Rex Allen

Rex Elvie Allen (born December 31, 1920 in Willcox , Arizona , † December 17, 1999 in Tucson , Arizona) was an American country singer and actor , who was considered one of the last " singing cowboys " of Hollywood .

Life

Childhood and youth

Rex Allen was the child of parents Horace Allen and Faylle Clark, who owned a farm in Mud Springs Canyon. He got his first guitar at the age of eleven, and later accompanied his father, who played fiddle , to local barn dance shows. After graduating from high school, he got a job on a radio station in Phoenix , Arizona . However, he left Phoenix a little later to travel around with rodeo shows. But even here, Allen could not find peace and after a serious injury at a rodeo , he turned back to music. In 1943 he got his first job with a radio station in Trenton, New Jersey .

Career

In 1946 he began his music career with the National Barn Dance in Chicago . He had performed on several radio stations since 1943, but never got permanent employment. Shortly thereafter, the Mercury Records signed Allen. After several unsuccessful singles, he had his first hit in 1949 with Afraid , which reached number 14 on the C&W charts. In the same year he went to Hollywood , where he hosted radio shows, soon after he was hired by Republic Pictures and his first film was produced. In 1950 the film The Arizona Cowboy was a success and by 1954 it starred in 19 different westerns. These westerns described the conquest of the Wild West in a glorified way, and the mid-1950s were the prime of these films. From the mid-1950s, Allen switched to television, where he was seen in 39 episodes of the Frontier Doctor series .

Lonesome Letter Blues

Allen also sang in most of his films, so Sparrow In The Tree Trop became a top ten hit on the C&W charts in 1951. In 1951 Allen switched to Decca Records , where he had his greatest success in 1953 with Crying in the Chapel . In the early 1960s he moved back to Mercury, where he had his last big hit, Don't Go Near The Indians , in 1961 . The song was written by country singer Sheb Wooley . During the 1970s he was mostly active as a narrator in various Walt Disney films, for example in the Oscar-nominated short film Cow Dog . His eldest son, Rex Allen, Jr. also became a country musician. He earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his acting success and was inducted into the Western Music Association Hall of Fame in 1983.

Rex Allen died on December 17, 1999, at the age of 78, when he was accidentally run over by one of his employees.

Discography

year	Title artist	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, artist , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	Country
1949	Afraid Rex Allen and the Arizona Wranglers with Jerry Byrd	-	Country14 (... weeks) Country	Author: Fred Rose
1951	The roving child	US20 (4 weeks) US	-	Author: Rex Allen; based on the folk song The Pirate Ship
	Sparrow in the tree top	US28 (2 weeks) US	Country10 (... wk.) Country	with the Jud Conlon Singers and the Harry Geller Orchestra Author: Bob Merrill
1953	Crying in the Chapel	US8 (15 weeks) US	Country4 (... weeks) Country	Author: Artie Glenn; 1965 a hit for Elvis Presley million seller
1961	Marines, let's go	-	Country21 (... weeks) Country	Authors: George Watson, Mike Phillips
1962	Don't go near the Indians	US17 (8 weeks) US	Country4 (13 weeks) Country	with the Merry Melody Singers Author: Lorene Mann
1964	Tear after tear	-	Country44 (3 weeks) Country	Authors: Fred Burch, Marijohn Wilkin
1968	Tiny bubbles	-	Country71 (5 weeks) Country	Author: Leon Pober

Individual evidence

1. ↑ US catalog number Mercury 6192, the names of the performers are: Rex Allen and The Arizona Wranglers with Jerry Byrd. Whitburn, Joel: Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits . 2nd Edition. New York: Billboard Books, 2006, p. 22
2. ↑ Erlewine, Michael / Bodanov, Vladimir u. a. (Ed.): All Music Guide to Country Music . San Francisco, Cal .: Miller Freeman Books, 1997, p. 6
3. ↑ A recording with the Harry Geller Orchestra and the Jud Colin Singers as a background choir; US catalog number Mercury 5597. Whitburn, Joel: Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits . 2nd Edition. New York: Billboard Books, 2006, p. 22
4. ↑ US catalog number: Decca 28758; the single reached number 10 on the best seller charts and number 4 on the C&W charts, cf. Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Records 1940–1955 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, 1973, p. 9
5. ↑ The record, US catalog number Mercury 71997, reached number 17 on the US singles chart. Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 10; in the C&W charts it reached number 4; Whitburn, Joel: The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Hits . 7th revised and expanded edition, New York City, New York: Billboard Books, 2005, p. 22
6. ^ Billboard Pop Hits Singles & Albums 1940-1954 by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2002, ISBN 978-0-89820-198-7 / Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 by Joel Whitburn , Record Research 2007, ISBN 978-0 -89820-172-7
7. ↑ Before the gold record was introduced in 1958, there were only estimated, unofficial sales from the music labels

literature

• Stambler, Irwin / Landon, Grelun: Encyclopedia Of Folk, Country And Western Music . New York / London: St. Martin's Press, 1969, pp. 7f
• Shestack, Melvin: The Country Music Encyclopaedia . London: Omnibus Press, 1977, pp. 5f
• Dellar, Fred / Thompson, Roy: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Country Music . Foreword by Roy Acuff. 2nd edition London: Salamander Books, 1979, p. 10
• Erlewine, Michael: All Music Guide to Country Music. San Francisco, Cal .: Miller Freemann Books, 1997, pp. 6f

Web links

• Rex Allen on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)
• Rex Allen at Allmusic (English)
• Rex Allen in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Rex Allen at Music VF