Jimmy Wakely(1914-1982)

He was one of filmdom's last dying breed of crooning cowpokes following WWII. Jimmy Wakely had many talents (singing, songwriting, guitar-playing) and performed in many venues (radio, film, TV, rodeos, clubs) over his career. He began life in Mineola, Arkansas in 1914, but was raised in Depression-era Oklahoma. He started off simply as a farmer but his musical talents could not be denied. Eventually he created the vocal trio "The Bell Boys" along with Johnny Bond and entertained in local hot spots while cutting studio recordings. Country western lore has it that a happenstance meeting with Gene Autry while the star was touring in Oklahoma led to the vocal group high-tailing it to California and performing on his Melody Ranch radio program at CBS. The boys eventually settled in California and made their musical film debut in the Roy Rogers Republic western Saga of Death Valley (1939). Wakely's group ended up a staple on Autry's radio show as well, but Jimmy left within a couple of years to focus on films and a recording contract with Decca Records. He and his group appeared in two Hopalong Cassidy films in 1941, Twilight on the Trail (1941), and Stick to Your Guns (1941) and within the films they sang memorable songs such as Lonesome Guitar, Blue Moon on the Silver Sage, Lady O Lay, and My Kind of Country. He would become known for perfecting the hillbilly style with such classic songs as "Cimarron (Roll On)" (his first big hit), "I'm Sending You Red Roses," ""One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)," "Beautiful Brown Eyes," "Too Late" and "I'll Never Let You Go."

Over an extended period of time Jimmy's country trio would warble for a number of top westerns stars in their film vehicles. Known vicariously during their film stay as "Jimmy Wakely and his Rough Riders," "The Jimmy Wakely Trio," "Jimmy Wakely and his Saddle Pals" and "Jimmy Wakely and His Oklahoma Boys," the popular Dick Reinhart and Scotty Harrel often completed the trio along with Wakely and Bond. The boys traveled from studio to studio fine-tuning an assembly line of westerns for such established stars as Don 'Red' Barry, Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter and Charles Starrett, among others.

Thanks to the meteoric successes of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, the various studios were competitively grooming top country singers into film icons. "Poverty Row"-level Monogram Pictures exec Scott R. Dunlap managed to snag the slim, laidback, good-looking Jimmy as their own representative. For the next five years, the dark-haired singer would star in over two dozen oaters, his character heroes usually taking on his own name -- Jimmy Wakely. Dubbed the Bing Crosby of C&W, his stay at Monogram went considerably well though certainly not up to par with the success of the afore-mentioned.

Wakely's first Monogram vehicle was Song of the Range (1944), and he rode off into the sunset five years later with Lawless Code (1949). In between he smooth-sang a lot of tunes and was outfitted with a variety of different sidekicks, notably 'Lee "Lasses" White' and Dub Taylor. Though he took a distant ranking compared to others of his ilk, he proved to be a fine commodity for the fledgling studio. His lasting power was curtailed, however, by the demise of the singing cowboy (and eventually "B" westerns in general).

Following his heyday and into the 1950s, Jimmy continued writing songs and singing on stage. He remained a sturdy name on the rodeo circuit and in country western clubs. As a recording artist he charted a few country hits and was one of the few singers to cross over to the mainstream. In 1952, he became the star of "The Jimmy Wakely Show" for CBS radio and briefly alternated hosting duties on ABC-TV's Five Star Jubilee (1961) with Snooky Lanson, Carl Smith, Rex Allen and old film pal Tex Ritter. He eventually developed his own record company called Shasta Records in the 1960s and 1970s and owned two music publishing companies. Converting part of his California homestead into a recording studio, he made commercial records for other country western artists as well. Two of his children, Linda Lee and Johnny, showed singing talents and occasionally joined him on the performing stage. Long wed to wife Inez (since 1936) who became his business manager, they had two other daughters, Carol and Deanna. Jimmy developed emphysema in later years and died in California of heart failure in 1982.