Lester “Smiley” Burnette was born in 1911 in Illinois. Ironically, Smiley had never been to the West when he wrote his first Western song “The Roundup in Cheyenne” for Gene Autry in 1934. Driving through Arizona and New Mexico later inspired him to write the now classic “Ridin’ Down the Canyon,” which he sold to Gene for a total of five dollars.

Smiley became the first musical sidekick in Western movies and wrote nearly all of Gene Autry’s material. He continued writing and became one of the highest-rated cowboy film stars during the Golden Era of the B-Western film era. He was constantly in demand as a sidekick for Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Sunset Carson, and Charles Starrett to such a great extent that he found little time to compose the music he dearly loved.

One WMA historian commented, “Smiley would deserve election to the Hall of Fame on the merits of “Ridin’ Down the Canyon” alone.” As Pee Wee King said in a 1982 interview, “Smiley had the Spirit of the West in him. That came out in the wonderful Western music he wrote.”

Smiley Burnette passed away in 1967 in Encino, California.

Awards:

• 1998 Hall of Fame Inductees