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Rating:  -
He doesn't seek out justice, he's been given justice. This is a great book. Documents the life of singer and cowboy star Gene Autry. Owner of a chain of radio stations, and famous every holiday season for his rendition of "Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer," this book is a great biography worthy of any cowboy fan.
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I recall the quote in the title from a tribute to Gene Autry in the Orange County Register shortly after his death ten years ago.
For me, Gene Autry was mostly about the music. His old movies were on television during my childhood in the 1950's, along with those of Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers. I also enjoyed those shows, but I loved the songs that Gene Autry sang, "San Antonio Rose," "Rancho Grande," "The Old Lamplighter," "South of the Border," and I could go on and on. Not to mention "Back in the Saddle Again."
For an earlier generation, he was to hillbilly music what Motown artists were to race records. He opened up a narrowly marketed niche music to a much larger audience on the radio and in movies. Before Gene Autry, these market niches were so narrow that anything with fiddles and guitars on the record were automatically assumed to be hillbilly records, such that the recordings of Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of Paris were stocked in the Hillbilly section of some record stores.
Holly George-Warren has written a superb biography. Gene Autry was a man of notable weaknesses that were outweighed by his strengths. He was dealt many poor hands and bad deals but he was able to overcome it through hard work, tenacity, and personal charm. His is a great story well documented and well told.
Also, what comes to mind is how much he represented broad historical forces at work in his generation. The south was barely recovering from the Civil War when a devastating drought set in in the late 1920's. Gene Autry was part of the out migration of the sons of the south to the west. His life also reflected how the power center in the United States shifted southward and westward after World War II.
The hardest thing in this world is to know when to say enough is enough. In that way, he was very human, but at least he wasn't destroyed by his excesses in the way of most men. He was wealthy, yet beloved. He and his first wife loved each other to the end, despite their troubles. He married well both times. He was a great judge of talent. He lived to be 91 and was active almost to the end. Beyond hero worship, I have a subtler admiration for him.
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this book is well written and gives the ordinary person a glimpse into a special life
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This is a well written and highly researched biography, with more than the normal number of photographs. The book is also true to its title, the story is not only about the life of Gene Autry, but also about his time.
We like to think technology zooms super fast in our lives, but most of the time it's the technology that surrounds or enables our profession. Gene Autry saw that actual technology of his profession make quantum leaps that obsoleted prior technology and many of the people employed in the industry. Motion pictures added sound, went to color, and then television overwhelmed the movie industry. Music went from vinyl records to eight-track, to cassette, to CDs. Autry never made a misstep and leveraged each technology change to advance his career.
If you want to read about how to succeed in a rapidly changing world, you could do worse than studying this businessman and entertainer. After all, he made it to the top in both professions.
Public Cowboy No. 1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry is a fascinating biography of an unusual man. Read from a different perspective, it is also better than the majority of business books.
The Shopkeeper
The Shut Mouth Society
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I read Gene's autobiography, "Back in the Saddle," nearly thirty years ago and enjoyed it. George-Warren's book goes much deeper, leaving the hero of all us front-row kids just a little gut-shot. Okay, so Gene fooled around and developed a drinking problem. Maybe finding that out is a bit disappointing, but we're all grownups now, and understand nobody's perfect. And, sadly, neither was Gene, but at this late date it doesn't change anything. I loved those movies and all his songs. I still love listening to the music, but watching the films now, as an adult, I'm a little embarrassed. But Gene Autry was such an important part of my kid-hood .. Well, I still love the guy. I won't say I loved the book, but it was an obviously well-researched and fair treatment of Gene's show-biz career and a welcome addition to my library. Good job, Holly George-Warren. - Tim Bazzett, author of "Love, War & Polio"
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