You really, really should watch the film. It's utterly hilarious. There are several references to the movie scattered through 1866, including the Bartholomew NPC, who is based on the main character of Blazing Saddles.
As for the Electric Six references, yes, I love me some ES. That surprises some people, because I tend to listen to weird, "snobby" music but I like Electric Six's stupidity. They are upfront about being dumb on purpose; I think the singer said 90% or more of their songs were about "absolutely nothing." I can dig.