DAVID THRUSSELexplores the forgotten songbook ofRed River Dave McEnery, whose often
fortean subjects – from the disappearance of Amelia Earhart to the Manson Family murders
and the Jonestown Massacre – were torn straight from the headlines, recorded within days,
and released in mythically tiny private pressings.
WELLCOME LIBRARY,
LO
NDON.44 FT 383W
hat do Adolf Hitler, Marilyn
Monroe, Charles Manson, Lee
Harvey Os wald, John F Kennedy,
Patty Hearst, Neil Armstrong,
Amelia Earhart, Ronald Reagan
and E.T. have in common?
All were immortalised onrecord by
Hillbilly troubadourextraordinaire, Red
River Da ve McEnery.
Notoriousfor his 1970 song ‘California
Hippie Murders!’ – a ghoulish, harrowing,
yodelledretelling of the infamous, Manson-
mastermindedTate-La-Bianca slayings
- Red River Da ve was a genuine cowboy
singing star turned tabloid balladeer.While
‘California Hippie Murders!’ might initially
seem bothchilling and bizarre – itsgraphic
verses punctuatedby howling, heartfelt
yodels – it makes perfect sense when seen
in the context of Red River Da ve’s greater
body ofwork, an epic American songbook
described here in detailfor the very fi rst
time.
HILBILLY SONG-MILL
Singing human headline, prodigious
topical balladeer, industrial songsmith,
inspirational speaker, vigilant town crier,
professional patriot, landscape painter,
TV pitchman,realtor, roofer, appliance
salesman,musical instrumentretailer,
tireless self-promoter, Freemason, Baptist,
preacher-man andrope-trick carny,
McEnery embodied the American Dream
of boundless energy, frontier individualism,
fortean autodidactism and bottomless
entrepreneurial spirit, with all its attendant
triumphs and unavoidable pitfalls.
Thro ugh some alchemic accident, he
was destined tochannel the tumultuous
events of the later 20th century US
experience into an astounding series of
largely privately-pressed and hand-crafted
45s, sold via mail-order, hawked at modest
public appearances, toutedover localradio
or proffered from the boot of hisroaming
steer-horned Cadillac.
The Moon landings, the
kidnapping of heiressPatty
Hearst, theVietnam conflict,
the assassination of JFK,
the murder of young
EmmettTill, Korean
War ‘Manchurian
Candidate’
brainwashing, patriotic
tirades and ColdWardirges – allwere grist to thegreat, yet
largelyforg otten, Red River Da ve hillbilly
song-mill that operated from the 1930s right
through to the 1980s. Often cut within hours
or days of theevents they addressed, the
songswere pressed in minuscule editions.
Some of his sides are now sorare as to be
near-mythical, an eccentric country-folk
song-cycle on the margins ofmusical history.
The tall,fl amboyant,‘Buffalo Bill’-
bearded McEnery cut a dashingfi gure with
his gold-sprayed cowboy boots and cracking
lariat.An obscureyet somehow legendary
fi gure, Red River Da ve was the kind of
storied travelling troubadour who deserves
a weightyvolume to fullychro nicle his
countlessexploits and adventures.
David Largus McEnerywas born on 15
December 1914 andraised as a cowboy
yodeller and lasso twirler “within a rifle
shot of the Alamo” in San Antonio. He
was forced to leave home and Depression-
hitTexas at the age of 16 as hisfamily
struggled with poverty, and spent the next
fi ve ye ars hobo-rambling on freight trains
from NewYork to California, searching for
work and singingfor nic kels in restaurants.
Eventually, he was hired as a singingradio
cowboy inPetersburg,Virginia.The year
was 1935, and in nearby Hopewell tragedy
struck.
A school bus drove through an
open drawbridge and crashed
into the river below. Moved
by the scores of drowned
children, McEnery picked up
his pen.
“I called it ‘The Hopewell
BusTragedy,’” he said.“WeRed River Dave:The Human HeadlineDave wasacowboy singingstar turnedtabloid balladeerFACINGPAGE:David McEnery – better known as
Red River Dave– in a publicity shot from 1981.
LEFT:Daveaddsventriloquism to his prodigious
list of talents.