Gene Autry

Born: September 29, 1907, Tioga, Texas

Died: October 2, 1998 (age 91), Studio City, California

Gene Autry was an performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television.

He died of lymphoma at his home.

What do you know about Gene Autry?

True or False?

1. After leaving high school in 1925, Autry became a telegraph operator.

2. He began performing on local radio in 1928 as "Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy".

3. He met singer/songwriter Glenn Strange in Chicago.

4. He recorded a labor song, "The Death of Mother Jones."

5. Autry also recorded many "hillbilly" style records in 1930 and 1931.

6. Autry's first big hit song was "Country Roads."

7. Autry owned a record label Champ Records.

8. The Phantom Empire was Autry starring role in the movies.

9. Gene Autry's Melody Ranch was a hit TV series.

10. After World War II, Autry returned to Republic Pictures to fulfill his contract.

11. Autry was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

12. Autry bought the old Monogram Ranch in Placerita Canyon.

13. In the 1950s, Autry had been a minority owner of the minor-league Hollywood Dodgers.

14. In 1960, when Major League Baseball announced plans to add an expansion team in Los Angeles, Autry expressed an interest in acquiring the radio broadcast rights to the team's games.

15. Autry served as vice president of the American League from 1983 until his death.

16. During World War II Autry served as a pilot in the United States Navy with the rank of Flight Captain.

17. Autry recorded Blueberry Hill.

18. In 1947, Gene recorded "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".

Answers

1. True. After leaving high school in 1925, Autry worked as a telegrapher for the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway.

2. True. An amateur talent with the guitar and voice led to his performing at local dances. After an encouraging chance encounter with Will Rogers, he began performing on local radio in 1928 as "Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy".

3. False. Autry worked in Chicago, Illinois, on the WLS (AM) radio show National Barn Dance for four years with his own show where he met singer/songwriter Smiley Burnette.

4. True. In his early recording career Autry covered various genres, including a labor song, "The Death of Mother Jones" in 1931

5. True. These much closer in style to the Prairie Ramblers or Dick Justice, and included the "Do Right Daddy Blues" and "Black Bottom Blues", both of which contain substantial similarity to "Deep Elem Blues". These late prohibition era songs deal with bootlegging, corrupt police, and women whose occupation is certainly vice.

6. False. His first hit was in 1932 with That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine, a duet with fellow railroad man, Jimmy Long.

7. False. Autry also owned the Challenge Records label. The label's biggest hit was "Tequila" by The Champs in 1958, which started the rock and roll instrumental craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

8. True. The Phantom Empire, starring Gene Autry the Singing Cowboy, was a 12-chapter 1935 Mascot serial that combined the western, musical, and science fiction genres. The first episode is 30 minutes , the rest about 20 minutes. This was Gene Autry's first starring role, playing himself as a singing cowboy.

9. False. From 1940 to 1956, Autry had a huge hit with a weekly radio show on CBS, Gene Autry's Melody Ranch, and his horse, Champion, also had a radio-TV series The Adventures of Champion.

10. True. Autry briefly returned to Republic after the war, to finish out his contract, which had been suspended for the duration of his military service and which he had tried to have declared void after his discharge. Thereafter, he formed his own production company to make westerns under his own control, which were distributed by Columbia Pictures, beginning in 1947.

11. True. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1969 and to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

12. True. In 1952, Autry bought the old Monogram Ranch in Placerita Canyon (Newhall-Santa Clarita, California) and renamed it Melody Ranch. Numerous "B" Westerns and TV serials were shot there during Autry's ownership, including the initial years of "Gunsmoke" with James Arness.

13. False. In the 1950s, Autry had been a minority owner of the minor-league Hollywood Stars.

14. In 1960, when Major League Baseball announced plans to add an expansion team in Los Angeles, Autry expressed an interest in acquiring the radio broadcast rights to the team's games. Baseball executives were so impressed by his approach that he was persuaded to become the owner of the franchise rather than simply its broadcast partner.

15. True. Autry served as vice president of the American League from 1983 until his death.

16. False. During World War II Autry served as a pilot in the United States Army Air Forces with the rank of Flight Officer. He flew the C-47 Skytrain in the Air Transport Command flying dangerous missions over the Hump between Burma and China.

17. True. In 1941, Gene Autry recorded Blueberry Hill. The music was written by Vincent Rose, the lyrics by Al Lewis and Larry Stock. He performed it in his movie The Singing Hill (1941). The song was an international hit in 1956 for Fats Domino, and has become a rock and roll standard.

18. False. In 1947, Gene recorded "Here Comes Santa Claus". He recorded "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in 1949.