Colter's Hell

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The Yellowstone soundtrack project (1987) followed the Ballads of the Grand Canyon. However, it was never funded. Still, I composed and recorded an 8-track soundtrack and ended up having to play all the instruments (except the pedal-steel guitar), as well as the singing. Compared to the 48-track Grand Canyon soundtrack, the demo is rough around the edges, but was intentionally recorded that way. My idea was to have popular recording artists record pre-selected ballads such as John Denver, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Willie Nelson, and some few others who lived in Colorado. Unlike the 18-day recording sessions to lay down the tracks for the Grand Canyon program, the Yellowstone tracks were laid down in 2-days. The first day entailed my playing the instrumental tracks and the second day I recorded the vocals.

This selection, like all the ballads, relates the true highlights of John Colter, said to be the first white man in the Yellowstone. I wrote this song especially for Johnny Cash, that is, as the hopeful recording artist who would record and sing the ballad.


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