Gene tried to play the saxophone when he was a youngster. He finally gave up and turned successfully to the guitar.

Watch a Gene Autry Video Clip

Silver Wings in the Moonlight
Gene Autry's Melody Ranch Radio Show
(June 28, 1942)

"Gene Autry's Melody Ranch" radio show broadcast from KNX in Hollywood, California on June 28, 1942 was a few weeks before Gene enlisted into the United States Army Air Corp. This show was one hour and 15 minutes long – more than twice the length of his usual broadcasts – and had "romance and melody of the old West, and a thrilling true life exploit of the United States Air Forces." It included music and comedy plus a Western drama and a military drama.

Gene's performance of "Silver Wings in the Moonlight" is backed by the trio of Jimmie Dean, Eddie Dean, and Dick Rinehart and Lou Bring's Orchestra. It followed the second drama, "WWII Aviator Heroes – Daring 'Desolation Bay' Rescue of a Pilot by First Lt. Eugene Yarbrough and Second Lt. Frank L. O'Brien off the Bays of the Artic Wasteland on December 11, 1942."

When Gene's radio show changed from "Melody Ranch" to "Sgt. Gene Autry" he also changed the radio show's theme song from "Back in the Saddle Again" to "Silver Wings in the Moonlight." "Sgt. Gene Autry" radio show aired weekly from August 2, 1942 through August 1, 1943. Gene Autry's "Melody Ranch" radio show returned on September 23, 1945.

Composed by Gene Autry, Fred Rose and Johnny Marvin

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