Woodward Maurice “Tex” Ritter (1905-1974) was the epitome of the “singing cowboy”, his fame only equalled by Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. With a better voice than either, his distinctive Texan tones became “The Voice of the Western”, and he was the star of some 60 cowboy films between 1936 and 1945. As a recording artist he was among the top eight most successful country acts of the 40s. Retrospective’s survey of his 28 finest includes 6 vintage tracks from his early career (Sing, Cowboy, Sing; I Got Spurs That Jingle, Jangle, Jingle) before he burst into the country charts in 1944 with a long string of big hits such as I’m Wastin’ My Tears on You, You Two-Timed Me Once Too Often and You Will Have to Pay – all no.1s. And then of course along came our title track High Noon, and Tex’s eternal fame was assured. Here every track conjures up visions of the wide-open prairie (in black and white of course), as vividly as if you were seated in the one-and-sixpenny seats at the Saturday morning pictures.