[Deathwatch] Richard Thomas Goldhahn, singing cowboy, 88

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

More thanks to a very loyal reader for this one - Ed.

Richard Thomas Goldhahn, a singing cowboy with the stage name ?Dick
Thomas? who wrote ?Sioux City Sue,? a western anthem popularized by
Bing Crosby and by Gene Autry in a movie of the same title, has died.
He was 88.

Goldhahn died Nov. 22 in his sleep at a hospice in Abington, Pa., of
heart failure.

A favorite among fans of the singing-cowboy genre, ?Sioux City Sue?
began with these lyrics: ?Sioux City Sue, Sioux City Sue. Your hair is
red, your eyes are blue, I?d swap my horse and dog for you.? Goldhahn
co-wrote the lyrics with Max C. Freedman and composed the music for the
catchy tune in 1945.

His own recording of the song sold more than 150,000 copies. When
Crosby recorded it in 1946, the song made the Lucky Strike Hit Parade
for 14 consecutive weeks. The same year, Autry recorded ?Sioux City
Sue? as the title song of his Western film, solidifying the tune?s
place in western music history. Willie Nelson later recorded a version.


Born on a pig farm now within Philadelphia?s city limits, Goldhahn
studied violin and accordion. He began playing guitar, yodeling and
singing on the radio and in nightclubs in the 1930s. He moved to Los
Angeles in 1941 and adopted cowboy garb to perform at the Hollywood
Tropics nightclub for a record 62 weeks.

Goldhahn, who served in the Army toward the end of World War II,
composed, recorded and performed his songs at clubs from Los Angeles to
Las Vegas, New York and Philadelphia for about 20 years. He also worked
on Philadelphia television.

Among his songs were ?The Beaut From Butte,? ?Esmereldy,? ?Weary Nights
and Broken Dreams,? ?Give Me Back My Heart? and ?I?ve Got a Gal in
Laramie.?