He began his movie career at Republic Pictures as a supporting character, including several in the Gene Autry series:
THE OLD CORRAL (1936) and THE OLD BARN DANCE (1938).
In 1938, because of dispute by Gene Autry, Republic gave Roy Rogers (born: Leonard Slye) the opportunity to star for his first western movie. The film was titled UNDER WESTERN STARS, a topical story in the 1930s about the dust storms out west which resulted from lack of water.
Ten years later after his first starring role, Roy Rogers celebrated his 10th anniversary in films with a similar titled feature: UNDER CALIFORNIA STARS.
In that film he sang the same hit song as in his first feature in 1938.
What is that song?
Read on...
The Song
One of the greatest songs featured in a B-western movie was featured in both UNDER WESTERN STARS (1938) and
UNDER CALIFORNIA SKIES (1948).
In the 1938 movie there are 7 songs, 4 of them sung by Roy Rogers.
The song that had the most popularity was titled,
"Dust" -- music & lyrics by Johnny Marvin
This song was the first one from a B-western to be nominated for an Academy Award (or Oscar). The only other song from a B-western to be Oscar-nominated was "Be Honest With Me" from
RIDIN' ON A RAINBOW (1941), sung and co-written by Gene Autry.
In the years that followed, "Dust" has been credited to Gene Autry as co-writer. That's because Gene had also recorded this song and liked it.
So he bought the song and gave himself co-writer credit with Marvin. Gene often bought songs and put his name on them.
"Dust" was recorded by Roy Rogers as a Vocalion single in March of 1938. That is the best version of the song. The song was also recorded by other singers including Gene Autry and Jimmy Wakely.
Nine years later, Roy sang the song again, this time accompanied by the Sons of the Pioneers. They were featured on March 22, 1947 on a radio program, "Saturday Night Roundup." It is available on this recommended 3 CD Set from Rhino, with deluxe illustrated booklet:
Film Stars and Singing Cowboys
Read these e-books:
"Following the Stars": Music and Memories of Hopalong Cassidy
-- songs and scores from Hopalong Cassidy films plus memories from the fan who posed with Hoppy of Look magazine in 1950. Includes extra photos and audio files.
"Dream World": Songs, Poems and Stories -- featuring memories of Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, and Roy Rogers. Also original song lyrics, poems and audio files.
For other information, click on this link:
Cowboy Songs Corral
Tune Week
Pick some of your favorite Gene Autry, Roy Rogers or other western singers for the annual week known as Carry A Tune Week.
Read more at
National Carry A Tune Week
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