Red Steagall
Encyclopedia
Russell Steagall (born December 22, 1938) is a multitalented showbusiness personality whose career has covered a period of 35 years and has spanned the globe. He has performed for heads of state, including a special party for President Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 at the White House in 1983, and has completed three overseas tours for the United States Information Agency
United States Information Agency
The United States Information Agency , which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the newly created Broadcasting Board of Governors, and its exchange and non-broadcasting information functions were...

 to the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

, the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...

, and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

.

Early life and day jobs

Steagall was born Russell Steagall in Gainesville, Texas
Gainesville, Texas
Gainesville is a city in and the county seat of Cooke County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,538 at the 2000 census.-History:...

, on December 22, 1938. He became a bull rider at rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...

s while he was still a teenager, but at the age of 15, he was stricken with polio. He took up the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 and the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

 as physical therapy
Physical therapy
Physical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...

 to recover the strength
Physical strength
Physical strength is the ability of a person or animal to exert force on physical objects using muscles. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training.-Overview:...

 and dexterity of his arms and hands. Steagall entered a career in agricultural chemistry
Agricultural chemistry
Agricultural chemistry is the study of both chemistry and biochemistry which are important in agricultural production, the processing of raw products into foods and beverages, and in environmental monitoring and remediation...

 after graduating from West Texas State University with a degree in animal science
Animal science
Animal Science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of mankind". Historically, the animals studied were farm animals, including livestock and horses, but courses available now look at a far broader area to include companion animals, for example dogs, cats and...

 and agronomy
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...

. He then spent eight years as a music industry executive in Hollywood, California and has spent the last forty years as a recording artist, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 and motion picture personality. He currently maintains offices outside of Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

, where, in addition to his entertainment activities, he is involved in the production of motion pictures and television show
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

s.

Television and radio personality

Steagall made numerous appearances on syndicated television shows such as Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...

 and Nashville on the Road. He also spent four years as host of the national televised National Finals Rodeo
National Finals Rodeo
The National Finals Rodeo, organized by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, is the premier championship rodeo event in the United States. Wrangler Jeans is the title sponsor for the 10-day event, commonly just called the National Finals or NFR, which is also sometimes referred to as the...

, was host of the Winston Pro Tour on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 for the 1985 season and co-hosted the College National Finals Rodeo
College National Finals Rodeo
The College National Finals Rodeo is held every June. Since 2001 the CNFR has been hosted in Casper, WY at the Casper Events Center.. The CNFR is an event where men and women involved in Rodeo come to compete in order to obtain the honor of national champion in their event...

 for the Freedom Sports Network from 1988 through 1991. He was also the host of Western Theater on America One Television.

Steagall currently hosts a one-hour syndicated radio show, Cowboy Corner, on 170 stations in 43 states. Cowboy Corner celebrates the lifestyle of the American West through the poems, song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

s and stories of the American cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...

.
In 2010, "In the Bunkhouse with Red Steagall" began airing on the RFD-TV network. His downhome, friendly manner and considerable musical talents make him a favorite of rural America.

Motion pictures

Steagall had a major role in the motion picture, Benji the Hunted
Benji the Hunted
Benji the Hunted is a 1987 children's film about a dog trying to survive in the wilderness. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures. This was the last Benji movie to star Benjean in the title role.-Plot:...

, which was released in the summer of 1987. He also appeared in the motion pictures Dark Before Dawn and Abilene. He produced the motion picture Big Bad John
Big Bad John (film)
Big Bad John is a 1990 film directed by Burt Kennedy. It stars Ned Beatty and Jimmy Dean.-Cast:*Ned Beatty as Charlie*Jimmy Dean as Cletus Morgan*Jack Elam as Jake*Doug English as Big Bad John Tyler*Bo Hopkins as Lester...

, starring Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad...

, Jack Elam
Jack Elam
William Scott "Jack" Elam was an American film actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies .-Early life:...

, Ned Beatty
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....

 and Bo Hopkins
Bo Hopkins
Bo Hopkins is an American actor.-Career:Hopkins has appeared in more than one hundred film and television roles in a career of more than forty years, including The Bridge at Remagen, The Wild Bunch, The Getaway, American Graffiti, White Lightning, Radioland Murders, The Killer Elite, Midnight...

, and directed by Burt Kennedy
Burt Kennedy
Burt Kennedy was an American screenwriter and director known for mainly directing film Westerns.After World War II service in the 1st Cavalry Division, Muskegon, Michigan-born Kennedy found work writing for radio, then used his training as a cavalry officer to secure a job as a fencing trainer and...

.

Steagall is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Pro Rodeo Hall of Champions, Honorary Member of the Cowboy Artists of America
Cowboy Artists of America
The Cowboy Artists of America was founded in 1965 by four prominent western artists, Joe Beeler, Charlie Dye, John Hampton and George Phippen, who have all since died...

 and a Former Chairman of the Board of The Academy of Country Music.

Musical and literary accomplishments

In 1975 he discovered a then-unknown Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...

 and signed her to Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

 the following year. He discovered her while she was performing The National Anthem
The National Anthem
"The National Anthem" is the third track from the rock band Radiohead's 2000 album Kid A. The song is moored to a repetitive bassline, has a processed electronic production, and develops in a direction influenced by jazz...

 at the National Rodeo Finals competition in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...

. One year later, in October 1977, McEntire released her first album under Mercury, and though most of her Mercury albums were commercial failures, in 1984, she picked up with her big album, My Kind of Country.

In March 1993, Texas Christian University Press
Texas Christian University Press
Texas Christian University Press is a university press that is part of Texas Christian University....

 published Steagall's first book, entitled Ride for the Brand, a 168-page collection of poetry and songs embracing the western lifestyle that Red loves and lives. The book is illustrated by Cowboy Artists of America
Cowboy Artists of America
The Cowboy Artists of America was founded in 1965 by four prominent western artists, Joe Beeler, Charlie Dye, John Hampton and George Phippen, who have all since died...

 members Bill Owen
Bill Owen
William John Owen Rowbotham MBE , better known as Bill Owen, was an English actor and songwriter.-Career:...

, Fred Fellows, Joe Beeler
Joe Beeler
Joe Beeler was an American illustrator, artist and sculptor specializing in the field of Western art. In 1965, he cofounded the Cowboy Artists of America with Charlie Dye, John Hampton and George Phippen....

 and Howard Terpning
Howard Terpning
Howard Terpning is an American painter and illustrator best known for his paintings of Native Americans.-Life and career:...

.

In September 2003, Texas Tech University Press
Texas Tech University Press
Texas Tech University Press , founded in 1971, is the university press of Texas Tech University.-External links:*...

 published Born to This Land, a joint effort between Red Steagall and Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

 winning photographer Skeeter Hagler. The book contains Hagler's black and white studies of modern ranching, accompanied by Steagall's award winning poetry. The Academy of Western Artists named Born to This Land' as recipient of the Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....

 Award for best book of 2003.

Red has won the Wrangler Award for original music five times: 1993 (for his Warner Western album, Born to This Land), 1995 (for the Warner Western album, Faith and Values), 1997 (for his Warner Western album, Dear Mama, I'm a Cowboy), 1999 (for Love of the West). In fall 2002, Steagall released his 20th album, Wagon Tracks, which also won the Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

.

Red released his new album Here We Go Again in August 2007. Here We Go Again features duets with Toby Keith
Toby Keith
Toby Keith Covel , best known as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin, plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of...

, Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...

, Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...

, Ray Benson
Ray Benson
Ray Benson is the front man of the Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel.In 1970, Benson, a Jewish native of Philadelphia, formed Asleep at the Wheel with friends Lucky Oceans and Leroy Preston. The group relocated to Austin in 1973 after a suggestion from Willie Nelson .Since then, the group has...

, Neal McCoy
Neal McCoy
Hubert Neal McGaughey, Jr. is an American country music singer of mixed Irish and Filipino descent. Known professionally as Neal McCoy, he has released ten studio albums on various labels, and has released 34 singles to country radio...

, Larry Gatlin
Larry Gatlin
Larry Wayne Gatlin is an American country music singer/songwriter. He is perhaps best known for teaming up with his brothers Steve and Rudy in the late 1970s, becoming one of country music's most successful acts of the 1970s and 1980s. Gatlin has had a total of 33 Top 40 singles...

 and Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels
Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels is an American musician known for his contributions to country and southern rock music. He is known primarily for his number one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and multiple other songs he has performed and written. Daniels has been active as a singer...

.

In May 2011, Bunkhouse Press released Steagall's CD Dreamin' of......When the Grass Was Still Deep, featuring 8 songs and 2 poems.

Honors and awards

The Texas Legislature
Texas Legislature
The Legislature of the state of Texas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The Legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin...

 named Red Steagall The Official Cowboy Poet of Texas in April 1991. He is also the official Cowboy Poet Laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

 of the City
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 of San Juan Capistrano, California
San Juan Capistrano, California
San Juan Capistrano is a city in southern Orange County, California, located approximately southeast of Downtown Santa Ana. The current OMB metropolitan designation for San Juan Capistrano and the Orange County Area is “Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA.” The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census,...

.

Since 1991, Red has hosted the annual Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering in the Stockyards National Historic District of Fort Worth, Texas. The event features a ranch rodeo, chuck wagon cookoff, children's poetry contest, western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...

 dances, cowboy music and poetry, a trappings show, and horsemanship clinics.

In April 2003, Steagall was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...

, joining the likes of Will Rogers, Teddy Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

, Charles Goodnight
Charles Goodnight
Charles Goodnight, also known as Charlie Goodnight , was a cattle rancher in the American West, perhaps the best known rancher in Texas. He is sometimes known as the "father of the Texas Panhandle." Essayist and historian J...

 and Charlie Russell
Charlie Russell
Charlie Russell is a Canadian naturalist famous for his study of grizzly bears. He is the son of the well known hunter, guide, film maker, and naturalist Andy Russell....

.

In January 2004, he received the "Spirit of Texas" Award and was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame
Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame
The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, a museum in Fort Worth, Texas, "pays tribute to the cowboys and cowgirls of the Lone Star State." Most of the exhibits are male-oriented, as there is a separate National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in the Cultural District of Fort Worth.The museum, which offers...

 in Fort Worth, Texas.

In April 2005, he was inducted to the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame
Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame
- History :Now housed in the Historic Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards. The organization, dedicated to the sport of rodeo and the recognition of Texas' contribution to that sport, the TRCHF was founded in 1975 by Johnny Boren and a group of Belton, Texas, businessmen...

 in Belton, TX

Red Steagall was named "2006 Poet Laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

 of the State of Texas" at the Capital in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

 in the spring of 2005. Steagall is the first "cowboy" poet to be named the poet laureate of Texas.

Albums

Year Album US Country Label
1972 Party Dolls and Wine Capitol
1973 Somewhere My Love 42
If You've Got the Time, I've Got the Song
1974 Finer Things in Life 47
1976 Lone Star Beer and Bob Wills Music 27 ABC/Dot
Texas Red 36
1977 For All Our Cowboy Friends
1978 Hang On Feelin
1979 It's Our Life Tractor
1982 Cowboy Favorites Delta
1986 Red Steagall Dot/MCA
1993 Born to This Land Warner Western
1995 Faith and Value
1996 Cowboy Code Eagle
1997 Dear Mama I'm a Cowboy Warner Western
1999 Love of the West
2002 Wagon Tracks Shanachie
2006 The Wind, the Wire and the Rail Wildcatter
2007 Here We Go Again

2011
"Dreamin' of.....When The Grass Was Still Deep"
Bunkhouse Press

Singles

Year Single Chart Positions Album
US Country
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

CAN Country
1972 "Party Dolls and Wine" 31 Party Dolls and Wine
"Somewhere, My Love" 22 65 Somewhere My Love
1973 "True Love" 51 80
"If You've Got the Time" 41 If You've Got the Time,
I've Got the Song
"The Fiddle Man" 87
1974 "This Just Ain't My Day (For Lettin' Darlin' Down)" 93 single only
"I Gave Up Good Mornin' Darling" 54 Finer Things in Life
"Finer Things in Life" 52
"Someone Cares for You" 17 17
1975 "She Worshipped Me" 62 single only
1976 "Lone Star Beer and Bob Wills Music" 11 Lone Star Beer and Bob Wills Music
"Truck Drivin' Man
Truck Drivin' Man
"Truck Drivin' Man" is a popular country song written and recorded by Terry Fell in 1954. One of his band members, Buck Owens, sang harmony with him on the recording....

"
29 10
"Rosie (Do You Wanna Talk It Over)" 45 Texas Red
1977 "Her L-O-V-E's Gone" 59
"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" 53
"Freckles Brown" 90 For All Our Cowboy Friends
"The Devil Ain't a Lonely Woman's Friend" 72 Hang On Feelin
1978 "Hang On Feelin'" 63
"Bob's Got a Swing Band in Heaven" flip
1979 "Goodtime Charlie's Got the Blues" 41 singles only
1980 "3 Chord Country Song" 31
"Dim the Lights and Pour the Wine" 49
"Hard Hat Days and Honky Tonk Nights" 30

External links

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