Jimmy Wakely, Singing in the Saddle: Saturday's Heroes
Singing in the Saddle: Saturday's Heroes The songs of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Sons of the Pioneers and Tex Ritter put the "Western" in Country and Western Music. Much of this music was written for and presented to the American public through the widely popular cowboy films of the 30's and 40's. Roy Rogers (Leonard Slye, b. 11/5/1911): Roy was a western movie star from 1938 to 1953. He began playing at local functions during the 1920s. After stints with such groups as the Rocky Mountaineers and the Hollywood Hillbillies, he formed his own band, the International Cowboys. Roy began playing bit parts in films, first under the name of Dick Weston, and then assuming his guise as Roy Rogers. He eventually won a starring role in "Under Western Skies" (1938). With his horse Trigger and frequent female partner, Dale Evans (whom he married in 1947) and occasional help from such people as the Sons of the Pioneers and Spade Cooley, Roy became Gene Autry's only real rival. Roy appeared in over 100 movies and had his own TV show in the mid-1950s. Rogers, who recorded for RCA-Victor for many years, wasinducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988. Gene Autry: Gene, the most successful of all singing cowboys was born in Tioga, Texas (9/29/1907~10/2/1998). Fresh out of high school, he became a railroad telegrapher with the Frisco Railway in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Autry then took a radio job on KVOO, Tulsa (1930), billing himself as "Oklahoma's Singing Cowboy" and adapting the singing <b>...</b>
