Issue
34
- December 10, 2009 - Page 1
of 3
A
Periodic
Newsletter
Now that I have "retired," again, I am starting to dig out of a backlog of revisions and/or additions to this web site. It is a big, big job and I ask for your patience as I start making those changes.
Recently I added listings for or made changes to the listings for Dr. Don Coldsmith, Elmer Kelton, Benny Garcia, Jim Gough, Bobby Copeland, Ed Stabler, Earl W. Bascom, Texas Rose Bascom, Slim Whitman and Warner Baxter.
I would also like to start performing at other festivals and events, as well as schools, since I have shaken loose the shackles of full-time employment. So whatever and wherever the event, please keep me in mind for storytelling, cowboy poetry, music and emcee work.
I have posted to my Flickr account the photos which Peggy and I took during the recent Gene Autry Music & Film Festival at Gene Autry, Oklahoma. Just click on this link -- Gene Autry Photos . I also posted to my YouTube account a few movies that I took during the festival.
Thought you might also enjoy watching a short video clip that packs in photos (plus year of birth and death) of many of the great B-Western movie stars. Just click on -- B-Westerns . [Thanks to my cuzz Gordon Pearigen for sending it to me.]
Our sincere condolences go out to Western entertainer and long-time friend Peggy Coleman of Pawnee, Oklahoma in the death of her mother on November 28th. Her mother endured a long illness and died at home in Ohio surrounded by loved ones.
Les Gilliam's latest CD is now available. The title is "Oklahoma 1955".This CD is in response to many requests for an album the folks can dance to at home. The title song tells about Western Swing music in Oklahoma in 1955, when Oklahoma was tops in Western Swing. Included are several Bob Wills songs and some old pop tunes from that era. You may order it through his web site, www.lesgilliam.com. Les Gilliam and his band played at Silver Dollar City again this last fall. And they have been booked there again in 2010 for their 14th consecutive year. They will be performing four times per day in the Red Gold Heritage Hall during Oct 13 though Oct 30, 2010. They perform at 10:30am, 1 pm, 2 pm and 3 pm.
Award-winning Western singer Peggy Malone is, as it turns out, also a gifted historical writer and poet as well. You can get a taste of her work by clicking on this link for the online site called The Fence Post . If the link is no longer valid, just use the search engine at the top right and search for her name. You'll find two articles.The first, "The Ol' Gully Ranch," is a history of the Gully Ranch in Colorado and includes the poem she wrote in 1974 about the ranch. The second result of a search will lead you to a nice article about Peggy herself. And I see in it that Peggy and her husband, Billy, have been married for 47 years (as of past June). Hey, we could almost have had a double wedding. My wife, also named Peggy, and I were married in Ventura, California on May 31, 1962, also 47 years ago. Congratulations, Peggy and Billy Malone.
December 11-13
Monterey (California) Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival. 800-722-9652.
December 12
Jody Nix & his Texas Cowboys band will play for the 5th annual Lincoln County Sheriff's Posse's "Cowboy Ball" in beautiful Ruidoso, NM. Tell our ol' pard Jody that Cowboy Stan said howdy. I had him as a guest on my morning talk show several times over KSNY radio in Snyder, Texas. The last time would have been some 20 years ago. Yikes!
December 18
Michael Martin Murphy's annual "Cowboy Christmas Ball" in the Great Hall of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, OK. 405-478-2250. Get your tickets now, because it is mite near sold out each year.
December 25
The international date on which Christians choose to celebrate the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, born to Mary in Bethlehem of Judea. The singing group called Go Fish has posted a video on YouTube that is worth your time. The song is, "It's Called 'Christmas' With a Capital C" . No, it ain't quite a cowboy beat to the music, but it grows on you. [Sent to me by Kit Collings]
2010
January 18
The Cowboys of Color Rodeo will be held at 2 pm at the Fort Worth (Texas) Stock Show (see more information on page 3)
January 23-30, 20010
The 26th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering at Elko, Nevada is the "granddaddy of 'em all". Ramblin' Jack Elliott, a friend of the late Woody Guthrie, is one of the featured entertainers. See more information at www.westernfolklife.org
Ode to Identical Twins
by
Cowboy Stan Paregien
Copyright 1991
A Spanish señora gave birth
To not
one son, but two.
Her proud husband was a
vaquero
On a large ranching crew.
The boys were such
identical twins,
Why, nobody could tell 'em
apart.
Their
pretty madre strutted her stuff,
Parading
them around in a small cart.
They
named one of the sons Juan,
After a
church bishop they once met.
The
other son they named Amal,
After, .
. . well, nobody knows, even yet.
One day
they rode in to Laredo town
To a
photographer's small shop.
He first
shot a photo of little Juan,
But then
the frugal father said, "Stop."
"Don't
you want photos of both sons?"
The man
behind the camera did call.
But the
vaquero firmly explained:
"If
you've seen Juan, you've seen Amal."
or
electronically
without the express written permission
of
the author.
Write to him at :
cowboystan@live.com.
Cowboy poet and pal Rudy Gonzales told me years ago
that
he often uses this poem in classes he teaches on
writing.
Weldon Ferrin tells about an early-day "Stop Smoking" system that really worked. At least once.
"Grandpa Lorrin Ferrin of Wilmore, KS smoked cigars for years. I don't know for how long because he died in 1921 before I was born. He was very frugal, as most people were of that day. When a cigar butt got too short he would save it until evening and always leave it laying on the back of the wagon tongue, behind the double tree to dry out so that he could smoke more out of it the next day.
"Dad [Ernest Ferrin] thought that was too good a chance at a practical joke to turn down. He carved a hog turd in the proper shape and blackened one end with matches, then wet and mashed the other end with pliers so it would look like it had teeth marks. He exchanged it for one of grandpa's snipes which lay drying on the wagon tongue.
"Grandpa put it in his mouth and tried several matches to light it before he realized what had happened. I believe dad said that was the last whipping he ever got, but it did break Grandpa from smoking. He never smoked another cigar again in his life."
[Originally published in Commanche County Kansas: History & Genealogy, and reprinted in The Newsletter of the Cowboy Storyteller Association of the Western Plains, edited by Roger Ringer, 1374 NE Goldenrod, Medicine Lodge, KS 67104.]
See there, even the political cartoonists like cowboys.
Installment #3
George-Warren, an award-winning
writer, editor and frequent commentator on Western films, music, and
fashion.This 406 page book was published in 2007 by Oxford University
Press. As the year of 1938 dawned, Gene was convinced that he had proven his power to draw people to the movie theaters. So, being the bottom-line businessman that he was, he demanded more money per film, a better distribution system (where theaters did not have to also book other Republic films just to get his), and more creative control. That, of course, was when it hit the fan. Or to be more exact, that was when studio head Herb Yates hit the ceiling. He wasn't about to cave in to this crooning hayseed cowboy that he had created. So the war of wills began.
Gene, in essence, went on strike. Yates, for his part, suspended Autry and filed lawsuits against him. A whole posse of process servers followed Autry around to his public appearances, but were kept at bay by Autry's staff and fans. They caught up with him, however, in Nashville, Tenn. And Gene was barred from appearing at his three sold-out performances, so he simply sat in the front row and directed the paces of the other performers, including Champion. His fans were very supportive, but Herb Yates was not amused.
Yates had a plan designed to force Autry to come crawling back, cowboy hat in hand. He hired a lanky kid from Duck Run, Ohio and began grooming him to replace Gene Autry. The kid was named Leonard Slye but had done a little film work under the name of Dick Weston. Yates re-christened him as "Roy Rogers" (trading, somewhat, on the popularity and name of Will Rogers). Yates put much more money into Rogers' films than he had into Autry's. Slye, now Roy Rogers, had been one of the original founders of The Sons of the Pioneers. He was handsome, could sing and play the guitar, and was very personable. So his career took off like a rocket.
Perhaps Yates was hoping that Autry would run short of money and, then, gladly accept whatever terms the studio dictated. But that didn't happen. Autry had built up quite a nest egg on which to live, plus he was making a considerable about of money from his recordings, music publishing business, rodeos, and various endorsements (guitars bearing his name sold by Sears, Roebuck; a line of comic books published by Dell).
Then, as if on
cue, along came some more cash. Kenton Hardware in Kenton, Ohio was a
small manufacturing company which had seen a steep decline in their
sales of cast-iron piggy banks. The company came up with the idea of
getting some cowboy star to let them produce a cap gun modeled after
the star's own gun. Gene Autry signed on to the deal and sent one of
his guns to them to create the mold. The genuine "Gene Autry Cap Gun"
began rolling off the line in February of 1938. By August the company
had sold over 1 million guns at fifty-cents each (nearly twice the
amount of any other cap gun). It was a sweet deal for Gene (he got 5%
of the wholesale price) and, as it turned out, for that company and the
town of Kenton. In fact, the people were so appreciative of the jobs
that were saved that they created a "Gene Autry Day" celebration that
still goes on today.Early in 1938 Gene and wife Ida were able to begin enjoying their new home at 10985 Bluffside in North Hollywood, California. Ida liked the English country side look, so this house reflected that style both inside and out. Gene's preference, the Western style, dominated their other home a few miles away at their ranch in Chatsworth.
Interestingly, Gene and Ida had a very simple financial arrangement. She received exactly half of whatever profit he made. One wonders whether the agreement was a sign of his love and devotion for her, as well it might have been. The skeptic would wonder, based on Gene Autry's notorious womanizing even after he was married, whether it was a post-nuptial contract designed to protect his growing empire and glowing public image from the costly effects of a divorce and settlement. Perhaps the truth will never be known. Regardless, the arrangement continued until Ida's death.
By this time, Gene's younger brother, Dudley Autry, went to work at Republic Pictures (ironically) in the wardrobe department and moved out of Gene's home. The empty nest was soon replaced by Ida's newly widowed mother, Lilly Spivey.
Still, their social life was vibrant and included an inner circle made up of Hollywood newcomers Ray and Kay Whitley, Johnny and Gloria Marvin, and Fred and Lorene Rose. It was Ray Whitley, himself a star in some B-Western movies, who wrote "Back in the Saddle, Again" -- which became Gene's theme song. And Johnny Marvin and Fred Rose would go on to write many hit songs for Gene. Many of the songs by these writers also showed Gene Autry as a co-writer and, thereby, qualifying for his part of the royalties from each song. It was an arrangement which Gene made again and again, whether he had much actual input on the creation of the songs, because songwriters were eager to get on the Gene Autry bandwagon.
More later.
NOTE:
This is the 60th anniversary of Gene Autry's recording of the song, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". That song, written by Johnny
Marks was recorded by Gene at Columbia
Records in Hollywood on March 21, 1949. The band behind him included
Johnny Bond on guitar, Carl Cotner and Louise Heising on fiddles, and
Bert Dodson on bass fiddle, and The Pinafores on vocal backgrounds.
Gene did not want to do this "ugly duckling" kind of song, and most of
the executives at Columbia did not think people would buy a children's
record by a cowboy movie star. The two people who did want Gene to do
it were the head of the children's record division at Columbia and Ida
Autry. Gene reluctantly agreed to the project. The song sold 2 million
copies in 1949 and rose to Number 1 on the hit parade. It is still one
of the best-selling songs ever.And, don't forget, that Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman co-wrote another Christmas favorite, "Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)". He recorded that song on Aug. 28, 1947 at Columbia Records. The band included Johnny Bond on guitar, Bert Dodson on bass fiddle, Carl Cotner on the fiddle, Fred Martin on the accordion, and Jerry Scoggins on guitar.
he was a pilot in the U.S. Army during World War II
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