Gene Autry

The American performer who gained fame as a ‘Singing Cowboy’ in the movies got his early start in Richmond.

Gene Autry completed 93 movies and starred in 91 television productions, but it was his early recording sessions at the Gennett Recording Studios in Richmond that launched him to stardom.

Young Autry was working at a small-time radio station in rural Oklahoma when he wrote Gennett in 1929 and got a recording date.

This future entertainment legend arrived in Richmond nervous and insecure, with a portfolio of ballads and yodeling cowboy songs. But he gave it his best.

He recorded several numbers for Gennett and gained the small following of a much-needed national audience.

This singing cowboy immortalized in films got his early start in Richmond and the image stuck.


 

 


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June 19, 2012