Horse Opera: The Strange History of the 1930s Singing Cowboy

In this innovative take on a neglected chapter of film history, Peter Stanfield challenges the commonly held view of the singing cowboy as an ephemeral figure of fun and argues instead that he was one of the most important cultural figures to emerge out of the Great Depression.
The rural or newly urban working-class families who flocked to see the latest exploits of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, and
other singing cowboys were an audience largely ignored by mainstream
Hollywood film. H...