What part did Hollywood play in promoting Country Music?

Films made during the 1930’s and 1940’s saw Hollywood (never one to miss an opportunity) embrace the ever more popular country music scene. Superstars of the day, such as Roy Rogers and Gene Autry (along with Rogers’ wife Dale Evans) combined their movie stardom with a number of hit country songs.

Roy Rogers
Dale Evans

Gene Autry

Many of these country songs were especially written for the films, but both Rogers and Autry cashed in on the movies popularity by getting the soundtracks of these films released, which was a great success as far as their careers were concerned, and popular with the paying public.

Roy Rogers (real name Leonard Franklin Slye) and Dale Evans (pictured left) went on to have very successful careers on television with their own country show, whilst Gene Autry (The Singing Cowboy, pictured right) also found lasting fame with singing and acting. He was most famous for his signature tune ‘Back in the Saddle Again’ and author of ‘The Cowboy Code’.

Both Rogers and Autry passed away within months of each other in 1998, but their contribution to the furtherance of country music is undeniable.

To find these and many other country stars why not mosey on over to my Country Music Store at www.countrysongscountrysingers.com and make yourself at home.