Gene Austin

Gene Austin came forth from Texas in the opening years of the twentieth century as a vocalist and songwriter whose reputation rests chiefly on the enduring success of his recording “My Blue Heaven.” Originally named Eugene Lucas, he assumed the surname of his stepfather Jim Austin while spending his formative years in a succession of small Louisiana communities. At fifteen he enlisted and joined the 1916 Army campaign to seize Pancho Villa, then served in France throughout World War I. In Baltimore he trained in dentistry and law yet set both aside to follow an instinctive calling to sing, producing more than one hundred compositions without acquiring the ability to read or notate music. His tenor favored a lighter, more conversational delivery than earlier male pop singers, an approach that suited the emerging possibilities of radio and close-microphone recording and brought his voice to wide audiences through early broadcasts and the phonographs of the nineteen-twenties and thirties. From 1926 through 1929 he recorded solely for Victor; the 1927 release “My Blue Heaven” and the 1928 single “Ramona” both enjoyed enormous sales, even if the precise figures sometimes cited are exaggerated, with “Ramona” possibly moving roughly a million copies. The former track is now considered the definitive version and has been featured in film soundtracks, among them Fried Green Tomatoes (1991). For a stretch of his studio work Austin demanded that only Fats Waller accompany him at the piano.

His first discs appeared in 1923, gaining traction the next year once producer Jimmy McHugh handled “When My Sugar Walks Down the Street,” the earliest of several hits the pair created together; Irving Mills wrote the lyrics, and further successes soon followed with “My Melancholy Baby,” “Girl of My Dreams,” “Carolina Moon,” and “Sleepy Time Gal.” In the early thirties Hollywood beckoned, yet Austin completed only three films, of which Gift of Gab proved the strongest. He continued performing on radio and in live venues, including a 1939 tent tour of music and comedy with Billy Wehle. After several years on the nightclub circuit his popularity declined until a late-fifties television special revived interest, prompting a return to clubs and a fresh series of original songs. Las Vegas remained his base through these changes. In 1962 he campaigned for governor of Nevada but lost to incumbent Grant Sawyer. Five marriages marked his personal life. He kept writing until lung cancer curtailed activity during the final ten months.