TEX RITTER-WEARING OUT YOUR WALKING SHOES
Singing cowboy Tex Ritter stood as one of the biggest names in country music throughout the postwar era, thanks to a diverse career that led him everywhere from the Broadway
stage to the political arena. He was born Maurice Woodward Ritter in Marvaul, TX, on January 12, 1907, and grew up on a ranch in Beaumont. After graduating at the top of his high school class, he majored in law at the University of Texas. During college, however, he was bitten by the acting bug and moved to New York in 1928 to join a theatrical troupe. After a few years of struggle, he briefly returned to school, only to leave again to pursue stardom.
Ritter was playing cowboy songs on the radio when he returned to New York in 1931 to act in the Broadway production Green Grow the Lilacs; during scene changes, he also performed on his guitar. Thanks to his success on the stage, he began hosting radio programs like Tex Ritter’s Campfire and Cowboy Tom’s Roundup before entering the studio with producer Art Satherley in 1933, where his deep, lived-in voice graced songs like “Rye Whiskey.” He caught the attention of Hollywood producer Edward Finney, who was searching for a cowboy singer in the mold of the highly successful Gene Autry and was tapped to star in the 1936 Western Song of the Gringo. Over the next two years, Ritter starred in a dozen films, including 1937’s Trouble in Texas (co-starring a young Rita Hayworth), before Finney’s studio, Grand National Pictures, folded. Ritter then switched to Monogram Studios, for whom he made some 20 Westerns, including 1940’s Take Me Back to Oklahoma with co-star Bob Wills; work at Columbia and Universal followed, and by the time of his movie swan song, 1945’s The Texas Rangers, he had appeared in a total of 85 films.
As Ritter’s Hollywood career went into decline, his music career began to blossom, and in 1942, he became the first country artist signed to Capitol Records, where he recorded everything from traditional folk tunes to patriotic material to sentimental songs. In 1944, Tex Ritter & His Texans topped the charts with the single “I’m Wastin’ My Tears on You.” The record’s flip side, “There’s a New Moon Over My Shoulder,” peaked at number two, as did the follow-up “Jealous Heart.” 1945’s “You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often” proved to be Ritter’s greatest success, holding at number one for 11 consecutive weeks. Among his other successes in the 1940s were 1945’s number one “You Will Have to Pay,” 1948’s “Rock and Rye,” and 1950’s “Daddy’s Last Letter (Private First Class John H. McCormick),” based on the actual correspondence of a soldier slain during the Korean War.
Ritter recorded the theme to the Fred Zinneman classic High Noon in 1953, and the resulting single proved extremely successful with pop audiences, helping win him the job as the MC of the television program Town Hall Party, which he hosted between 1953 and 1960. In 1958, he issued his first full-length LP, Songs From the Western Screen, followed the next year by Psalms. After leaving Town Hall Party, he released the LP Blood on the Saddle, a dark collection of cowboy narrative songs, and in 1961, he returned to the country charts after an 11-year absence with the Top Five hit “I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven.” In 1963 Ritter began a two-year tenure as the president of the Country Music ociation, and in 1965 he moved to Nashville to join the Grand Ole Opry. After an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1970, Ritter died of a heart attack on January 2, 1974; his son John Ritter carried on the family name as a popular actor in TV sitcoms like Three’s Company and Hooperman. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Duration : 0:2:30
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Man, good to hear …
Man, good to hear from you. Was wondering where you were. Thanks for the insight and the stars.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
I remember meeting …
I remember meeting Tex backstage & asking Him for His autograph back in ‘63. What a great Man. He did a great job on this Hank Williams tune. Thanks for posting Marcus. 5 *****’s
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Glad you like it. …
Glad you like it. Thanks for commenting.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Nice tune from old …
Nice tune from old Tex Ritter Marc.Thankyou.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
I WOULD IF I COULD. …
I WOULD IF I COULD…
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Maybe you could sub …
Maybe you could sub for someone that has not done it yet? LOL!! Thanks for the comment?
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Crap! (I just LOVE …
Crap! (I just LOVE your channel!) ~Tammi~ (If I didn’t already sub, I would have done it, lol!)
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
As Cajunexpert …
As Cajunexpert pointed out, Hank Williams wrote this song, I think in 1950, so Tex could not have recorded it until 1950 or after.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
I haven’t heard …
I haven’t heard this one before. A good one! Thanks,Marcus. Tex was great! Shirley
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
You are welcome, …
You are welcome, Ronnie. Thanks for dropping by.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Great one, Marcus.. …
Great one, Marcus…this was one talented singer…what memories…thank you…RT
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Thanks, Bus. Missed …
Thanks, Bus. Missed you!
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
I agree, on both …
I agree, on both counts.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
True, once you have …
True, once you have heard him, it’s hard to mistake it for someone else. LOL!!
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Tex had a voice you …
Tex had a voice you knew instantly. Thank you Marcus!!!!!
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Tex did a good job …
Tex did a good job with this tune, which was written by Hank Williams.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Merle Travis on …
Merle Travis on guitar.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Thank you WDSS!!
Thank you WDSS!!
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
nice one marcus …
nice one marcus love it wee deborah shasha xoxo 5 star
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Thanks for stars …
Thanks for stars and comment, GG.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Yes, ole Tex is a …
Yes, ole Tex is a legend. Glad you enjoyed it.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Tex Ritter, one of …
Tex Ritter, one of the icons of country music. Thanks for posting, Really Enjoyed, C.W.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Great song Nice to …
Great song Nice to hear again. 5***** G.G.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Ole Tex would be …
Ole Tex would be glad that you think so highly of him. Thanks for commenting.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Blessed Sunday
…
Blessed Sunday
oldcountrytunes…
Old Tex is at it again I see. I consider him the master of the cowboy song. True Americana and the rythm can’t be beaten on this old gem. Stewball is wearing out his hooves with this one!
Many thanks for blessing our ears with this gem,Marc.
Peace,
Stewball