Austin was born as Lemeul Eugene Lucas in Gainesville, Texas (north of Dallas), to Nova Lucas (died 1943) and the former Serena Belle Harrell (died 1956).[3] He took the name Gene Austin from his stepfather Jim Austin, a blacksmith.[2] Austin grew up in Minden, Louisiana. In Minden, he learned to play piano and guitar.[1] He ran away from home at 15.[1] He attended a vaudeville act in Houston, Texas, where the audience was allowed to come to the stage and sing. On a dare from his friends, Austin took the stage and sang for the first time since singing as a Southern Baptist choir boy. The audience response was overwhelming, and the vaudeville company immediately offered him a billed spot on its ticket.[3]
Austin joined the U.S. Army at the age of 15 in hopes of being dispatched to Europe to fight in World War I.[2] He was stationed in New Orleans, where he played the piano at night in the city's notorious vice district.[1] His familiarity with horses from helping his stepfather in his blacksmithing business prompted the Army to assign Austin to the cavalry and send him to Mexico with General John Pershing's Pancho Villa Expedition, for which he was awarded the Mexican Service Medal. He later served in France in World War I.[2]
On returning to the United States in 1919, Austin settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he briefly studied dentistry and law.[2] Soon, he was playing piano and singing in local taverns. He started writing songs and formed a vaudeville act with Roy Bergere, with whom he wrote "How Come You Do Me Like You Do". The act ended when Bergere married.[3] Austin worked briefly in a club owned by Lou Clayton, who later was a part of the famous vaudeville team Clayton, Jackson and Durante.
Career
Austin, guest of Art Gillham at WQXI Atlanta (September 1953)
Gene Austin was an influential early crooner whose records in their day enjoyed record sales and the highest circulation. He made a substantial number of influential recordings, including a string of best-sellers.[2] Some of his best sellers include "The Lonesome Road", "My Blue Heaven", "Riding Around in the Rain", "Tonight You Belong to Me", and "Ramona".[2] At the peak of his career, Austin demanded that the pianist Fats Waller only could provide accompaniment on his records.[2]
By 1924, Austin was in New York's Tin Pan Alley. His first recording surreptitiously was providing the vocals for the Tennessee guitarist George Reneau, whose own voice did not record well.[1]
His 1926 "Bye Bye Blackbird" was in the year's top 20 records. George A. Whiting and Walter Donaldson's "My Blue Heaven" was charted during 1928 for 26 weeks, stayed at No. 1 for 13, and sold over 5 million copies. It was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.[6] Until Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" replaced it, it was the largest selling record of all time.[1] In the hope of duplicating the success, this was quickly followed by "Ramona", an L. Wolfe Gilbert-Mabel Wayne song created for the 1927 romantic adventure film Ramona with Dolores del Río. It charted for 17 weeks, was No. 1 for eight and easily topped 1 million in sales. It also gained gold disc status.[7] His next success, Joe Burke and Benny Davis' 1928 song "Carolina Moon" was on the charts 14 weeks, with seven weeks at No. 1.[8] The depression struck during Austin's hit-making years, severely damaged the recording industry and, with it, Austin's recording career.[1]
Austin formed a trio with bassist Johnny Candido and guitarist Otto Heimel. They called themselves Gene Austin and his Candy and Coco.[3] They had a radio series from 1932 to 1934.[9]
Colonel Tom Parker, who later became Elvis Presley's manager, gradually worked his way into the music business when he began to promote Gene Austin in 1938.[3][10]
In the 1940s, Austin and his singers toured the U.S. in a 14-truck caravan with its own power plant and cook house. He stopped in Minden, Louisiana, and performed there in a popular tent show on the grounds of the local Coca-Cola plant owned by the Hunter family.[11]
In 1956, CBS made a television drama about Austin's life.[citation needed]
Honors
In 1978, Austin's 1928 Victor recording of "My Blue Heaven" (Victor 20964A), was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[13] In 2005, his 1926 Victor recording of "Bye Bye Blackbird" (Victor 20044) was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as well.[13]
Personal life
Austin married his first wife, Kathryn Arnold, a dancer, in 1924 and divorced her in 1929. They had a child, Ann, born in 1928. Austin married his second wife, Agnes Antelline, in 1933, and their daughter Charlotte was born that same year. He and Agnes divorced in 1940. Austin then married actress Doris Sherrell in 1940, and divorced her in 1946. He married wife number four, LouCeil Hudson, a singer, in 1949, and the marriage lasted until 1966. Austin married Gigi Theodorea in 1967, his fifth and final marriage.
Country music singer Tommy Overstreet, who had his biggest hits in the 1970s, is Austin's third cousin.[14][15]
Austin retired to Palm Springs, California in the late 1950s and was active in civic boards there until 1970. Income from his record sales allowed him to live comfortably the rest of his life.
In 1962, he campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for governor of Nevada.[3][2]
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. was an American singer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1926 to 1977. He was one of the first global cultural icons. He made over 70 feature films and recorded more than 1,600 songs.
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist.
James Francis Dorsey was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You " and "It's The Dreamer In Me". His other major recordings were "Tailspin", "John Silver", "So Many Times", "Amapola", "Brazil ", "Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and Frances Langford, "Grand Central Getaway", and "So Rare". He played clarinet on the seminal jazz standards "Singin' the Blues" in 1927 and the original 1930 recording of "Georgia on My Mind", which were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Ralph Sylvester Peer was an American talent scout, recording engineer, record producer and music publisher in the 1920s and 1930s. Peer pioneered field recording of music when in June 1923 he took remote recording equipment south to Atlanta, Georgia, to record regional music outside the recording studio in such places as hotel rooms, ballrooms, or empty warehouses.
Seger Pillot Ellis was an American jazz pianist and vocalist. He also made a few brief film appearances, most notably in collaboration with director Ida Lupino.
Nathaniel Shilkret was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director.
Crooner is a term used to describe primarily male singers who performed using a smooth style made possible by better microphones which picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range and perform in a more intimate manner. It is derived from the old verb "to croon". This suggestion of intimacy was supposedly wildly attractive to women, especially younger ones such as teenage girls, known at the time as "bobby soxers". The crooning style developed out of singers who performed with big bands, and reached its height in the 1940s to late 60s.
"The Yellow Rose of Texas" is a traditional American folk song dating back to at least the 1850s. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. Several versions of the song have been recorded, including by Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and Mitch Miller.
"Shine On, Harvest Moon" is a popular early-1900s song credited to the married vaudeville team Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. It was one of a series of moon-related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era. The song was debuted by Bayes and Norworth in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1908 to great acclaim. It became a pop standard, and continues to be performed and recorded in the 21st century.
"Missouri Waltz" is the official state song of Missouri and is associated with the University of Missouri.
Charles David Houston was an American country music singer. His peak in popularity came between the mid-1960s and the early 1970s.
"My Blue Heaven" is a popular song written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by George A. Whiting. The song was used in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927. It has become part of various fake book collections.
"Pennies from Heaven" is a 1936 American popular song with music by Arthur Johnston and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby with Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra in the 1936 film of the same name.
"I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You" is a 1932 song recorded by Bing Crosby with Orchestral Accompaniment. The music was composed by Victor Young, with lyrics written by Ned Washington and Bing Crosby. The song is a jazz and pop standard recorded by many different artists.
"The Lonesome Road" is a 1927 song with music by Nathaniel Shilkret and lyrics by Gene Austin, alternately titled "Lonesome Road", "Look Down that Lonesome Road" and "Lonesome Road Blues." It was written in the style of an African-American folk song.
"How Come You Do Me Like You Do?" is a song written by vaudeville comedy duo Gene Austin and Roy Bergere in 1924. It has later been covered by many artists, and is considered a jazz standard.
Irene Taylor (1906–1988) was an American singer best known for her recorded work with Paul Whiteman. She was married to singer and bandleader Seger Ellis.
For music from an individual year in the 1940s, go to 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49
"When My Sugar Walks Down the Street " is a 1920s jazz standard, written by Gene Austin, Jimmy McHugh and Irving Mills in 1924.
"Deep Night" is a song and jazz standard with a melody composed in 1929 by Charles E. Henderson and lyrics written by Rudy Vallee. The tune is written in a minor key.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hoffman, Frank; Birkline, Robert (2016). "Gene Austin". Survey of American Popular Music. Sam Houston State University. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
↑ Shilkret, Nathaniel, ed. Niel Shell and Barbara Shilkret, Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Md., 2005. ISBN0-8108-5128-8
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