Gene Austin - Tamiami Trail, 1926

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• published: 15 Jun 2012
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Gene AUSTIN & Frank Banta at the piano - Tamiami Trail (Cliff Friend /Joseph H. Santly), Victor 1926 NOTE: Gene AUSTIN (né Lemuel Eugene Lucas) American crooner, born in 1900 in Gainsville in region of Red River Valley -- a typical "cattle country" of North Texas. He took his name from his stepfather, Jim Austin who was a blacksmith. Gene was a self-taught pianist and singer, who took his first singing lessons from the wandering cowboys and who learned how to play piano from tappers, accompanying the girls'shows at the local saloon. He run away from home at age of 15 and started presenting his singing talents at the amateur vadeuville stage in Houston. In age of 17, he joined the army and was dispatched to France. In 1919, on his return to the US, Austin started studying dentistry in Baltimore, MD also spending a lot of time on singing in local taverns and writing songs, without any significant success. His life rapidly changed, when he met Lou Clayton - member of the popular „Three Sawdust Bums" (Clayton, Jackson, and Jimmy Durante). This opened Austin way to his first recording for Victor, which was his song "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street". The song became a great hit and in later years, it was recorded by greatest artists of radio and stage, including Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Red Nichols, Ella Fitzgerald, or The Ink Spots. On next decade, Nick Austin managed to develop his unique style of singing: along with Rudy Vallee, Nick Lucas, Johnny Marvin and Cliff Edwards, he adopted an intimate, radio-friendly, close-miked style that took over from the more sentimental vocals popularized by Henry Burr and Billy Murray. Such later crooners as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Russ Columbo all credited Austin with creating the musical genre that began their careers. Solely in the decade of 1920-30, Gene Austin sold over 80 million records—a total unmatched by a single artist for 40 years. His 1926 "Bye Bye Blackbird" was in the year's top twenty records. George A. Whiting and Walter Donaldson's "My Blue Heaven" sold over five million copies (until Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" replaced it, it was the largest selling record of all time). Offered to work in Hollywood at the height of his career as the "Voice of the Southland", Austin appeared in three films, Belle of the Nineties (1934), Klondike Annie (1936) and My Little Chickadee (1940), at the request of his personal friend, Mae West. In 1956, CBS made a television drama about Austin's life. In 1962, Austin campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for governor of Nevada. Austin had retired to Palm Springs, in the late 1950s, living comfortably the rest of his life on the income from his record sales. He died in 1972 in Palm Springs of lung cancer. Frank BANTA (1897--1969) American pianist, son of the pioneer recording pianist Frank P. Banta. In 1910s he was a piano accompanist for the Victor Talking Machine Company. In 1920s, Frank Banta participated in various dance ensambles, including Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra and the Great White Way Orchestra. He also recorded as accompanist for Rudy Wiedoeft, Frank Crumit, Henry Burr or Gene Austin. He also recorded a few sides with his piano solos.