Singing cowboy
A number of songs have been written and made famous by groups like the Sons of the Pioneers and Riders in the Sky and individual performers such as Marty Robbins, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Bob Baker and other "singing cowboys".
The full popularity of the singing cowboys was not reached until the spread of sound films and the emergence of the commercial country music industry.
Early in his career, 27-year-old John Wayne appeared as "Singin' Sandy Saunders" in Riders of Destiny (1933) and also made seven more films for Monogram Pictures.
The films were successful and boosted Wayne's career after several failures in the wake of the widescreen classic The Big Trail (1930), but he refused to renew his contract in 1935,[5] although he did continue making nonsinging Westerns for Monogram's successor, Republic Pictures.
Because Wayne could not sing, his filmed songs were dubbed by the son of director Robert N. Bradbury, making the obligatory personal appearances a continuous embarrassment for the young actor.
[4][5] Wayne also emphasized authenticity in his Westerns and knew that real cowboys did not routinely sing on the way to a gunfight or wear Singin' Sandy's elaborate costumes.
[6] Autry, initially a rodeo competitor, first rose to popularity as a singer, but his acting career started off quickly with the 1935 film serial The Phantom Empire, and he became a prolific star.
Autry's early popularity, both for his radio and film performances, quickly paved the way for a multitude of imitators, but most attempts didn't get close to his success.
Fred Leedon Scott made a series of films initially with Jed Buell's Spectrum Pictures beginning with Romance rides the Range (1963).
Observing the success of the singing cowboy at other studios, Monogram Pictures engaged Addison Randall for a series of Western films where he initially sang.
Having a variety of experience in supporting roles in many Westerns, Producers Releasing Corporation gave Eddie Dean a series of films beginning with Song of Old Wyoming in 1945.
[10] Ken Curtis, a member of the Sons of the Pioneers singing group, made a series of Westerns at Columbia Pictures accompanied by the Hoosier Hot Shots.
[11] Popular singer Vaughn Monroe filmed two Westerns for Republic Pictures, Singing Guns (1950) and Toughest Man in Arizona (1952) where he sang the hit song Mule Train in the former.
Other notable actors who became famous as singing cowboys were Jimmy Wakely and John 'Dusty' King who appeared in the Range Busters series.
Non-singing cowboy actors such as Buck Jones[12] complained that producers would find it too easy to pad out the length of a film with songs rather than action, characterization, or plot exposition.
