Gene Austin
Encyclopedia
Gene Austin was an American
singer and songwriter
, one of the first "crooner
s". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road
" became pop and jazz standards.
(north of Dallas
), to Nova Lucas (died 1943) and the former Serena Belle Harrell (died 1956). He took the name "Gene Austin" from his stepfather, Jim Austin, a blacksmith
. Austin grew up in Minden
, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana
, located east of Shreveport
. There he learned to play piano
and guitar
. He ran away from home at 15 and attended a vaudeville
act in Houston, Texas
, where the audience was allowed to come to the stage and sing. On a dare from his friends, Austin took the stage and sang for the first time since singing as a Southern Baptist
choir boy. The audience response was overwhelming, and the vaudeville company immediately offered him a billed spot on their ticket.
Austin joined the U.S. Army at the age of 17 in hopes of being dispatched to Europe
to fight in World War I
. He was first stationed in New Orleans, where he played the piano at night in the city's notorious vice
district. His familiarity with horses from helping his stepfather in his blacksmithing business also prompted the Army to assign Austin to the cavalry
and send him to Mexico
with General John Pershing's Pancho Villa expedition
, for which he was awarded the Mexican Service Medal
. Thereafter, he served in France
in the Great War.
On returning to the United States in 1919, Austin settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he intended to study dentistry
. Soon, however, he was playing piano and singing in local tavern
s. He started writing songs and formed a vaudeville act with Roy Bergere, with whom he wrote "How Come You Do Me Like You Do." The act ended when Bergere married. Austin worked briefly in a club owned by Lou Clayton, who later was a part of the famous vaudeville team Clayton, Jackson and Durante
.
," "Riding Around in the Rain," and "Ramona
."
Gene Austin's compositions included "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street
", recorded by Duke Ellington
, Nat King Cole
, The Ink Spots
, Hot Lips Page, Johnny Mathis
, The Four Freshmen
, Bix Beiderbecke
, Red Nichols
' Five Pennies, Ella Fitzgerald
, Sy Oliver
, and the Wolverines Orchestra; "How Come You Do Me Like You Do?", recorded by Fletcher Henderson
and His Orchestra, Gene Rodemich
, Marion Harris
, George Wettling
, and Erroll Garner
; "The Lonesome Road", written with Nat Shilkret, recorded by Bing Crosby
, Fats Waller
, Louis Armstrong
, Eddy Arnold
, Don Gibson
, Mildred Bailey
, Les Paul
, Judy Garland
, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Sammy Davis, Jr.
, Dick Dale
, The Fendermen
, Frank Sinatra
, Chet Atkins
, Bobby Darin
, Duane Eddy
, Paul Robeson
, Jerry Vale
, Muggsy Spanier
, Tommy Dorsey
, Benny Goodman
, Jimmie Lunceford
, Frankie Laine
and Ted Lewis
; "Riding Around in the Rain", written with Carmen Lombardo
and "The Voice of the Southland".
Arriving with the advent of electro-magnetic recording, Austin, along with Rudy Vallee
, Art Gillham
, Nick Lucas
, Johnny Marvin and Cliff Edwards
, adopted an intimate, radio-friendly, close-miked style that took over from the more sentimental style of tenor vocals popularized by such singers as Henry Burr
and Billy Murray
. Such later crooners as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Russ Columbo
all credited Austin with creating the musical genre that began their careers.
Gene Austin was an important pioneer crooner whose records in their day enjoyed record sales and the highest circulation. The Genial Texan ex-vaudevillian and would-be screen idol, Austin constitutes an underrated landmark in popular music history. He made a substantial number of influential recordings from the mid-1920s including a string of best-sellers. His 1926 "Bye Bye Blackbird
" was in the year's top twenty records. George A. Whiting
and Walter Donaldson
’s "My Blue Heaven
" was charted during 1928 for 26 weeks, stayed at #1 for 13, and sold over five million copies (until Bing Crosby's "White Christmas
" replaced it, it was the largest selling record of all time). In the hope of duplicating the success, this was quickly followed by "Ramona
", an L. Wolfe Gilbert
-Mabel Wayne song created for the 1927 romantic adventure film Ramona with Dolores Del Rio
. It charted for 17 weeks, was #1 for eight and easily topped a million in sales. Despite its longevity as a ballad, however, his next success, Joe Burke
and Benny Davis
’ 1928 song "Carolina Moon
", did not quite measure up to its predecessors, albeit out of 14-weeks charted it stayed for seven at #1.
Offered to work in Hollywood at the height of his career as the "Voice of the Southland", Austin appeared in three films, Belle of the Nineties
(1934), Klondike Annie
(1936) and My Little Chickadee
(1940), at the request of his personal friend, Mae West
.
Gene Austin married his first wife, Kathryn Arnold, a dancer, in 1924 and divorced her in 1929. They had a child, Ann, born in 1928. Austin married his second wife, Agnes Antelline, in 1933, and their daughter Charlotte was born that same year. He and Agnes divorced in 1940. Austin then married actress Doris Sherrell in 1940, and divorced her in 1946. He married wife number four, LouCeil Hudson, a singer, in 1949, and the marriage lasted until 1966. Austin married Gigi Theodorea in 1967; this was his fifth and final marriage. Country music singer Tommy Overstreet
, who had his biggest hits in the 1970s, is Austin's third cousin.
made a television drama about Austin's life. In 1962, Austin campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic
nomination for governor
of Nevada
. He polled only 5,017 votes (10.21 percent) to his opponent, Grant Sawyer
, who received 40,168 ballots (81.4 percent) Sawyer then won the governorship by a nearly 2-1 margin over weak Republican
opposition in the fall campaign.
Austin had retired to Palm Springs
, in the late 1950s and had been active in civic boards there until 1970. Income from his record sales allowed him to live comfortably the rest of his life. He died in Palm Springs of lung cancer
and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California
. He was a godfather of country singer David Houston
, who like Austin also lived in Minden, Louisiana, during his youth.
In 2005, Gene Austin's 1926 Victor recording, Victor 20044, of "Bye Bye Blackbird", was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a recording which has long been considered a definitive rendition of that song.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, one of the first "crooner
Crooner
Crooner is an American epithet given to male singers of pop standards, mostly from the Great American Songbook, either backed by a full orchestra, a big band or by a piano. Originally it was an ironic term denoting an emphatically sentimental, often emotional singing style made possible by the use...
s". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road
The Lonesome Road
"The Lonesome Road" is a 1927 song with music by Nathaniel Shilkret and lyrics by Gene Austin, alternately titled "Lonesome Road", "Look Down that Lonesome Road" and "Lonesome Road Blues." It was written in the style of an African-American folk song....
" became pop and jazz standards.
Career
Austin was born as Lemeul Eugene Lucas in Gainesville, TexasGainesville, Texas
Gainesville is a city in and the county seat of Cooke County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,538 at the 2000 census.-History:...
(north of Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
), to Nova Lucas (died 1943) and the former Serena Belle Harrell (died 1956). He took the name "Gene Austin" from his stepfather, Jim Austin, a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
. Austin grew up in Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, located east of Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
. There he learned to play piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. He ran away from home at 15 and attended a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
act in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, where the audience was allowed to come to the stage and sing. On a dare from his friends, Austin took the stage and sang for the first time since singing as a Southern Baptist
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
choir boy. The audience response was overwhelming, and the vaudeville company immediately offered him a billed spot on their ticket.
Austin joined the U.S. Army at the age of 17 in hopes of being dispatched to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to fight in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He was first stationed in New Orleans, where he played the piano at night in the city's notorious vice
Vice
Vice is a practice or a behavior or habit considered immoral, depraved, or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a defect, an infirmity, or merely a bad habit. Synonyms for vice include fault, depravity, sin, iniquity, wickedness, and corruption...
district. His familiarity with horses from helping his stepfather in his blacksmithing business also prompted the Army to assign Austin to the cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
and send him to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
with General John Pershing's Pancho Villa expedition
Pancho Villa Expedition
The Pancho Villa Expedition—officially known in the United States as the Mexican Expedition and sometimes colloquially referred to as the Punitive Expedition—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the paramilitary forces of Mexican insurgent Francisco "Pancho" Villa...
, for which he was awarded the Mexican Service Medal
Mexican Service Medal
The Mexican Service Medal is an award of the United States military which was established by General Orders of the United States War Department on December 12, 1917...
. Thereafter, he served in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the Great War.
On returning to the United States in 1919, Austin settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he intended to study dentistry
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
. Soon, however, he was playing piano and singing in local tavern
Tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....
s. He started writing songs and formed a vaudeville act with Roy Bergere, with whom he wrote "How Come You Do Me Like You Do." The act ended when Bergere married. Austin worked briefly in a club owned by Lou Clayton, who later was a part of the famous vaudeville team Clayton, Jackson and Durante
Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
.
Recordings
RCA Victor bought his popular song "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street", which he recorded solo and in a duet with Aileen Stanley. Nat Shilkret, in his autobiography, describes the events leading to the recording. In the next decade with RCA, Austin sold over 80 million records—a total unmatched by a single artist for 40 years. Best sellers included "The Lonesome RoadThe Lonesome Road
"The Lonesome Road" is a 1927 song with music by Nathaniel Shilkret and lyrics by Gene Austin, alternately titled "Lonesome Road", "Look Down that Lonesome Road" and "Lonesome Road Blues." It was written in the style of an African-American folk song....
," "Riding Around in the Rain," and "Ramona
Ramona (song)
"Ramona" is a 1928 song, with lyrics written by L. Wolfe Gilbert and music by Mabel Wayne.-History:It was created as the title song for the 1928 adventure film-romance Ramona . The song was used again in the 1936 remake of the movie...
."
Gene Austin's compositions included "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street
When My Sugar Walks Down the Street
When My Sugar Walks Down the Street is a 1920s jazz standard, written by Gene Austin, Jimmy McHugh and Irving Mills in 1924.The Victor Talking Machine, bought by RCA and renamed RCA Victor at the end of 1928, made the first major recording of the song in January 1925. In his autobiography,...
", recorded by Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, The Ink Spots
The Ink Spots
The Ink Spots were a popular vocal group in the 1930s and 1940s that helped define the musical genre that led to rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and the subgenre doo-wop...
, Hot Lips Page, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, The Four Freshmen
The Four Freshmen
The Four Freshmen is a multiple Grammy-nominated American male vocal band quartet that blends open-harmony jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires , The Pied Pipers , and The Mel-Tones , founded in the barbershop tradition...
, Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
, Red Nichols
Red Nichols
Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
' Five Pennies, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Sy Oliver
Sy Oliver
Melvin "Sy" Oliver was a jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader...
, and the Wolverines Orchestra; "How Come You Do Me Like You Do?", recorded by Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...
and His Orchestra, Gene Rodemich
Gene Rodemich
Eugene Frederick Rodemich was a pianist and orchestra leader, who composed the music for Frank Buck’s first movie, Bring 'Em Back Alive .-Early life:...
, Marion Harris
Marion Harris
Marion Harris was an American popular singer, most successful in the 1920s. She was the first widely known white singer to sing jazz and blues songs....
, George Wettling
George Wettling
George Wettling was an American jazz drummer.He was one of the young white Chicagoans who fell in love with jazz as a result of hearing King Oliver's band at the Lincoln Gardens in Chicago in the early 1920s...
, and Erroll Garner
Erroll Garner
Erroll Louis Garner was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His best-known composition, the ballad "Misty", has become a jazz standard...
; "The Lonesome Road", written with Nat Shilkret, recorded by Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Fats Waller
Fats Waller
Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Eddy Arnold
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...
, Don Gibson
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
, Mildred Bailey
Mildred Bailey
Mildred Bailey was a popular and influential American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing"...
, Les Paul
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
, Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
, Dick Dale
Dick Dale
Dick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...
, The Fendermen
The Fendermen
The Fendermen were a pop/rockabilly duo in the early 1960s.At the time The Fendermen formed, the group was primarily composed of Jim Sundquist , and Phil Humphrey...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
, Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young"...
, Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
, Jerry Vale
Jerry Vale
Jerry Vale is an American singer.-Career:In high school, in order to make some money, he took a job shining shoes in a barbershop in New York City. He sang while he shined shoes, and his boss liked the sound so well that he paid for music lessons for the boy...
, Muggsy Spanier
Muggsy Spanier
Francis Joseph Julian "Muggsy" Spanier was a prominent cornet player based in Chicago. He was renowned as the best trumpet/cornet in Chicago until Bix Beiderbecke entered the scene....
, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Jimmie Lunceford
Jimmie Lunceford
James Melvin "Jimmie" Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.-Biography:...
, Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
and Ted Lewis
Ted Lewis (musician)
Theodore Leopold Friedman, better known as Ted Lewis , was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician. He led a band presenting a combination of jazz, hokey comedy, and schmaltzy sentimentality that was a hit with the American public. He was known by the moniker "Mr...
; "Riding Around in the Rain", written with Carmen Lombardo
Carmen Lombardo
Carmen Lombardo was the younger brother of bandleader Guy Lombardo. He was a vocalist and composer whose compositions included the 1928 classic "Sweethearts on Parade", which was number one for three weeks in 1929 on the U.S...
and "The Voice of the Southland".
Arriving with the advent of electro-magnetic recording, Austin, along with Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
, Art Gillham
Art Gillham
Art Gillham, , was an American songwriter, who was among the first crooners as a pioneer radio artist and a recording artist for Columbia Records....
, Nick Lucas
Nick Lucas
Nick Lucas born Dominic Nicholas Anthony Lucanese was an American singer and pioneer jazz guitarist, remembered as "the grandfather of the jazz guitar", whose peak of popularity lasted from the mid-1920s to the early 1930s.-Career:In 1922, at the age of 25, he gained renown with his hit renditions...
, Johnny Marvin and Cliff Edwards
Cliff Edwards
Cliff Edwards , also known as "Ukelele Ike", was an American singer and voice actor who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. He had a number-one hit with "Singin' in the Rain" in 1929...
, adopted an intimate, radio-friendly, close-miked style that took over from the more sentimental style of tenor vocals popularized by such singers as Henry Burr
Henry Burr
Henry Burr was a Canadian singer of popular songs from the early 20th century, an early radio performer and producer...
and Billy Murray
Billy Murray (singer)
William Thomas "Billy" Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century...
. Such later crooners as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Russ Columbo
Russ Columbo
Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolpho Colombo , known as Russ Columbo, was an American singer, violinist and actor, most famous for his signature tune, "You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love", his compositions "Prisoner of Love" and "Too Beautiful For Words", and the legend surrounding his early...
all credited Austin with creating the musical genre that began their careers.
Bye Bye Blackbird
"Bye, Bye, Blackbird" is a song published in 1926 by the American composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Mort Dixon. It is considered a popular standard and was first recorded by Gene Austin in 1926.- Song information :...
" was in the year's top twenty records. George A. Whiting
George Whiting
George Elbridge Whiting was an American composer of classical music.-Early life and career:Born in Holliston, Massachusetts, he founded the Beethoven Society in Hartford, Connecticut when he was fifteen years old. He moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1862 and later to New York City. Whiting was a...
and Walter Donaldson
Walter Donaldson
Walter Donaldson was a prolific United States popular songwriter, composing many hit songs of the 1910s and 1920s.-History:...
’s "My Blue Heaven
My Blue Heaven (song)
"My Blue Heaven" is a popular song written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by George A. Whiting. It has become part of various fake book collections....
" was charted during 1928 for 26 weeks, stayed at #1 for 13, and sold over five million copies (until Bing Crosby's "White Christmas
White Christmas
A white Christmas refers to the presence of snow on Christmas Day. This phenomenon is most common in the northern countries of the Northern Hemisphere...
" replaced it, it was the largest selling record of all time). In the hope of duplicating the success, this was quickly followed by "Ramona
Ramona (song)
"Ramona" is a 1928 song, with lyrics written by L. Wolfe Gilbert and music by Mabel Wayne.-History:It was created as the title song for the 1928 adventure film-romance Ramona . The song was used again in the 1936 remake of the movie...
", an L. Wolfe Gilbert
L. Wolfe Gilbert
Louis Wolfe Gilbert was a Russian-born American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Odessa, Russian Empire, Gilbert moved to the United States as a young man and eventually established himself as one of the leading songwriters on Tin Pan Alley.Gilbert began his career touring with John L...
-Mabel Wayne song created for the 1927 romantic adventure film Ramona with Dolores Del Rio
Dolores del Río
Dolores del Río was a Mexican film actress. She was a star of Hollywood films during the silent era and in the Golden Age of Hollywood...
. It charted for 17 weeks, was #1 for eight and easily topped a million in sales. Despite its longevity as a ballad, however, his next success, Joe Burke
Joe Burke (composer)
Joseph A. Burke was an American composer and pianist. He was born in Philadelphia and died in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music and started as a pianist accompanying silent movies and an arranger in a music publishing firm. It was during this time...
and Benny Davis
Benny Davis
Benny Davis was a vaudeville performer and writer of popular songs. He composed the classic 1926 standard "Baby Face" with Harry Akst.-Life and career:...
’ 1928 song "Carolina Moon
Carolina Moon
"Carolina Moon" is a popular song written by Joe Burke and Benny Davis. The song was a 1928 hit for crooner Gene Austin, when it charted for 14 weeks, staying at number one for 7 weeks....
", did not quite measure up to its predecessors, albeit out of 14-weeks charted it stayed for seven at #1.
Offered to work in Hollywood at the height of his career as the "Voice of the Southland", Austin appeared in three films, Belle of the Nineties
Belle of the Nineties
Belle of the Nineties is Mae West's fourth motion picture, directed by Leo McCarey and released by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on West's original story It Ain't No Sin which was also to be the film's title until censors objected...
(1934), Klondike Annie
Klondike Annie
Klondike Annie is a 1936 black-and-white comedy film starring Mae West and Victor McLaglen. The film was co-written by West from her play "Frisco Kate", which she wrote in 1921. The film was directed by Raoul Walsh....
(1936) and My Little Chickadee
My Little Chickadee
My Little Chickadee is a Universal comedy/western motion picture starring Mae West and W. C. Fields, with Joseph Calleia, Ruth Donnelly, Margaret Hamilton, Donald Meek, Willard Robertson, Dick Foran, George Moran, William B. Davidson, and Addison Richards. It was directed by Edward F. Cline...
(1940), at the request of his personal friend, Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
.
Gene Austin married his first wife, Kathryn Arnold, a dancer, in 1924 and divorced her in 1929. They had a child, Ann, born in 1928. Austin married his second wife, Agnes Antelline, in 1933, and their daughter Charlotte was born that same year. He and Agnes divorced in 1940. Austin then married actress Doris Sherrell in 1940, and divorced her in 1946. He married wife number four, LouCeil Hudson, a singer, in 1949, and the marriage lasted until 1966. Austin married Gigi Theodorea in 1967; this was his fifth and final marriage. Country music singer Tommy Overstreet
Tommy Overstreet
Tommy Overstreet is an American country singer. Often known simply as "T.O." by fans and radio disc jockeys, Overstreet has five top five hit singles in the Billboard country charts and 11 top 10 singles. His popularity peaked in the 1970s.-Early life:Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Overstreet...
, who had his biggest hits in the 1970s, is Austin's third cousin.
Television
In 1956, CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
made a television drama about Austin's life. In 1962, Austin campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nomination for governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. He polled only 5,017 votes (10.21 percent) to his opponent, Grant Sawyer
Grant Sawyer
Frank Grant Sawyer was an American politician. He was the 21st Governor of Nevada from 1959 to 1967. He was a member of the Democratic Party....
, who received 40,168 ballots (81.4 percent) Sawyer then won the governorship by a nearly 2-1 margin over weak Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
opposition in the fall campaign.
Austin had retired to Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
, in the late 1950s and had been active in civic boards there until 1970. Income from his record sales allowed him to live comfortably the rest of his life. He died in Palm Springs of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
. He was a godfather of country singer David Houston
David Houston (singer)
Charles David Houston was an American country music singer. His peak in popularity came between the mid-1960s through the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, who like Austin also lived in Minden, Louisiana, during his youth.
Honors
In 1978, Gene Austin's 1928 Victor recording, Victor 20964A, of "My Blue Heaven", was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.In 2005, Gene Austin's 1926 Victor recording, Victor 20044, of "Bye Bye Blackbird", was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a recording which has long been considered a definitive rendition of that song.