Gene Autry With His Little Darlin' Mary Lee

Album Review

Autry fans should be aware that, although the disc bears the name of Gene Autry as the artist, it's really more a collection of Mary Lee performances containing a few duets with Autry than the other way around. Autry, in fact, only appears on six of the songs; one of these, "Carry Me Back to the Lone Prairie," is about the strongest (and most western-sounding) performance. Lee was a teenage actress who made nine films with Autry, which naturally gave her the chance to sing, both solo and with Autry, on screen. There are 16 tracks from 1939-41, taken from the films themselves (there's an additional cut with dialogue only)...The package is well-annotated and so forth, but really advised more for Autry or Lee lovers.