More vividly than anyone else, Gene Autry captured the romantic paradox of the Old West: a wide-open independence and excitement laced with periods of deep loneliness and depression. "Back in the Saddle Again," "Deep in the Heart of Texas," and "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle" are jubilant celebrations of life on the trail. "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds" and "Take Me Back to My Boots and Saddle" are plaintive reflections about the lure of the frontier. "Mexicali Rose" and "The Call of the Canyon" long for the women he's left behind. "The Last Round-Up" offers the somber words of a cowboy on his deathbed. This wonderful 18-song collection trots from Autry's early Jimmie Rodgers-inspired yodels to his warm-voiced pop ballads, and serves as a definitive single-CD overview of the ultimate "Singing Cowboy." --Marc Greilsamer
Gene Autry is known as the Christmas Cowboy and this special digitally remastered Christmas collection was produced in conjunction with the Gene Autry Estate. This release is like no other Gene Autry Christmas collection. Not only does it contain every original Columbia Records Christmas song he recorded, but it also features in the eight-page booklet rare art from the original record releases, and new liner notes from Grammy-nominated, award-winning author Holly George-Warren (who is currently writing the first-ever comprehensive biography of Gene Autry). This is a must have collection for all fans who have enjoyed his Christmas classics for generations.
This unique collection boasts 11 songs previously unreleased plus rarities not heard since the legendary singing cowboy's Melody Ranch Radio Show ! Gene introduces and comments on many of these: Peace in the Valley; Cowboy's Heaven; Bless This House; In the Garden (with Dinah Shore) 18 tracks!
We might just take issue with that title, because Gene Autry really was and is country's single biggest star, the man who brought the music to the masses via record and film. And this 100-track collection covers his early sides, which were heavily influenced by Jimmie Rodgers but given Gene's own homespun, cowboy flavor; includes Pistol Packin' Papa; Do Right Daddy Blues; Cowboy Yodel; In the Jailhouse Now; Left My Gal in the Mountains; Waiting for a Train; Pictures of My Mother; Money Ain't No Use Anyway; I'm Blue and Lonesome; T.B. Blues; True Blue Bill , and more.
