Gene Autry started out singing country blues, and he never stopped being a musician and singer as his career stretched on to include radio, movies, and television, and he was a star every stop along the way. But he was also an astute businessman, and his financial dealings ended up making him one of the wealthiest people in America. Still, the backbone of his success was music, and he astutely balanced movie career stardom with a recording career, singing cowboy songs in his movies in what may well be the first real example of cross-multimedia branding and marketing in pop. This 25-song collection of songs that relate to the state of Texas in one way or another features
Autry with the Cass County Boys,
Jimmy Long, Mary Lee, and
Smiley Burnette on sides recorded between March 31, 1934 and December 3, 1955. ~ Steve Leggett