Lemeul Eugene Lucas (June 24, 1900 – January 24, 1972), better known by his stage name Gene Austin, was an American singer and songwriter, one of the early "". His recording of "My Blue Heaven" sold over 5 million copies and was for a while the largest selling record of all time. His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.
Austin joined the U.S. Army at the age of 15 in hopes of being dispatched to Europe to fight in World War I. He was stationed in New Orleans, where he played the piano at night in the city's notorious vice district. His familiarity with horses from helping his stepfather in his blacksmithing business prompted the Army to assign Austin to the cavalry and send him to Mexico with Major General John J. Pershing's Pancho Villa Expedition, for which he was awarded the Mexican Service Medal. He later served in France in World War I.
On returning to the United States in 1919, Austin settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he briefly studied dentistry and law. Soon, he was playing piano and singing in local taverns. He started writing songs and formed a vaudeville act with Roy Bergere, with whom he wrote "How Come You Do Me Like You Do". The act ended when Bergere married. Austin worked briefly in a club owned by Lou Clayton, who later was a part of the famous vaudeville team Clayton, Jackson and Jimmy Durante.
By 1924, Austin was in New York's Tin Pan Alley. His first recording surreptitiously was providing the vocals for the Tennessee guitarist George Reneau, whose own voice did not record well.
In 1925, Austin recorded his popular song "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" for the Victor Talking Machine Company in a duet with Aileen Stanley. Nathaniel Shilkret, in his autobiography, describes the events leading to the recording.Shilkret, Nathaniel, ed. Niel Shell and Barbara Shilkret, Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Md., 2005. He followed it that year with hits, including "Yearning (Just for You)" and "Yes Sir, That's My Baby with Billy "Uke" Carpenter. In the next decade with Victor, Austin sold over 80 million records.
His 1926 "Bye Bye Blackbird" was in the year's top 20 records. George A. Whiting and Walter Donaldson's "My Blue Heaven" was charted during 1928 for 26 weeks, stayed at No. 1 for 13, and sold over 5 million copies. It was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.
Until Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" replaced it, it was the largest selling record of all time. In the hope of duplicating the success, this was quickly followed by "Ramona", an L. Wolfe Gilbert-Mabel Wayne song created for the 1927 romantic adventure film Ramona with Dolores del Río. It charted for 17 weeks, was No. 1 for eight and easily topped 1 million in sales. It also gained gold disc status. His next success, Joe Burke and Benny Davis' 1928 song "Carolina Moon" was on the charts 14 weeks, with seven weeks at No. 1.CD liner notes: Chart-Toppers of the Twenties, 1998 ASV Ltd. The depression struck during Austin's hit-making years, severely damaged the recording industry and, with it, Austin's recording career.Despite never learning to read or notate music, Austin composed over 100 songs. His compositions included "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street", recorded by Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, The Ink Spots, Hot Lips Page, Johnny Mathis, The Four Freshmen, Red Nichols' Five Pennies, Ella Fitzgerald, Sy Oliver, and the Wolverines Orchestra; "How Come You Do Me Like You Do?", recorded by Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra, Gene Rodemich, Marion Harris, George Wettling, and Erroll Garner; "The Lonesome Road", written with Nat Shilkret, recorded by Bing Crosby, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Eddy Arnold, Don Gibson, Mildred Bailey, Les Paul, Judy Garland, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Sammy Davis Jr., Dick Dale, The Fendermen, Frank Sinatra, Chet Atkins, Bobby Darin, Duane Eddy, Paul Robeson, Jerry Vale, Muggsy Spanier, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Jimmie Lunceford, Frankie Laine and Ted Lewis; "Riding Around in the Rain", written with Carmen Lombardo and "The Voice of the Southland".
Austin formed a trio with bassist Candy Candido and guitarist Otto Heimel. They called themselves Gene Austin and his Candy and Coco. They had a radio series from 1932 to 1934.
Colonel Tom Parker, who later became Elvis Presley's manager, gradually worked his way into the music business when he began to promote Gene Austin in 1938.
In the 1940s, Austin and his singers toured the U.S. in a 14-truck caravan with its own power plant and cook house. He stopped in Minden, Louisiana, and performed there in a popular tent show on the grounds of the local Coca-Cola plant owned by the Hunter family."Gene Austin Comes Home: Famous Native of Minden Here Monday", Minden Herald, May 10, 1940, p. 1
Country music singer Tommy Overstreet, who had his biggest hits in the 1970s, is Austin's third cousin.
Austin retired to Palm Springs, California in the late 1950s and was active in civic boards there until 1970. Income from his record sales allowed him to live comfortably the rest of his life.
In 1962, he campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for governor of Nevada.
He died in Palm Springs of lung cancer and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
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