Radio
Legends:
Gene Autry's Melody Ranch, Volume 1
Liner notes written by Harlan Zinck
Born
in Tioga, Texas on September 29, 1907, Gene Autry grew up on a small ranch and
sang in the local church choir. Throughout his youth, he worked on ranches in
Texas and Oklahoma -- but frequently lost jobs due to his desire to sing more
than to work. Accompanying himself on the guitar, Autry worked a few stage shows
and county fairs and finally landed a spot on the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based KVOO,
where he sang songs and spun yarns of life on the range. Billed as "Oklahoma's
Yodeling Cowboy," the demands of a daily fifteen-minute show got him interested
in songwriting; when Autry and train dispatcher Jimmy Long wrote "That
Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine," he found his career beginning to soar. His popular
recording of the song led, in 1931, to Sears-Roebuck hiring him for a
fifteen-minute program on WLS Chicago for the princely sum of thirty-five
dollars a week. Shortly thereafter, he began making appearances on "The National
Barn Dance" and "The National Farm and Home Hour," also broadcast by WLS.
By late 1939, he had staked his claim in Hollywood, having made thirty-nine
Westerns for Republic Pictures combined with musical appearances on popular
radio variety shows such as Rudy Vallee's "Fleischmann Hour" and "The Eddie
Cantor Show." The J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, looking for a
personality to match the Wrigley's Gum account, approached Autry to audition for
the starring role in a proposed radio series. The audition was a success,
leading to one of the longest-running series in radio history: "Gene Autry's
Melody Ranch," a CBS Sunday evening show that would run almost continuously from
January 1940 until May 1956. Combining music, comedy exchanges with cast
members, and ten- to fifteen-minute dramatic sequences featuring Autry as the
moral two-fisted hero, the Wrigley people could not have been more pleased with
their star -- or with the big sales that resulted from their on-going
sponsorship of "Melody Ranch."
Heard
today, "Gene Autry's Melody Ranch" offers a pleasant and tuneful chance to hear
Autry and his musicians perform a wide range of musical favorites, as well as
the banter between Autry, his fellow musicians, and sidekick Pat Buttram (best
remembered today as the wheeler-dealer Mr. Haney on the cult sitcom favorite
"Green Acres.") The twenty shows in this Radio Legends collection also give us a
chance to revisit a time when the good guys always wore white hats, a really
good on-screen fist fight made for a rousing afternoon of movie entertainment,
and when a singing cowboy might have flirted with an attractive young lady --
but usually ended up crooning to his horse as the screen faded to black.
Here is the complete content of this ten-CD collection, taken from early 1950s
syndicated versions of the original network series:
Art Richards Killed with Gene's Gun
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Aunt Martha's Boys Ranch
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Betty Carson's Cattle are Poisoned
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Bill Collins and Mike Hixon
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Carol Barton is Kidnapped
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Chief Silver Eagle
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Cody Bennett
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Cool Clear Water
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
El Goncho
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Fake Holdup is Real
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Gene Cleans Up Skeleton Pass
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Gene Finds Champion
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Gene Helps Clem Olson
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Gene Recovers $200,000
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Gene Recovers $60,000
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Gold Dust Charlie
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Graft in Desert Springs
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Grandma Bryan
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Hermit's Crossing
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
Indians are Accused of Crimes
1950s - 30:00 - Syndicated
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