The Singing Cowboy (1936 film) The Singing Cowboy (1936 film) The Singing Cowboy is a 1936 American Western film directed by Mack V. Wright and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Lois Wilde. Based on a story by Tom Gibson, the film is about a cowboy who decides to sing on television in order to raise money for the orphaned daughter of his former boss who was murdered. Ranch owner Steve Stevens (John Van Pelt) is shot by his greedy partner, Martin (Lon Chaney, Jr.), who then sets fire to Stevens' barn. Stevens' last request is for cowboy Gene Autry (Gene Autry) to look after
Ross Bagdasarian Sr. play any musical instrument in the accepted sense of the word." Bagdasarian owned Chipmunk Enterprises, which sponsored Chipmunk-related sales. By 1963 some 15 companies were using or planned to use Alvin figures. By that year "Billboard" magazine estimated that the total income from the Chipmunks' record sales (including overseas sales) and record club sales to be around $20 million (around $165 million adjusted for inflation). In the following years the Chipmunks released several hit songs: "Alvin's Harmonica" (1959), "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" (1959), "Alvin's Orchestra" (1960), "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (1960), "The Alvin Twist" (1962), and the album "The Chipmunks