Roy Rogers and "Dust"
In 1938, because of dispute by Gene Autry with RKO, Roy Rogers (born: Leonard Slye, 1911-1998) was given the opportunity to star for his first Republic western.
The film was titled UNDER WESTERN STARS, a topical story about the lack of water and the dust storms in the West.
It is available on this DVD:.
UNDER WESTERN STARS
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 song as in his first feature in 1938.
What is that song? Read on...
The Song
The song featured in both UNDER WESTERN STARS (1938) and
UNDER CALIFORNIA STARS (1948) was "Dust" (music & lyrics by Johnny Marvin).
This song was the first one from a B-western to be nominated for an Oscar in its first appearance in UNDER WESTERN STARS. 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. Why the change from just Johnny Marvin? Probably because Autry had also recorded this song and he liked the song.
So he bought the song and gave himself co-credit with Marvin.
"Dust" was recorded by Roy Rogers as a Vocalion single in March of 1938. Nine years later, he 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:
UNDER WESTERN STARS is also available in this collection from
Mill Creek Entertainment:
Roy Rogers 20 Movie Pack (4 DVD)
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Film Stars and Singing Cowboys
Also read about two eBooks:
"Following the Stars": Music and Memories of Hopalong Cassidy
"Dream World": Songs, Poems and Stories -- featuring memories of Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, and Roy Rogers. Also includes music files.
For other information, click on this link:
Singing Cowboy Songs
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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.
This year's event runs from
Sunday, October 5 to Saturday, October 11, 2008
Read more here:
National Carry A Tune Week 2008
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Western News
Are you looking for an informative publication about cowboy films?
Then you should subscribe to Western Clippings, the newsletter skillfully put together by Boyd Magers, who has written a great book about Gene Autry's movies and TV shows, titled:
Gene Autry Westerns: America's Favorite Cowboy (Empire Publishing, 2007)
Western Clippings is chock full of interesting articles and news about vintage cowboy films and people.
To order the Gene Autry book or subscribe to Western Clippings, write to:
vidwest@comcast.net
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Cowboy Song Polls
There is a web page devoted to vintage western film music
and cowboy songs and singers. Also cowboy music web polls.
Read about it at this link:
Cowboy Song Corral
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AMP Links
Cowboy Singers and Songs
Singing Cowboy Photos
Hopalong Cassidy Music
"Back in the Saddle Again" - A Centennial Tribute to Gene Autry
"The Last Roundup" -- A Tribute to Billy Hill
"On the Banks of the Sunny San Juan" -- A Tribute to Eddie Dean
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