Singing cowboy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal cowboy hero of early Western films, popularized by many of the B-movies of the 1930s and the 1940s. The typical singing cowboys were white-hat-wearing clean-shaven heroes with the habit of showing their emotions in song.
The image of the singing cowboy was established in 1925, when Carl T. Sprague of Texas recorded the first cowboy song, "When the Work's All Done This Fall." A year later, John I. White became the first representant of the genre to perform on a nationally broadcast radio show, but the full popularity of the singing cowboys wasn't reached until the spread of sound films.
While other Western actors, such as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, only dabbled in singing roles, some actors became known mainly for their roles as singing cowboys. The most famous of them was Gene Autry and the moniker "The Singing Cowboy" usually refers to him in particular. Autry first rose to popularity as a singer, but his acting career started off quickly with the 1935 film serial, The Phantom Empire and he became a prolific star. Autry, by his own words, wasn't a good actor, a good rider, or a particularly good singer[1], but at the time of his death in 1998, he was still on the top 10 list of Hollywood box office moneymakers[2]. Autry's early popularity, both for his radio and film performances, quickly paved the way for a multitude of imitators, but most attempts didn't get close to his success.
Autry's status as the top singing cowboy was never in question until 1937, when disagreements made him temporarily walk out on his contract with Republic Studios. The studio's chosen replacement, Roy Rogers, who had previously appeared only in minor roles, quickly grew popular when given the chance to star, and by the time Autry returned, he wasn't the clear star anymore. When Autry enlisted in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Roy Rogers became the "King of the Cowboys," competing head-to-head with Autry for the rest of the decade.
Other notable actors who became famous as singing cowboys were Jimmy Wakely, Tex Ritter and Rex Allen, who didn't start his career until 1950, when the popularity of the genre was waning. With the advent of television, the making of B-movies dropped off and the era of singing cowboys was coming to an end. Autry and Rogers went on to star in The Gene Autry Show and The Roy Rogers Show respectively, but the series' runs ended by the end of the decade.
The singing cowboy image has since been parodied, most notably in the 1985 film Rustlers' Rhapsody with Tom Berenger portraying a stereotypical singing cowboy.
