The Singing Cowboy by L. A. Keller

-

Recently my mother moved from Virginia to Arizona to a lovely place which provides activities and entertainment. One of the featured performers, who we are looking forward to seeing, is the Singing Cowboy, Gary Sprague and his horse Dusty.  Although I've never heard him, I have passed by Gary in Old Town Scottsdale on the street with Dusty.

This made me think about the origin of the singing cowboy. Although before my time, the earliest singing cowboy I know of was Gene Autry. An actor, singer, songwriter and rodeo performer he came to fame in the 1930's and 40's on radio, movies and television. he was most known for a song he didn't write, "Back in the Saddle Again", not to be confused with the Aerosmith song of a similar name. However, he did write Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, much to my surprise.

My research shows that there was, in fact, an earlier singing cowboy, Ken Maynard sang in 1930 followed by Bob Steele and, my most shocking fact, John Wayne. Gene, however made 93 films in his singing cowboy persona. Tex Ritter was another famous singing cowboy. You may know him as the father of that Three's Company star, John Ritter. We never heard John sing but he definitely had the genes for it.  Lastly, we cannot forget Roy Rogers who sang Happy Trails, which was written by his wife, Dale Evans. Rogers became Autry's biggest competition for the role of singing cowboy superstar.

I miss those old movies on television. You knew the good guys would win in the end. Despite, shootings, there was never any blood and you can't help but laugh at the dramatic overacting on the part of every bad guy. The horses ran faster than any Kentucky Derby contestant and the cowboys rarely missed a shot, when it counted.

Spend a day or a weekend and kick back with your jumbo popcorn on the sofa and watch some of the old westerns. They may not have been historically accurate but they did provide hours of entertainment for anyone who dreamed of the Wild West.

References:
https://www.hhhistory.com/2019/06/the-singing-cowboy.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Autry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Trails_(song)

Happy Trails,

Leslie


Twitter     Instagram     Facebook     Menu for Murder     Cocktails at Sunset

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Does the Wine Glass Matter by L. A. Keller

-
Image
As part of my restaurant series, this post is about the vessel you use to consume your juice - the fermented grape juice variety. Personally, I love a beautiful glass from which to drink wine. The more shapely and delicate the more I enjoy the wine - not because it always makes the wine dramatically  better but it adds to the pleasure of the act.  I also tend to break them routinely so I go through lots of different glassware. The first question you may ask is whether to have stemware or stemless (also known as a tumbler).  There was a trend a few years ago to move away from glasses with stems.  I agree that the stemless version is sturdier all around. You are less likely to knock the glass over and unable to snap off the stem when washing. These are easy to load in the dishwasher, but not always advisable for any wine glass depending on the quality of the glass. However, the biggest issue with stemless glasses is that you are holding the glass, and thus the wine, in your hand.
Read more

I Don't Believe in Happily Ever After by L. A. Keller

-
I've been so busy writing Reunion in the Desert and trying to finish the third book in the Jayne Stanford series that I left this short story hanging. I'm including part Nine with the new installment as a brief review.  You can read the entire series in my blog posts or email me for one complete copy.  Part 9 “I gave up on happily ever after. Maybe I'm not cut out for a relationship. Maybe, I just don't like being committed to one person for longer than two weeks.” Clare kicked off her running shoes at the back door of her grandmother, Mae’s house. She winced when she thought about how much she spent on them but the fabric absorbed manure like a sponge and there was no way they would ever come clean. She figured she may as well throw them out, along with all her plans for this weekend. Hours of chores around the farm had worn her down more than all day client meetings. Mae hummed a tune as she prepared their lunch. Clare knew she had been guilt tripped in
Read more

Jayne's Restaurant Review - Fabio on Fire by L. A. Keller

-
Image
I was meeting friends for dinner and wanted to select a place I've never been.  My friend suggested Fabio on Fire in Peoria, Arizona. When I viewed the website, I thought it looked like a casual pizza joint. I was partially right in that it was small and casual but I was wrong about it being just a pizza place. I am officially obsessed!   Located in a small strip shopping area the outside may not impress you but the food definitely will. I dined right before they closed for Labor Day weekend to expand to a larger space in the same location. I can't wait to return to see the changes and to sample more of the amazing food.   There were six adults and a child for dinner. We started with the Caprese and Charcuterie with prosciutto and delicious cheeses. I could have dined exclusively on these starters but we moved on to the lamb chop special, butternut squash ravioli, gnocchi and short rib ravioli.  Each dish was presented well and impeccably prepared. I've hear
Read more