Gene Autry's Melody Ranch
Volume 1


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 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.

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