ROOTS of Country Music

Country music was born of hard luck lives and heartbreak, with its singers as raw and roughed up as the songs. Its early singers were the stuff of legends; unashamed of humble beginnings, dogged by tragedy, uneasy with fame, often in search of redemption. The stories captured the imagination of Hollywood, with filmmakers turning them into classics and clunkers. It is the wail of the American heartland that appeals and the plain-spoken lyrics make for easy plot points.

Gene Autry's (90 films), Tex Ritter (60 films) and Roy Rogers (91 films) led the stampede of swinging cowboys in the 1930s and 1940s. Singing cowboy pictures had interchangeable plots and quickie shooting schedules. Country stars such Bill Boyd, Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff, Bob Wills, Spade Cooley and Foy Willing were recruited by Hollywood studios as cinema stars.

The Girl From Tobacco Row: Ron Ormond was producer of this film. Per its title, the film concerns a young lady from a tobacco-growing community, played by Rachel Romen. Surrounded by a flock of inbred boyfriends who won't take no for an answer, Rachel struggles to rise above her poverty-stricken surroundings. Legendary singing cowboy Tex Ritter, who certainly didn't need the money, is top billed in this inexpensive melodrama. Cast: Ralph Emery; Rita Faye; Tim Ormond; Earl Richards; Tex Ritter; Rachel Romen; Johnny Russell; Martha Carson; Smiley Wilson; Kitty Wilson; Fiddlin' Arthur Smith; Jimmy Mulcay; Mildred Mulcay.

Forty Acre Feud: In this backwoods comedy, set in an obscure Tennessee county, two clans, the Culpeppers and the Calhouns begin to feud over the best candidate for state representative. Peace is restored when the Smokey Mountain Jamboree comes to town and plays their good old fashioned country music. Cast: Ferlin Husky - Simon Crumb; Loretta Lynn; Minnie Pearl - Ma Culpepper; Del Reeves - Del Culpepper; Claude Casey - Uncle Foxey Calhoun; Skeeter Davis; Roy Drusky; George Jones; Hugh X. Lewis; Sam Tarpley - Postmaster Amos Quint; Ray Price; Bill Anderson.

Hidden Guns (1956)

Cast: Bruce Bennett, Richard Arlen, John Carradine, Faron Young, Lloyd Corrigan, Angie Dickinson & Guinn "Big Boy" Williams

Director: Al Gannaway

Hidden Guns is not so much a western as a suspense melodrama. A murderous outlaw has the town so intimidated that no one dares to speak out against him.

Bruce Bennett plays Stragg, a mean-spirited cardsharp with friends in high places. Ruthless gambler Stragg guns down a man who catches him cheating at cards, but the only witness willing to talk is the victim's brother. Though he has ordered the killing of a rival, Stragg is able to escape prosecution by greasing a few local palms.

Sheriff Ward Young has 48 hours to bring the killer to justice, or the corrupt city council will take his badge away. The fearless lawman plans to see Stragg hang before those two days are up, but a hired killer shoots down the eyewitness. Despite the sheriff's well-deserved reputation for being quick on the draw, the gunman targets him as the next victim.

Great performances by Bruce Bennett and Richard Arlen propel this taut and exciting sagebrush thriller. Hidden Guns also boasts veteran character actor John Carradine as a viciously wicked villain and beautiful Angie Dickinson in one of her earliest roles. Faron Young, America's No.1 western recording star, makes a rare screen appearance here as the sheriff's son.

Alphabetical Listing

1. Arizona Cowboy (Rex Allen)
2. Arizona Trail (Tex Ritter)
3. Back in the Saddle (Gene Autry)
4. Blazing the Western Trail (Bob Wills)
5. Brand of Fear (Jimmy Wakely)
6. Calamity Kate (Tex Ritter & Bob Wills)
7. California Mail (Sons of the Pioneers)
8. Corrine, Corrina (Spade Cooley)
9. Coward of the County (Kenny Rogers)
10. Deep in the Heart of Texas (Tex Ritter)
11. Forty Acre Feud (lynn, Reeves, Jones)
12. Gangsters of the Frontier (Tex Ritter)
13. Go West, Young Lady (Bob Wills)
14. Heart of the Rio Grande (Gene Autry)
15. Hidden Guns (Faron Young)
16. Home in Oklahoma (Roy Rogers)
17. Honeysuckle Rose (Willie Nelson)
18. Honkytonk Man (Robbins, Price, Wagoner)
19. Kimberly Jim (Jim Reeves)
20. Lights of Old Santa Fe (Roy Rogers)
21. Mexicali Rose (Gene Autry)
22. Mule Train (Gene Autry)
23. Man From Music Mountain (Gene Autry)
24. Melody Stampede (Spade Cooley)
25. My Pal Trigger (Roy Rogers)
26. Nashville Rebel (Waylon Jennings)
27. Oklahoma Blues (Jimmy Wakely)
28. Old Barn Dance (Gene Autry)
29. Old Chisholm Trail (Tex Ritter)
30. Pals of the Silver Sage (Tex Ritter)
31. Pure Country (George Strait)
32. Radio Ranch (Gene Autry)
33. Rim of the Canyon (Gene Autry)
34. Roll on Texas Moon (Gene Autry)
35. Rollin' Home to Texas (Tex Williams)
36. South of the Border (Gene Autry)
37. Take Me Back to Tulsa (Spade Cooley)
38. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Parton)
39. The Cowboy and the Indians (Gene Autry)
40. The Girl From Tobacco Row
41. The Last Musketeer (Rex Allen)
42. The Lone Star Rangers (Tex Ritter)
43. The Old Corral (Autry, Sons of the Pioneers)
44. The Old Wyoming Trail (Sons of the Pioneers)
45. The Whispering Skull (Tex Ritter)
46. Under Mexicali Stars (Rex Allen)
47. Under Western Stars (Roy Rogers)

Researched, compiled and written by Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music, August, 2011.

References: Record Research; Country Music Singles 1944 -- 1993; Billboard Magazine; Roots of Country Music Chronicles