Eugene Rogers (March 23, 1917–November 23, 1993), known professionally as Smokey Rogers, was an American

Western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...

musician and songwriter active during the 1940s and 50s on the West Coast. Born in

McMinnville, Tennessee McMinnville is the largest city in and the county seat of Warren County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 13,605 at the 2010 census. It was named for Governor Joseph McMinn. Geography McMinnville is located at (35.686708, -85.779309) ...

, Rogers joined

Spade Cooley Donnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley (December 17, 1910 – November 23, 1969) was an American convicted murderer and former Western swing musician, big band leader, actor, and television personality. In 1961 he was arrested and convicted for the Ap ...

's band in the 1940s (who gave Rogers his stage name).

Tex Williams Sollie Paul "Tex" Williams (August 23, 1917 – October 11, 1985) was an American Western swing musician. He is best known for his talking blues style; his biggest hit was the novelty song, "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)", which held th ...

, Rogers and other members of Cooley's band formed a group called The Western Caravan. Both groups featured Rogers on vocals for novelty songs. Rogers co-wrote "Spanish Fandango" with

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...

, released in 1947. In 1949, he had a modest hit with "A Little Bird Told Me". Rogers is best known for writing the ballad " Gone", first recorded by

Ferlin Husky Ferlin Eugene Husky (December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011) was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes. He had two dozen top-20 hit ...

1952. When Husky re-recorded the song in 1956, it reached No. 1 on the country chart. It remained there for ten weeks and crossed over to the pop chart. He also wrote "My Chickashay Gal", popularized by

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

. From 1947–50, Eugene Rogers appeared in at least 22 of

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

' "musical featurettes" with Tex Williams. In 1950, he bought the Bostonia Ballroom in El Cajon, California near

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

and started a daily live TV show from the facility. In 1958, he was also doing a radio show on 50,000 watt X.E.R.B. in Rosarita Beach, Mexico. He programmed both sides of a Zane Ashton (aka Bill Aken) record of 'The Wind Running Through" with the flip side being the same song in Spanish and called "El Viento." The resulting sales in Mexico gave Ashton his first gold record. Rogers and his first wife, Madelene, had 6 children; Laura Jo, Carl, Harold, Ruth-Ann, and twin sons, Roy and Rex Rogers. Rogers and his second wife lived in Apple Valley, California for several years where he was a local radio personality and performed regularly at the Branding Iron Restaurant. He died in San Diego on November 23, 1993 at age 76. Personal knowledge

Discography

Links

Smokey Rogers bio
- CMT *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Smokey 1917 births 1993 deaths People from McMinnville, Tennessee American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Western swing performers 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Tennessee 20th-century American male singers