Those Singing Cowboys in the Movies-My List

 

Post by Doris McCraw

writing as Angela Raines

To let readers know, this is a subjective list of my favorite Singing Cowboys, and why I have listed them as I have. This list is based on their singing. I will do an additional post on who I believe were the top five actors. To make it easy I've limited the list to five and they needed to have made movies in which they sang.

5. Gene Autry. I know some will wonder why he is so far down on the list. I confess, his voice is too 'reedy' for me. He doesn't have much of a range, unless yodeling, but he was smart and found songs that fit his voice. That he was a fabulous businessman is undeniable. We have him to thank for the whole Singing Cowboy genre. He was the first and made more films any others.

Gene Autry - en. wikipedia.com

4.  Herb Jeffries. Such a lovely tenor voice. Smooth and strong. Jeffries made four films as a singing cowboy. He also wrote a lot of his own music. He is one that a lot don't know about, but I do like his stylings.

Herb Jeffries - Wikipedia.org

3. Rex Allen. Allen's voice was powerful and his vocal stylings were top-notch. The thing that disconcerts my ear is the break between his chest and head voice. One thing about Allen, he was the real deal when it came to being a cowboy. Also, in case you recognize his voice, he did a lot of voice-over/narration for the Disney documentary.

Rex Allen - en.wikipedia.org

2. Roy Rogers. One of the best. Lovely voice, nice vocal stylings. He was one of the original 'Sons of the Pioneers'.  He was known as Leonard Slye back then. He went on the make a number of the singing cowboy movies just behind Autry. He also acted in some of those early Autry films.

Roy Rogers - Wikipedia

1. Eddie Dean. Even before I read that both Roy Rogers and Gene Autry claimed Eddie Dean was the best singer, I loved his voice. Melodious, rich, and he could go from low to high with no break in his voice at all. His vocal stylings were outstanding and he could sing almost anything and make it sound amazing. In addition, Dean also wrote or co-wrote a number of his songs.

Eddie Dean - Wikipedia

Below are links to each of the above-mentioned. Enjoy.

Gene Autry: Back in the Saddle

Herb Jeffries: Got the Payday Blues

Rex Allen: Wandering Buckaroo Yodel

Roy Rogers: Don't Fence Me In

Eddie Dean: Let's Go Sparkin , Cool Water

This is my list, and I enjoy those old 'Singing Cowboy' movies. They are just so much fun. It would be great to know who would be on your list and in what order. 

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Telling Stories Where Love & History Meet

Books: Angela Raines Books

Website: Angela Raines - author

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here

The Cowboys I Missed

 Post by Doris McCraw

Writing as Angela Raines

Photo Property of the Author

Have you ever noticed how sometimes you just want to do nothing? I hit that state multiple times during the summer when the heat drives me inside. Are you like me and the heat makes even holding a book difficult? What's a person to do? Well, my solution is to try and find those old TV shows I didn't see when growing up. I think of it as 'research'. Now, don't laugh. Let me explain.

We had the second television in our small town, and while I was not censored in what I could watch or had a strict bedtime, there was this thing called 'parents'. What they wanted to watch was the priority. If they were not wanting to watch a Western then I didn't see those shows. Saturday morning was a different story. Sky King, Roy Rogers were part a parcel of those early years before I headed outside to travel around the area either on my bike or with my own two feet. Now that I'm older, it's fun to search out and watch what I might have missed.

Rory Calhoun as 'The Texan'
photo from Wikipedia

I wrote about some of my finds and will post the link at the end of this post. Today, I'm going to talk about two more of the shows I missed, "The Texan" and "Frontier Doctor". When I find these gems, I try to find out more about the actors also. So, here we go on a trip down the memory lane I missed.

"The Texan" starred bad boy Rory Calhoun, who not only starred in the show but was the executive producer along with Victor M. Orsatti. According to IMDb the character was created by Kathleen Hite and James Gunn. The series centered around Calhoun's character 'Bill Longley'. The logline for the DVD series reads, " A Civil War veteran ... roaming the West in this fast-paced, action-packed drama. The show ran for two seasons over three years. 

The one thing I admired about Calhoun is his willingness to not let his past juvenile delinquent record, including time spent in a Federal Prison before the age of twenty-one, worry him. One 'story' states that when he heard the studio he was under contract with was going to publish his record to deflect stories about another star, Calhoun beat them to the punch and made the record public himself. 

Rex Allen
photo from Wikipedia

The second show "Frontier Doctor" starred Rex Allen and ran one season, thirty-nine episodes. The series takes place in the Arizona territory near the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. It centers on the work, challenges, and adventures of Allen's character Dr. Bill Baxter as he heals the sick in the small town of Rising Springs, Arizona. According to Wikipedia the show ran in syndication and was also known as 'Unarmed' and 'Man of the West.'

Allen started out as a Vaudville singer and later became a singing cowboy in the 'B' westerns, often paired with Slim Pickens. The other cool thing about Allen, he narrated several nature documentaries for the Disney Company. If you watched any of those Disney documentaries, you will recognize his voice.

For those who would like to see an episode of each of these shows, here are the links.

"The Texan": YouTube - The Texan

"Frontier Doctor": YouTube - Frontier Doctor

First in this series: 'Summertime'

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Author of "The Agate Gulch" novellas 

and "The Kiowa Wells" novels.

Angela Raines - author: Telling Stories Where Love & History Meet

Books: Angela Raines Books

Website: Angela Raines - author

Post (c) Doris McCraw All Rights Resrved.