knew I was gay long before I did and told me when I was about 12 that if I wanted to be happy, I would get an education and get out of West Texas.  I took her advice and don't regret it, but there is a part of me that is still a cowboy.

 

Rare solo

Solo cowboys without horses are rare in Erwin Smith's work,

making an already good photo even more special.

 

Man and Horse

The man and the horse here are both magnificent.

 

Staying warm

Winters in West Texas can be bitterly cold, so this scene is familiar to me.  We had wood stoves 

to heat the ranch houses until I was about 10 when my grandfather installed propane tanks.

There being few trees, the wood was brought by rail from East Texas every fall.

 

Waiting for lunch

These men appear to be sitting on their bedrolls waiting for lunch which is at left.

As a teenager, I went on trail rides much like this, but there was always some

uncle or friend's dad following with a pickup truck just in case.  The chuck

wagon we used was borrowed from another ranch, ours being long gone.