Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington wrote this as the theme song for the CBS TV show Rawhide, which ran from 1959 to 1966. The show launched the career of Clint Eastwood, who starred with Eric Fleming as a cowboy on a cattle drive. Since the show had a Western theme, the composer Tiomkin and lyricist Washington were asked to write the music, as they had written songs for some famous Western movies, including High Noon and Wild Is The Wind.
The song simulates the sounds of a cattle drive, as the cattleman is calling out instructions and cracking his whip. Rawhide is animal hide that has not been treated and made into leather - it's commonly used to make whips.
This song popularized the phrase "hell bent for leather," which Judas Priest used as the title for their 1978 album and its title track.
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