Gene Autry's Melody Ranch is a Western variety radio show in the United States. A 15-minute pilot show aired on December 31, 1939. The program ran from January 7, 1940 to August 1, 1943, and from September 23, 1945 to May 16, 1956.French, Jack & Siegel, David S. (eds.) (2014). "Radio Rides the Range: A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929-1967. McFarland & Company, Inc. . p. 75. The show's entire run was broadcast over the CBS radio network, sponsored by Doublemint gum.Dunning, John. (1976). Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925-1976. Prentice-Hall, Inc. , p. 236. The approximately two-year interruption resulted from Autry's enlistment in the United States Army to serve in World War II. Initially titled Doublemint's Melody Ranch,Doublemint's Melody Ranch cast publicity photo, circa late 1940, CBS KNX Playhouse, Sunset and Gower, Hollywood, California, left to right: Frankie Marvin (steel guitar, standing), Frank Nelson ("Reno", seated), Dwight Muma (violin, standing), Hoarce Murphy ("Shorty", seated), unidentified (violin, standing), Mary Lee Wooters (kneeling), Lou Bring (leader, standing), Carl Cotner (violin, standing), Michsa Russel (violin, standing), Gene Autry (standing), Eddie Tudor (guitar, standing), Jimmy Wakely (seated), unidentified (accordion, standing), Johnny Bond (seated), Dick Reinhart (standing), Doc Whiting (bass, standing)Johnny Bond, Reflections: The Autobiography of Johnny Bond, JEMF Special Series, No. 8, John Edwards Memorial Foundation, University of California, Los Angeles, 1976, Melody Ranch cast photo with IDs and location, Johnny Bond Scrapbook Excerpts between pp. 38 and 39 the show's name was changed to Gene Autry's Melody Ranch in early 1941. Episodes were 30 minutes long except for a 15-minute version that ran from September 23, 1945 to June 16, 1946. The theme song was "Back in the Saddle Again".French, Jack & Siegel, David S. (eds.) (2014). Radio Rides the Range: A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929-1967. McFarland & Company, Inc. , pp. 77-78.
In its early years the show was broadcast live before a studio audience from the CBS Columbia Square KNX Playhouse at Sunset and Gower in HollywoodRigney Graphics, List of Existing Melody Ranch Radio Show Transcriptions 1939-1954 with song/drama titles, artists/cast, studio/station/location, and notes by Karla Buhlman and Mike Johnson (no longer available on the website) and preserved on acetate disc. Later on it was taped prior to airtime, usually at KNX.Bond, Johnny, 30 Years on the Road with Gene Autry, Riverwood Press and the Beverly and Jim Rogers Museum of Lone Pine Film History, copyright 2007 Sherry Bond, pp. 32-33,170 When on tour, the show would originate through the facilities of local CBS affiliate stations. Sometimes it took place at a special event. In 1951 the program had an 8:00 p.m., Saturday night, 30 minute time slot.Toledo Blade August 11, 1951, Peach Section, Radio and Television Programs, Saturday Radio Programs, 8 p.m., WJR, Gene Autry, see: https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7WVRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VAAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3243%2C4424484, p. 16, lower left The show for August 11, 1951 originated from the Illinois State Fairgrounds at Springfield, Illinois. The guests were Governor of Illinois Adlai E. Stevenson II and 12-year-old 4-H Club member Shelby Jean Thomas of Kilbourne, Illinois.Schaden, Charles, Speaking of Radio, Pat Buttram Interview and Gene Autry's Melody Ranch show of August 11, 1951. To listen to the show click Here and scroll down the page to Gene Autry's Melody Ranch. Then hover over and click on the play button at the left. You may need to enable Adobe Flash Player. The date given is August 1952 but clues in the show and the list of Illinois State Fair Grandstand Performers from 1946-2016 indicate the airdate to have been Saturday, August 11, 1951.Illinois State Fair Grandstand Performers, 1946-2016 - see performers for 1951 and 1952
Background The William Wrigley Jr. Company selected Autry's program for sponsorship after hearing an audition episode. The show replaced Gateway to Hollywood, which the company had sponsored. An item in the January 1, 1940, issue of Broadcasting magazine reported that the program "will feature Gene Autry, singing cowboy, and dramatics" and that it would be carried on 67 CBS stations.New Wrigley Series, Broadcasting, January 1, 1940, p.24, bottom rightFrancis Chase, Jr., Radio's Richest Cowboy, Radio Guide, November 17, 1939, front cover, pp. 4,5
Format Centering on the talent and popularity of the star, singing cowboy Gene Autry, each episode of the program "consisted of a Western adventure interspersed with interludes of music."Buxton, Frank and Owen, Bill (1972). The Big Broadcast: 1920-1950. The Viking Press. SBN 670-16240-x. P. 96. John Dunning, in his reference book, Tune in Yesterday, summarized the format as follows: His own show changed little over the years. It featured a slightly sophisticated version of his 1929 act—Autry stories and songs, projected in a campfire atmosphere. Autry told his listeners that his broadcasts were coming directly from his home, Melody Ranch, in the San Fernando Mountains. He surrounded himself with a cast of regular foot-stompers ... The music was decidedly Western, with heavy accordion emphasis. There was usually one "Cowboy Classic" by Autry. [Pat] Buttram's acts were inserted for comic relief and consisted mainly of back-and-forth banter with Autry ... The highlight of each show, at least for the juvenile listeners, came when Autry told a 10- to 15-minute story, fully dramatized, of some recent adventure. An article in Movie-Radio Guide in 1941 gave a couple of examples of plots used on the show: "Sometimes they're initiating an eastern tenderfoot visiting the ranch; sometimes they're saving the school teacher and her children trapped in a ring of fire."Gene Autry and His "Melody Ranch", Movie-Radio Guide, March 1, 1941, p.33. Article includes photo of Gene Autry with cast members Shorty Long (Horace Murphy), Mary Lee Wooters, Tom Hanlon, Jimmy Wakely, Johnny Bond, and Dick Reinhart. - from https://www.worldradiohistory.com/index.htm Two episodes of the program featured notable variations from the standard format. One involved the changing of the name of Berwyn, Oklahoma, to Gene Autry, Oklahoma.Gene Autry's Home Burns, Movie-Radio Guide, November 22–28, 1941, p.9Cowboy Gene Autry gets final accolade of fame - a town is named for him!, Movie-Radio Guide, December 13, 1941, pp. 9,10 From there, on November 16, 1941, the Melody Ranch program aired as a part of the name-changing ceremony.Gene Autry, Oklahoma, History, Oklahoma Historical Society An Oklahoma Gazette article from September 3, 2009, included the following information:He is also the namesake of an Oklahoma town, population 99. Born in Texas, Autry was raised north of the Red River near Ravia after his parents moved there in the 1920s. Autry's Flying A Ranch, where the famous cowboy kept his rodeo stock, was located adjacent to the town that was, at the time, known as Berwyn. In honor of the presence of cowboy royalty in its midst, the town was renamed Gene Autry in 1941.
To mark the occasion, Autry broadcast his Gene Autry's Melody Ranch radio show from the Flying A, and more than 35,000 people turned out for the festivities, which included Autry parading through the town atop a flatbed car. At the time, the population of the newly re-christened town was around 300 people, according to Mary Schutz, director of programs and publicity at the Gene Autry Oklahoma Museum there.
Three weeks later, on Sunday, December 7, 1941, from the CBS KNX Playhouse, Studio C, in Hollywood, the live broadcast of the Melody Ranch program was delayed for a 15-minute news update regarding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which had commenced some six hours earlier in the morning at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. Probably not yet aware of the attack, everyone in the KNX studio was stunned. Somehow they managed to get through a shortened program after the cue was finally given to begin.Bond, Johnny, 30 Years on the Road With Gene Autry, Riverwood Press and the Beverly and Jim Rogers Museum of Lone Pie Film History, copyright 2007 Sherry Bond, p. 53Attack Finds Network News Setups Ready - Commercials Cancelled, Broadcasting, December 15, 1941, p.9, column 4
On December 21, 1941, a 45-minute Melody Ranch Christmas Special aired from the KNX Playhouse in Hollywood. The 45 minute format continued on into 1942 with a second drama added as the theme of the program quickly changed to support the war effort. The second drama was often about a historic U.S. Cavalry battle with the Indians or a similar historic event. The songs were a mix of Western and patriotic selections.
The other notable episode came July 26, 1942, when Autry took his oath of office to join the United States Army Air Forces during that day's broadcast of the Melody Ranch programGene Autry's Melody Ranch Radio Show July 26, 1942, Enlistment of Orvon Gene Autry into the U.S. Army Air Forces, Chicago, IllinoisAndrews, Bill, Sergeant Gene Autry (cover story), Movie-Radio Guide, September 5, 1942, pp. cover,4,33, which originated from the CBS WBBM Playhouse, Studio 10, in Chicago.Family Search, United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, Orvon G. AutryFrench, Jack & Siegel, David S. (eds.) (2014). Radio Rides the Range: A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929-1967, McFarland & Company, Inc. , pp. 76. There, at 4:02 minutes into the program, we hear Virginia Vass sing "Idaho".Virginia Vass, Melody Ranch show of July 26, 1942, Click on "Idaho" to listen. She was a regular vocalist on the Melody Ranch show at the time. In mid 2009, at the age of 93, Virginia recalled Gene Autry and his Melody Ranch show in an Out of the Past interview by Chuck Langdon and Lee Shephard.Chuck Langdon and Lee Shephard, Out of the Past, Virginia Vass Interview, 2009Hillbilly Heart-Throbs,The Vass Family
The most significant change in the program was to come after Gene Autry's induction into the U.S. Army Air Forces. While the format remained the same it was the theme that was modified. The name of the show was changed to Sergeant Gene Autry retaining its same CBS timeslot."Autry Series Revamped", Broadcasting, August 3, 1942, p. 45 The show began to include Army Air Forces songs and the drama became Army Air Forces oriented as well. At first still originating at or through KNX in Los Angeles and WBBM in Chicago, soon the show began originating from various Army Air Forces bases through local CBS stations, often from one of Luke Field's facilities through CBS affiliate KOY in Phoenix as well as from various air fields in Texas and elsewhere. Personnel changed in the process using those then in the U.S. Army Air Forces. The members of the trio were now Eddie Dean, Jimmie Dean (brother of Eddie), and Dick Reinhart. Carl Cotner was also in the service and was still involved with the program. The program now included much talk about and interviews of Army Air Forces personnel and songs such as "Private Buckaroo", "Army Air Corps Song", and "I'll Trade My Horse and Saddle for a Pair of Wings". There was also still a cowboy song or two included as well as a Western Classic.