Western stars rode musical trails to CMA Hall of Fame

The Western flavor of the Augusta Futurity, which begins today in the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center, reminds me of the many western music stars who have been inducted into the Country Music Association's Hall of Fame.

Here's a look at several:

GENE AUTRY (1907-98): Inducted 1969. Orvon Gene Autry, born in a farmhouse near Tioga, Texas, was one of the most famous Western movie stars and one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. He made hits of western songs including The Last Roundup and Back in the Saddle Again, and also scored with classic Christmas songs including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He was one of television's biggest Western stars with The Gene Autry Show.

JOHNNY BOND (1915-78): Inducted 1999. Cyrus Whitfield Bond, born in Enville, Okla., appeared in a Roy Rogers movie and sang on Gene Autry's radio show. Bond wrote many hit songs, including Cimarron. His guitar licks were a part of Gene Autry's recordings and radio shows.

PATSY MONTANA (1908-96): Inducted 1996. Rubye Blevins of Hot Springs, Ark., was the first female country star to sell more than a million records, with I Want to Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart.

WILLIE NELSON (1933-): Inducted 1993. Willie Hugh Nelson, born in Abbott, Texas, studied agriculture at Baylor University in Texas and once sold Bibles door to door. Mr. Nelson became known in the 1970s for his recordings with Waylon Jennings, including the anthem Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys. His Farm Aid benefit concerts have raised more than $24 million for American farmers.

TEX RITTER (1905-74): Inducted 1964. Woodward Maurice Ritter, born in Panola County, Texas, was one of the first artists signed to Capitol Records, in 1942. He's known for songs including Rye Whiskey, Deck of Cards, I Dreamed of Hillbilly Heaven and the theme song for the Western movie High Noon.

MARTY ROBBINS (1925-82): Inducted 1982. He was born Martin David Robinson near Glendale, Ariz. His song El Paso earned the first Grammy awarded for a country and western song, and his album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs was one of his best-selling albums.

ROY ROGERS (1911-98): Inducted 1980 as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers and again individually in 1988. Leonard Franklin Slye was born in Cincinnati, but he would become known through his radio and TV programs and movies as The King of The Cowboys. He worked as a fruit picker, drove a gravel truck and sang with several bands before helping form the Pioneer Trio, which evolved into the Sons of the Pioneers. Dale Evans, who was his leading lady in his 1944 movie The Cowboy and the Senorita, would become his wife and lifelong co-star. He didn't have as many hit singles as Gene Autry, but Happy Trails to You, the theme song of his TV series, still is known to millions.

SONS OF THE PIONEERS. Inducted 1980. Roy Rogers, Robert Clarence Nobles (born in New Brunswick, Canada) and Vernon Tim Spencer (born in Webb City, Mo.) formed the Pioneer Trio in 1933. The group in coming years would change its name to the Sons of the Pioneers and would add Lloyd Wilson Perryman (born in Ruth, Ark.), and brothers Thomas Hubert Farr (born in Llano, Texas) and Karl Marx Farr (born in Rochelle, Texas). They are known for Tumbling Tumbleweeds and Cool Water.

ERNEST TUBB (1914-84): Inducted 1965. Mr. Tubb, born on a cotton farm near Crisp, Texas, is known for I'm Walking The Floor Over You and Waltz Across Texas. He performed in Bell Auditorium in Augusta several times, ending his shows as usual by flipping around his acoustic guitar to display in large letters the word "Thanks!"

BOB WILLS (1905-75): Inducted 1968. The King of Western Swing was born James Robert Wills in Kosse, Texas, and was heavily influenced by black blues music, once riding a horse 50 miles to see the legendary Bessie Smith. His Texas Playboys band had a unique mix of country, blues, jazz and Western sounds and was best known for San Antonio Rose.

Don Rhodes has written about country music for 35 years. He can be reached at (706) 823-3214 or at don.rhodes@morris.com.