A Tribute to Singing Buckaroos

There may be those among the younger generation who know Gene Autry only as the long-suffering owner of the California Angels.

But there also are those who know him as the first to record that all-time fave “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949), and one of the leading singing cowboys of film.

This weekend, the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum is celebrating Western music and the singing cowboys starting Friday with a three-day festival of talks, concerts, films and tributes to Autry, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Monte Hale, Rex Allen, Eddie Dean, Herb Jeffries, Patsy Montana and The Sons of the Pioneers. The Western Music Assn. is co-sponsoring the festival.

The singing cowboys of film fame began after groups such as The Sons of the Pioneers began singing on radio during the mid-1930s, said Mike Mahaney, a member of the Western Music Assn.’s advisory board. By the mid-1950s, the genre’s popularity had waned.

The Western Music Festival starts Friday with a concert at the Wells Fargo Theater at 10 a.m., and opening ceremonies at 11 a.m. in the plaza. Each day through Sunday will feature different talks on singing cowboys and Western music, music workshops and concerts.

A tribute concert featuring the honorees and Emmylou Harris, Clint Black and Dwight Yoakam is at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets for the concert only are sold out, but the concert is included in either a Saturday pass at $45, or the weekend festival pass at $95. Passes for Friday or Sunday only are $35, and both include the Friday reception at 7 p.m.

The museum is in Griffith Park, next to the Los Angeles Zoo, at 4700 Western Heritage Way; information: (213) 667-2000.