Gene Autry
(b. Orvon Gene Autry, 29 September 1907, near
Tioga, Texas, USA).
The eldest of four children of Delbert Autry,
a poor tenant farmer, who moved
his family many times over the years, before
eventually arriving at Ravia, OK.
His grandfather, a Baptist minister, taught
him to sing when he was a child so
that he could perform in his church choir
and at other local events. Autry also
learned to ride at an early age and worked
the fields with his father. He grew
up listening to cowboy songs and received
his first guitar at the age of 12.
(Initially he studied the saxophone but chose
the guitar so that he could sing
as well.) He graduated from Ravia Community
School in 1924 and after spending
a few months with a Medicine Show, he found
work as a telegraph operator for
the Frisco Railroad in Chelsea, Oklahoma.
He used to take his guitar to work
and sing and one night was heard by the famous
entertainer Will Rogers, who
stopped to send a telegram. He suggested
that Autry should look for a job in
radio. After trying unsuccessfully to find
work in New York, he returned to OK
and began to appear on KVOO Tulsa as The
Oklahoma Yodeling Cowboy.
After hearing recordings of Jimmie Rodgers,
he became something of a Rod-
gers clone as he tried to further his career.
In 1929, he made his first RCA Victor
recordings, My Dreaming Of You and My Alabama
Home, on which he was ac-
companied by Jimmy Long (a fellow telegrapher)
and Frankie and Johnny Marvin.
Further recordings followed for ARC Records
under the direction of Art Satherley,
some being released on various labels for
chain store sales. It was because of
releases on Conqueror for Sears that Autry
found himself given the opportunity to
join WLS in Chicago. In 1931, he became a
featured artist on the "National Barn
Dance," as well as having his own "Conqueror
Record Time." Before long, Gene
Autry Roundup guitars and songbooks were
being sold by Sears. Interestingly,
WLS portrayed him as a singing cowboy even
though, at this time, few of his
songs were of that genre. Between 1931 and
1934, he was a hillbilly singer,
who still at times sounded like Rodgers.
In fact most experts later rated him
the best of the Rodgers' impersonators. He
began to include his own songs
and such numbers as The Gangster's Warning
and My Old Pal Of Yesterday
became very popular.
Late in 1931, he recorded That Silver Haired
Daddy Of Mine as a duet with
Jimmy Long, with whom he had co-written the
song. The song eventually
became Autry's first million selling record.
By 1934, he was well known as
a radio and recording personality. Having
for some time been portrayed as
a singing cowboy by the publicity departments
of his record companies, he
now took his first steps to make the publicity
come true. He was given a
small part in the Ken Maynard film In Old
Santa Fe and soon after starred in
a strange 12-episode western/science fiction
serial called The Phantom
Empire. In 1935, Republic Pictures signed
him to a contract and Tumbling
Tumbleweeds became his first starring western
film. His previous singing
cowboy image was now reality. He sang eight
songs in the film including
the title track, That Silver Haired Daddy
and Ridin' Down The Canyon.
Further films followed in quick succession
and by 1940 Autry ranked fourth
among all Hollywood money-making stars at
the box office. In January 1940,
Gene Autry's MELODY RANCH radio show, sponsored
by the Wrigley Gum
Company, first appeared on CBS and soon became
a national institution,
running until 1956. Helped out by such artists
as Pat Buttram, Johnny Bond
and the Cass County Boys, Autry regularly
righted wrongs, sang his hits
and as a result of the program, built himself
a new home in the San Fer-
nando Valley called Melody Ranch.
Quite apart from the radio shows and films,
he toured extensively with his
stage show. It featured roping, Indian dancers,
comedy, fancy riding from
Autry, smart horse tricks by Champion and
music. By 1941, he was res-
pected and famous all over the USA The little
town of Berwyn, Oklahoma
even changed its name to Gene Autry, Oklahoma.
His songs such as Be
Honest With Me, Back In The Saddle Again
(which became his signature
tune), Your The Only Star In My Blue Heaven,
Goodbye, Little Darlin' Good-
bye (later recorded by Johnny Cash) and many
more became tremendously
popular. In 1942, his income took a severe
cut when he enlisted in the Air
Force, being sworn-in live on a "Melody Ranch"
program. He spent some
time working on recruitment but then became
a pilot in Air Ferry Command
and saw service in the Far East, India and
North Africa. During this period,
he co-wrote with Fred Rose his classic song,
At Mail Call Today. After his
release from the services, he resumed his
acting and recording career.
Between 1944 and 1951, he registered 25 successive
Top 10 country hits,
including Here Comes Santa Claus (later recorded
by Elvis Presley), Rudolph,
The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Peter Cottontail
and Frosty The Snow Man, which
each sold one million copies. He also had
Top 20 US pop chart success
with Buttons And Bows. He left Republic in
1947 and formed his own Flying
A Productions, which produced his later films
for release by Columbia.
When he made his last b-western, Last Of
The Pony Riders, in 1953 he had
89 feature films to his credit. Contrary
to many beliefs, there never was a feud
between Autry and his replacement at Republic,
Roy Rogers. It was purely
something invented by Republic's publicity
department.
During the '50s, he became very successful
in business and purchased many
radio and television stations. Between 1950
and 1956, he produced 91 episodes
of "The Gene Autry Show" for CBS-TV. His
company also produced many other
television series, including "The Range Rider,"
"The Adventures Of Champion"
and "Annie Oakley." His business interest
became even more involved during
the '60s, when apart from owning various
radio and television companies, he be-
came the owner of the California Angels major
league baseball team. "Melody
Ranch" reappeared as a television program
in the '60s and ran for seven
years on Autry's KTLA station. It was syndicated
to stations across the country
and although Autry did not appear as a regular,
he did make guest appearances.
In 1986, Nashville Network decided to screen
his Republic and Columbia
b-westerns under the title of MELODY RANCH
THEATRE with Autry himself doing
opening and closing announcements. During
his long career, Autry had three
horses to fill the role of Champion. The
original died in 1947. Champion III, who
appeared in the Gene Autry television series
and also as the star of the "Adven-
tures Of Champion" television series, died
in 1991 at the age of 42. There was also
a personal appearance Champion and a pony
known as Little Champ. During his
career he regularly sported a custom made
C.F. Martin guitar, with beautiful
ornamental pearl inlay together with his
name.
Many artists over subsequent years have copied
this guitar, having their own
name inlaid into the fret board. Autry was
elected to the Country Music Hall Of
Fame in 1969 for his songwriting abilities
as well as his singing and acting. In
1980, he was inducted into the Cowboy Hall
Of Fame Of Great Westerners. At
the time of his induction, he was described
as ‘one of the most famous men,
not only in America but in the world’. Autry
sold the final 10 acres of his Melody
Ranch film set in 1991. The ranch, in Placerita
Canyon, California, which was
used for the making of such classic westerns
as High Noon and the television
series "Gunsmoke" is scheduled to become
an historical feature. His last US
country chart entry was Old Soldiers Never
Die in 1971. Judging by the
popularity of his old films and his recordings,
it is probably true to say that
neither do old cowboys.
Further reading: Back In The Saddle Again,
Gene Autry with Mickey Herskowitz.
The Gene Autry Book, David Rothel.
MUSIC
CENTRAL '96
Thumbnails:
Autry released
635 records during his career.
He was the first artist to be certified with a
gold record for That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine.
Autry sold over 100 million records.
Only performer to rate five stars on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Autry was also the first artist to sell out a show in
New York City's Madison Square Garden.
Autry's best-known songs include "Rudolph The Red-Nosed
Reindeer" (widely believed to be one of the biggest-selling
singles in history).
"He says he'd like to have made a true
Western," recalled Buddy Ebsen. "He
said his were kind of fantasies ... so you
couldn't really believe them, but you
could be entertained by them."
``He truly was a star in the golden days of Hollywood. So
often, we've caught ourselves humming 'Back in the Saddle
Again,' a song that will always bring back warm memories of
Gene,'' said former President Ronald Reagan and his wife,
Nancy.
His last US country chart entry was
Old Soldiers Never Die in 1971.
|
Oct
2, 1998