|
All-Music
Guide
Better-known as the Arizona
Cowboy, Rex Allen was the last of Hollywood's singing cowboys. Between
1950 and 1954, Allen starred in 19 movies for Republic studios. The films
launched a popular recording career for Allen, as he had several hit singles
and albums in the early '50s, before the singing cowboys slowly disappeared
from the charts.
The son of a fiddle-player,
Rex Allen was given his first guitar when he was 11 years old; his father
intended Rex to support him at dances. Shortly afterwards, Rex began singing.
After he finished high school, Allen was hired as a performer by a Phoenix
radio stations, but he only stayed there for a brief time. Instead,
he hit the rodeo circuit. His career as a rodeo rider was short-lived,
as he suffered an injury from a bull. The injury led Allen back to singing,
and he was hired by WTTM in Trenton, New Jersey in 1943.
After he left WTTM,
Rex Allen joined the Sleepy Hollow Ranch gang in Pennsylvania. During the
summer of 1946, Allen was spotted by Lulubelle and Scotty; impressed, the
duo recommended that he try out for the National Born Dance and WLS in
Chicago. Allen became a popular performer in the windy city, which led
him to become one of the first country-western artists signed by Mercury
Records. Mercury released several of Allen's singles before he had a hit
with "Afraid" in 1949. That same year, Allen went to Hollywood.
Bringing along a CBS
Network radio program, Rex Allen approached Republic Pictures. The studio
signed the singer to a star in a film, The Arizona Cowboy, which was released
in 1950. The movie was a success, beginning a string of 19 pictures that
ran until February 1954. All of the movies were musical westerns, starring
Allen with a rotating cast of sidekicks. Frequently, he would star with
Slim Pickens, but Buddy Ebsen and Fuzzy Knight also made their appearances
in Allen's films.
Allen's film successes
led to a hit record in 1951, "Sparrow in the Tree Top." Released on Mercury
Records, the single climbed into the country Top 10 and made it into the
pop Top 30. Soon after its release, Allen signed with Decca Records, who
released his biggest hit, 1953's "Crying in the Chapel; " the song peaked
in the Top Five and reached the Top 10 pop charts. In the latter half of
the decade, he made a number of albums composed of Western songs. During
this time, he acted in 39 episodes of the television program, Frontier
Doctor.
By the '60s, Rex Allen
had re-signed with Mercury Records, which led to several minor hits and
one major success -- 1962's "Don't Go Near the Indians," which returned
the singer to the country Top 10 and the pop Top 20. On his '60s stint
at Mercury, Allen had two other significant hits -- 1961's "Marines Let's
Go" and "Tear After Tear" in 1964. In the late '60s, the singer went back
to Decca Records, which resulted in one minor hit in 1968, "Tiny Bubbles."
During this time and the early '70s, he recorded albums for Disneyland,
Buena Vista, and JMI. However, he was more prominent in this era as a narrator
for many Walt Disney films and television programs, as well as a voice
in several Disney cartoons.
In the '80s, Allen's
oldest son, Rex Allen Jr., became a star in his own right. A museum in
his hometown Willcox was dedicated to Rex Allen, and the Governor of Arizona
honored him. Allen occasionally appeared at Western film fair, where he
remained as popular as ever. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide |
