Gene Autry was the first of the Singing Cowboys, renowned as a pioneering figure in country music for his performances in the western movies of the 1930s and ‘40s. He wrote and performed many of the best-known songs associated with the particular style of easy-going cowboy country that evolved in parallel to the likes of Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family. He was also famed for introducing some of the best-known Christmas songs in the latter era of his chart career.
Born on 29 September 1907 in Grayson County, north Texas, Autry was the grandson of a Methodist preacher. When his parents, Delbert Autry and Elnora Ozment, moved to Johnston County in southern Oklahoma he started to develop his singing and guitar playing skills at local dances. Following an audition for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York, he signed a recording deal with Columbia Records in 1929 and worked in Chicago on the WLS-AM radio show National Barn Dance. While working on his own programme he met singer-songwriter Smiley Burnette. Working together they established themselves as popular recording artists before they were discovered by film producer Nat Levine in 1934. Together, the duo made more than 40 low-budget Westerns and Autry earned the Singing Cowboy nickname.
This 53-track collection features all his hits in the US pop and country charts on the Melotone, Vocalion, Okeh and Columbia labels, plus selected titles from his early pre-chart era with classic songs of the day. It features his pop and country No.1 with Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, plus a dozen country No.1s, including At Mail Call Today, South of The Border, Back In The Saddle Again, You Are My Sunshine and further seasonal classics Here Comes Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman.
TRACKS
Disc 1 |
|
|
Track |
Title |
Artist |
1 |
The Yellow Rose Of Texas |
Gene Autry & Jimmy Long |
2
|
The Last Round-up |
Gene Autry & Jimmy Long |
3 |
Tumbling Tumbleweeds |
Gene Autry & Jimmy Long |
4 |
Ole Faithful |
Gene Autry & Jimmy Long |
5 |
That Silver-Haired Daddy Of Mine |
Gene Autry & Jimmy Long |
6 |
There's A Gold Mine In The Sky |
Gene Autry |
7 |
Take Me Back To My Boots And Saddle |
Gene Autry |
8 |
Little Sir Echo |
Gene Autry |
9 |
Paradise In The Moonlight |
Gene Autry |
10 |
Blue Montana Skies |
Gene Autry |
11 |
Back In The Saddle Again |
Gene Autry |
12 |
South of The Border (Down Mexio Way) |
Gene Autry |
13 |
A Goldmine In Your Heart |
Gene Autry |
14 |
I'm Beginning To Care |
Gene Autry |
15 |
The Merry-Go-Roundup |
Gene Autry |
16 |
Goodbye Little Darlin' Goodbye |
Gene Autry |
17 |
When I'm Gone You'll Soon Forget |
Gene Autry |
18 |
El Rancho Grande |
Gene Autry |
19 |
The Singing Hills |
Gene Autry |
20 |
Mary Dear |
Gene Autry |
21 |
Were You Sincere |
Gene Autry |
22 |
Blueberry Hill |
Gene Autry |
23 |
Broomstick Buckaroo |
Gene Autry |
24 |
Be Honest With Me |
Gene Autry |
25 |
You Are My Sunshine |
Gene Autry |
26 |
Jingle Jangle Jingle |
Gene Autry |
Disc 2 |
|
|
Track |
Title |
Artist |
1 |
Deep In The Heart Of Texas |
Gene Autry |
2 |
It Makes No Difference Now |
Gene Autry |
3 |
We've Come A Long Way Together |
Gene Autry |
4 |
I Hang My Head And Cry |
Gene Autry |
5 |
I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes |
Gene Autry |
6 |
Tweedle-O-Twill |
Gene Autry |
7 |
Gonna Build A Big Fence Around Texas |
Gene Autry |
8 |
Don't Fence Me In |
Gene Autry |
9 |
At Mail Call Today |
Gene Autry |
10 |
I'll Be Back |
Gene Autry |
11 |
Don't Hang Around Any More |
Gene Autry |
12 |
Don't Live A Lie |
Gene Autry |
13 |
I Want To Be Sure |
Gene Autry |
14 |
Silver Spurs (On The Golden Stairs) |
Gene Autry |
15 |
I Wish I Had Never Met Sunshine |
Gene Autry |
16 |
You Only Want Me When You're Lonely |
Gene Autry |
17 |
Wave To Me, My Lady |
Gene Autry |
18 |
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You |
Gene Autry |
19 |
Someday You'll Want Me To Want You |
Gene Autry |
20 |
You're Not My Darlin' Anymore |
Gene Autry |
21 |
Here Comes Santa Claus |
Gene Autry |
22 |
Buttons And Bows |
Gene Autry |
23 |
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer |
Gene Autry |
24 |
Peter Cottontail |
Gene Autry |
25 |
Frosty The Snow Man |
Gene Autry |
26 |
Old Soldiers Never Die |
Gene Autry |
27 |
The Night Before Christmas Song |
Gene Autry With Rosemary Clooney |