The music is stark, using minor keys and a steady, hoof-beat rhythm. It feels less like MacArthur Park and more like a Johnny Cash murder ballad. For decades, Bass Reeves was forgotten by Hollywood. (That changed recently with the show Lawmen: Bass Reeves , but even that owes a debt to the oral tradition kept alive by artists like Webb).
Most people know Jim Webb as the genius behind iconic 60s anthems like “MacArthur Park” and “Wichita Lineman.” Most history buffs know Bass Reeves as the most prolific U.S. Marshal in American history.
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