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Post by Jim Boylston on Mar 23, 2011 21:23:26 GMT -5
If I'm not mistaken, Allen used to write liner notes for Varese. Any chance you did these, Allen?
Jim
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 23, 2011 21:43:45 GMT -5
I sure did; for the first of those two. They had me do several Sun collections at that time, including one that had a variety of Sun artists, collections by Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and the Cash double CD (I think it was a double). I did several Autrys for them too and always thought they had don a great job on the Sun stuff.
Allen
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Post by Richard Weddle on Mar 23, 2011 23:41:54 GMT -5
How about that. Turns out I have a few CD's you wrote the liner notes for. Well done on the Cash, Perkins and Lewis. But I haven't heard any Gene Autry CD's.
I've been wanting to get the original, earliest Sons of the Pioneers, too, before they turned away from the west and went pure country.
So what do you recommend listening to in the way of Autry CD's?
Honestly, I've never understood his appeal. I know he could write good lyrics, and I've seen quite a few of his films and episodes. In recent years I studied him more closely on the westerns channel. Then Roy Rogers happened, and I followed Roy. I've worked a couple of shoots at Autry's Melody Ranch, which is no longer a ranch as you know. Gone is the pasture that surrounded it. Today the western street set is walled in and hemmed in by a residential neighborhood that surrounds it. But there is still filming there.
Phantom Empire is one of my favorite 1930s serials -- an absolute hoot.
Richard
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Post by Jim Boylston on Mar 24, 2011 9:16:48 GMT -5
I have a Rhino boxed set called "Songs of the West" that's well worth picking up if you can find it at a decent price (it's out of print, I believe). It covers Roy, Gene, Tex Ritter, the Sons, and a lot of western movie and television material over 4 discs. Not as expansive as a Bear Family set, but it covers a lot of ground.
Columbia used to have a good Sons of the Pioneers compilation at a budget price as well, but I think a lot of their early stuff is in the public domain now so you can likely find a good compilation on any number of major labels.
As for Autry, I have an MCA budget compilation that serves me just fine. I'm more of a Roy fan myself.
On another note, there's a good Gene Autry biography called "Public Cowboy #1," by Holly George Warren that's worth you time
Jim
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 24, 2011 9:36:52 GMT -5
The Varese Autry stuff is largely pulled from the soundtracks of his films and TV shows; they include the versions of songs he recorded for those things. I have to agree that Autry's status (he is the only person who has all 5 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame) is something of a mystery. He said himself, many times, that he was a mediocre singer and couldn't really act at all. But there was something about him that the public took too; I think he came on as the quintessential "nice guy," both in his singing and on screen. I think he wrote or co-wrote more than 600 songs and many were covered later by others. Autry did influence some of the early Sun rockers, especially Johnny Cash (he recorded a great tribute song to Autry). But Autry's real musical achievement may have been as a conduit between traditional country and cowboy music and the pop arena. His songs were played on mainstream radio stations as well as C&W outlets, so segments of the population were first exposed to this kind of music through Autry. In the same way, Autry, who was identified as a cowboy singer, recorded mainstream pop songs too, like "Harbor Lights" and "Blueberry Hill," which added to the melding of his genre with pop. It's hard to pin down this phenomenon, but a simple way to put it is that Autry made country and western music "safe" for the mainstream. His films were huge in the south and other rural areas, and were often billed above the "A" picture at theaters there, but he also had a huge following in eastern metro areas, including the New York area, where I grew up. Every kid wanted to go to Autry's rodeo at Madison Square Garden and I still remember seeing it quite vividly.
Rogers was probably a better musician and singer (didn't he found the Sons of the Pioneers?), but not nearly the businessman Autry was. In fact, Autry was as famous for building fortunes as for his artistic achievements. Rogers became a movie star because Autry "went on strike" at Republic when they wouldn't pay him more and Republic put Rogers in the musical westerns instead. Like Bill Boyd ("Hopalong Cassidy"), Autry had vision and business savvy. He bought up all of his own product, took over production and made a fortune off of it; he wanted control and got it. Rogers never did; he brought in millions to Republic and never got a pittance of it. Only when his TV show hit it big in the 50s and he was able to make big bucks off of merchandising did he really make big money. Autry used his money to make more money by buying radio and TV stations and other investments that paid off.
I've heard that Autry and John Wayne had a running joke whenever they met. Wayne would say "If I could sing, Gene, you never would have had a career!" Autry would respond "Yes I would! It was my great acting that put me over!"
For the music, I like a lot of Autry's early blues stuff, which was heavily influenced by Jimmy Rodgers, and there are several good collections of that on Columbia/Sony CDs. I like a lot of his later cowboy stuff, especially from the early 40s. I think Autry's last (?) album was his only stereo release -- 1960s I believe -- and it's actually quite good. I'm not home now, but I'll try to get more info on this when I get home. The Columbia/Sony CD collections are all worth hearing and cover various eras, but are largely confined to "greatest hits," and there's a lot more than that out there. In the pre-CD days, a small reissue label called Murray Hill put out 2 multi-LP boxed sets of Autry stuff; one was studio material and the other was taken from his long-running radio show.
The Holly George book is the definitive Autry bio, but it REALLY needed an editor! She gets way too far down in the weeds for every Autry recording session, etc., which should have been relegated to an appendix.
Allen
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 24, 2011 9:38:34 GMT -5
Oh - I forgot! I LOVE "Phantom Empire!" There is a good DVD edition of it out (read the reviews on Amazon and be sure you get the right one; a multi-disc set that has been speed corrected. When my daughter was little, I was actually able to get her to watch an old VHS copy I had of this.
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Post by Richard Weddle on Mar 24, 2011 12:22:40 GMT -5
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Post by Jim Boylston on Mar 24, 2011 12:26:42 GMT -5
For my money, Roy was definitely the more accomplished musician. He's an under rated guitarist, and a great singer. I think he really bridged the gap between cowboy music and western swing. Hey, a movie cowboy covering Cole Porter? You've gotta love it!
Jim
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 24, 2011 12:44:02 GMT -5
This is the version I have. I've only watched parts of it as I got it not long ago, but it looks great to me. I wouldn't doubt that it's the best version and as good as the reviews suggest. Allen
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Post by Richard Weddle on Mar 25, 2011 19:13:53 GMT -5
Columbia used to have a good Sons of the Pioneers compilation at a budget price as well, but I think a lot of their early stuff is in the public domain now so you can likely find a good compilation on any number of major labels. I think you mean the "Cool Water" album made up of tracks from the late 1940s and 1950s. I have that. It's nice. Evidently the Sons of the Pioneers made a different kind of music in the 1930s and only Bear Family has collected those, and in chronological order. They want money for it, however. I'm more of a Roy fan myself. How does Roy Rogers hold up as a singer and musician outside of his films? Did he write songs? Did he play an instrument? What about those harmonies, or are harmonies only in his films? On another note, there's a good Gene Autry biography called "Public Cowboy #1," by Holly George Warren that's worth you time. Jim Celebrity actor bios? I rarely get through them. Lightweight lives. I've read a little about some writers and directors whose films mean a lot to me, like Ingmar Bergman's two memoirs. But honestly I learn more by studying their work. I have a lot of their scripts. Richard
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 25, 2011 21:10:52 GMT -5
That Autry bio is anything but lightweight, believe me.
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Post by mjbrathwaite on Apr 24, 2011 18:53:34 GMT -5
I'm not sure I'd want to be alone in a room with Jerry Lee Lewis, although I consider him a major rock & roll pioneer. [/quote] I've just discovered this thread. I've spent time with Jerry Lee Lewis when he's been both drunk and sober, and he's a great guy in both states - although I'd be a bit nervous if he was waving a gun around after the accident he had with his bass player! I like to think I had a slight influence on his work: when he came here in 1970, I asked him to perform "Big Boss Man". He said it was so long since he'd done it that he wasn't sure if he could remember it, but said he'd see what he could do. In the show, he did a great version, and said I'd asked him to do it, then a new version turned up on his next album. I didn't get to meet Johnny Cash, but cycled to our airport six times one day when I thought he would be passing through with Carl Perkins. Eventually, I saw him perform in the 1990s, and was surprised at how much richer his voice sounded than it did on his records.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Apr 24, 2011 19:45:45 GMT -5
Wow! You have my envy! Never got close to any of those Sun guys, but I wish I had.
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Post by mjbrathwaite on Apr 25, 2011 17:30:50 GMT -5
Jerry was the only Sun star I actually got to speak to, although one of my ambitions was to meet Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Elvis as well. I got a Christmas card from Elvis (in 1961), a wave from Roy Orbison and a smile from Johnny Cash, but never even saw Carl Perkins. I got leave from work once to travel to another town to see Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins, but the concert was cancelled. I'd like to meet Charlie Feathers too, but can't see it happening now.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Apr 25, 2011 19:53:03 GMT -5
About the closest I ever got to any of them was interviewing Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana!
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