Cass County Boys was a Western music group that was active from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s. [1]
The Cass County Boys was formed in 1936 in Texas when accordionist Fred Martin (1916–2010) and guitarist Jerry Scoggins (1911–2004) were staff musicians on Dallas radio station WFAA. The pair were told to fill in airtime between programs and began performing together. They shortly invited bassist Bert Dodson (1915–1994) to join them. Dodson, at the time, was playing bass for the Light Crust Doughboys. Martin was from Cass County, Texas and an announcer began calling them the "Cass County Kids." [1] [2] [3]
They regularly performed on Gene Autry's Melody Ranch radio program and appeared in many Autry movies and ten of his TV shows during that period. Scoggins later went on to sing the theme song for the Beverly Hillbillies television program. [1]
In 1996, the group was inducted to the Western Music Association Hall of Fame. [1]
Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry, nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades, beginning in the early 1930s.
Roy Rogers, nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and rodeo performer.
Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Rubye Rose Blevins, known professionally as Patsy Montana, was an American country-western singer and songwriter. Montana was the first female country performer to have a million-selling single with her signature song "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart", and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Jerry Scoggins was an American country/western singer, guitarist, and band leader. He performed on radio, in movies, and on television from the 1930s thru the 1980s. He was noted for his work with Gene Autry and Bing Crosby and especially for singing "The Ballad of Jed Clampett", the theme song to the 1960s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies.
Lester Alvin Burnett, better known as Smiley Burnette, was an American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and other B-movie cowboys. He was also a prolific singer-songwriter who is reported to have played proficiently over 100 musical instruments, sometimes more than one simultaneously. His career, beginning in 1934, spanned four decades, including a regular role on CBS-TV's Petticoat Junction in the 1960s.
Gail Davis was an American actress and singer, best known for her starring role as Annie Oakley in the 1950s television series Annie Oakley.
A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal cowboy hero of early Western films. It references real-world campfire side ballads in the American frontier, the original cowboys sang of life on the trail with all the challenges, hardships, and dangers encountered while pushing cattle for miles up the trails and across the prairies. This continues with modern vaquero traditions and within the genre of Western music, and its related New Mexico, Red Dirt, Tejano, and Texas country music styles. A number of songs have been written and made famous by groups like the Sons of the Pioneers and Riders in the Sky and individual performers such as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Bob Baker and other "singing cowboys". Singing in the wrangler style, these entertainers have served to preserve the cowboy as a unique American hero.
Public Cowboy #1 is a studio recording released on CD by the Western band Riders in the Sky on October 22, 1996.
Douglas Bruce Green, better known by his stage name Ranger Doug, is an American musician, arranger, award-winning Western music songwriter, and Grand Ole Opry member best known for his work with Western music and the group Riders in the Sky in which he plays guitar and sings lead and baritone vocals. He is also an exceptionally accomplished yodeler. With the Riders, he is billed as "Ranger Doug — The Idol of American Youth" and "Governor of the Great State of Rhythm". He is also a member of The Time Jumpers.
James Clarence Wakely was an American actor, songwriter, country music vocalist, and one of the last singing cowboys. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, he released records, appeared in several B-Western movies with most of the major studios, appeared on radio and television and even had his own series of comic books. His duet singles with Margaret Whiting from 1949 until 1951, produced a string of top seven hits, including 1949's number one hit on the US country chart and pop music chart, "Slippin' Around". Wakely owned two music publishing companies in later years, and performed at the Grand Ole Opry until shortly before his death.
The Blue Sky Boys were an American country music duo consisting of the brothers Earl Bolick and Bill Bolick, whose careers spanned over forty years.
The Old Barn Dance is a 1938 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Joan Valerie, and written by Bernard McConville and Charles F. Royal.
The Big Show is a 1936 American Western musical film directed by Mack V. Wright and starring Gene Autry, Kay Hughes, and Smiley Burnette. Written by Dorrell and Stuart E. McGowan, the film is about a singing cowboy who confuses two girls by being himself and his own stunt double at the Texas Centennial in Dallas. Roy Rogers appears in the film as one of the Sons of the Pioneers.
Foy Willing was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and bandleader, who performed Western music and appeared in Western movies. He formed the band Riders of the Purple Sage.
Riders of the Whistling Pines is a 1949 American Western film directed by John English and starring Gene Autry, Patricia Barry, and Jimmy Lloyd. Written by Jack Townley, the film is about a gang of outlaws who are destroying the timberland and who frame a singing cowboy on a cattle-poisoning charge, setting him up for murder.
Rovin' Tumbleweeds is a 1939 American Western film directed by George Sherman and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette and Mary Carlisle. Written by Betty Burbridge, Dorrell McGowan, and Stuart E. McGowan, the film is about a cowboy congressman who exposes a crooked politician who is delaying passage of a flood control bill.
Gene Autry's Melody Ranch is a Western variety radio show in the United States. A 15-minute pilot show aired on December 31, 1939. The program ran from January 7, 1940 to August 1, 1943, and from September 23, 1945 to May 16, 1956. The show's entire run was broadcast over the CBS radio network, sponsored by Doublemint gum. The approximately two-year interruption resulted from Autry's enlistment in the United States Army to serve in World War II. Initially titled Doublemint's Melody Ranch, the show's name was changed to Gene Autry's Melody Ranch in early 1941. Episodes were 30 minutes long except for a 15-minute version that ran from September 23, 1945 to June 16, 1946. The theme song was "Back in the Saddle Again".
Robin Hood of Texas is a 1947 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and written by John K. Butler and Earle Snell. The film stars Gene Autry, Lynne Roberts, Sterling Holloway, Adele Mara, James Cardwell, and John Kellogg. The film was released on July 15, 1947, by Republic Pictures.
Tumbleweed Theater is an American anthology television series starring western/comedy band Riders in the Sky which ran from 1983 to 1988. The premise of the show was each week, the Riders would present a B-Western/Singing Cowboy movie from the 1930s and 40s and perform songs and sketches between the film.