Sapulpa Showcase (December 2019)

Artifact of the Month:

Gene Autry, "Back in the Saddle Again" album, circa 1966.

Gene Autry bio on the back of the album:
"There was this eighteen-year-old boy in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, back in the mid-twenties working as a railroad telegrapher. A passenger got off the train one day and happened to hear the lad singing. The passenger allowed as how if the boy kept up the good work he'd be a success. The passenger was Will Rogers. The telegrapher was Gene Autry.

"Gene, figuring Will should know what he was talking about, set out for Hollywood with his horse. (He was no phony cowboy-he was born a real ranch near Tiago, Texas.) Now, there had been countless cowboy heroes in the movies-but Gene was the first singing cowboy to become a worldwide celebrity. For some thirty years his home was on the range (on location and in the studio), and he made millions from motion pictures, writing and publishing some two hundred songs, writing and publishing some two hundred songs, and by dealing in real estate as well. He now also owns the Los Angeles Angels baseball team, just to mention another project.

"But all this affluence should not obscure the fact that he is one of the est singers of cowboy songs ever. His basic wonderful way with a song, his warmth and sincerity-these are what made it all possible. In this album you will find some of the greatest songs he has ever sung."