| Special thanks to: Brett Miller, grandson of Texas Rangers' member Roderick May, for providing several of the photos shown below; and to Ed Crawford, the son of Robert 'Captain Bob' Crawford; and Karla Cool, the daughter-in-law of Gomer Cool. Glenn McAnarney and Brett Miller: your old e-mail addresses are no longer working. Please e-mail Chuck Anderson, the Old Corral curator and webmaster. |
 (Courtesy of Brett Miller) Above - the members of the Texas Rangers: Francis 'Fran' 'Irish' Mahaney (sometimes incorrectly spelled as Mahoney) (top left) Roderick 'Dave' May (bottom left) Robert 'Captain Bob' Crawford (top right) Edward 'Tookie' Cronenbold (bottom right). While the above were the primary Texas Rangers' vocalists, there were other members which expanded the quartet to eight: Herby 'Arizona' Kratoska (guitar), Paul 'Monty' Sells (accordion), Clarence 'Idaho' Hartman (bass fiddle), and Gomer Cool (fiddle). Though not an official member, 'Tex' Owens (real name: Doie Hensley) was a frequent participant with the group. |
| The Texas Rangers were talented singers and musicians that appeared in a few B westerns with Gene Autry, Johnny Mack Brown, and Bob Baker. They formed circa 1932 at Kansas City, Missouri radio station KMBC, a CBS affiliate, and their repertoire was western, country, and gospel tunes. In the mid 1930s, they were featured on KMBC's short-lived "Life on the Red Horse Ranch" program which was scripted by Gomer Cool.
In late 1938, the group traveled to Hollywood. At Universal, they appeared in several oaters with Johnny Mack Brown and Bob Baker as well as THE OREGON TRAIL serial with Brown.
 (Courtesy of Brett Miller) Above are a half dozen of the Texas Rangers providing musical support to Johnny Mack Brown and Bob Baker in OKLAHOMA FRONTIER (Universal, 1939). L-to-R are Francis 'Irish' Mahaney, Gomer Cool (w/ moustache), Johnny Mack Brown, Robert 'Captain Bob' Crawford, Bob Baker, Edward 'Tookie' Cronenbold, and Roderick 'Dave' May. Playing the jug is Clarence 'Idaho' Hartman. Gene Autry's musical support at Republic Pictures included the Cass County Boys, the Sons of the Pioneers ... and the Texas Rangers.
 (Courtesy of Les Adams)
In the above photo, Gene Autry and leading lady June Storey are assisted by nine singers and musicians in COLORADO SUNSET (Republic, 1939), one of Gene's better Republic adventures. As noted earlier, there was the 'basic' Texas Rangers quartet with Crawford, Cronenbold, May, and Mahaney (photo at the top of this page). But it was frequently expanded to eight with the addition of musicians Gomer Cool, Paul Sells, Clarence Hartman, and Herby Kratoska. In COLORADO SUNSET, musical support was the group of eight ... plus Republic Pictures regular Frankie Marvin (sitting on the far left). |
 |  | Top row L-to-R: Francis 'Irish' Mahaney, Clarence Hartman (on bass fiddle), Roderick 'Dave' May. Bottom row L-to-R: Frankie Marvin (Republic Pictures 'regular'; not a member of the Texas Rangers), Paul 'Monty' Sells (on accordion). |
 | | Top row L-to-R: Robert 'Captain Bob' Crawford, Edward 'Tookie' Cronenbold. Bottom row L-to-R: Gomer Cool (on fiddle), Herby Kratoska. |
| In addition to COLORADO SUNSET, Republic Pictures had the Rangers in Judy Canova's comedy musical SCATTERBRAIN (Republic, 1940).
The group was busy performing on many West Coast radio shows, doing public appearances, and some early TV. In 1939, they were featured on the short-lived CBS radio series "Under Western Skies", which starred Johnny Mack Brown. And they were (briefly) with Gene Autry on the initial broadcasts of his "Melody Ranch" radio show which premiered January 7, 1940 on CBS. Most of the Rangers served during World War II and there's a link below to an article on their military service. In the post World War II years, the Rangers - along with Andy Parker and the Plainsmen - are credited with musical support on western radio program HAWK LARABEE which ran from 1946-1948 over CBS. That show was originally titled HAWK DURANGO, and the stars were Elliott Lewis followed by Barton Yarborough. They also appeared in a couple films for Columbia Pictures including another with Autry, THE LAST ROUND-UP (Columbia, 1947). And their popular syndicated radio show continued through the early 1950s ... and then they disbanded. Les Adams adds a few tidbits on Paul Sells and Gomer Cool: Paul Sells was also a member of Johnny Bond's Red River Valley Boys. And he, Bond, Jimmy Dean (Eddie Dean's brother) and Wesley Tuttle are in ARIZONA TRAIL, MARSHAL OF GUNSMOKE and OKLAHOMA RAIDERS with Tex Ritter, FRONTIER LAW with Russell Hayden and SONG OF THE RANGE with Jimmy Wakely. Bond, Art Wenzel, Sells and Scotty Harrell backed up Jimmie Davis in Starrett's FRONTIER FURY as the 'Singing Buckaroos'. And Paul Sells and Ken Card worked together in JESSE JAMES AT BAY. Gomer Cool wrote two of the songs in Johnny Mack Brown's RAWHIDE RANGERS: "A Cowboy Is Happy" and "It's a Ranger's Life". Ryan Ellett and Kevin Coffey wrote a great bio of the group titled The Texas Rangers: Two Decades on Radio, Film, Television, and Stage. Details are further down this webpage.
Gene Autry Entertainment has a channel on YouTube. Here's videos of the Texas Rangers doin' tunes In COLORADO SUNSET (Republic, 1939) and THE LAST ROUND-UP (Columbia, 1947):
There's some great photos of the Texas Rangers at the Arthur B. Church - KMBC Radio Collection, Department of Special Collections - Marr Sound Archives, Miller Nichols Library, University of Missouri - Kansas City: https://digital.library.umkc.edu/node/2810?search_api_fulltext=texas%20rangers
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 (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is the title lobby card from OKLAHOMA FRONTIER (Universal, 1939), one of the entries in Johnny Mack Brown's first season at Universal. The Texas Rangers were featured - note the mention as "Famed Cowboy Troubadours of Radio". Bob Baker is shown bottom center, and Fuzzy Knight is on the left.  (From Old Corral collection) Above is the duotone title lobby card from the 1947 re-release of CHIP OF THE FLYING U (Universal, 1939). Johnny Mack Brown is on the left. On the top right is Bob Baker, and below him are comic sidekick Fuzzy Knight and heroine Doris Weston. This was another of the films featuring the Texas Rangers. |
| Release Date |
Film Title | Company | Star |
| 12/16/1938 | GHOST TOWN RIDERS | Universal | Bob Baker |
| 5/1/39 | OREGON TRAIL, THE (Serial) | Universal | Johnny Mack Brown |
| 7/31/39 | COLORADO SUNSET | Republic | Gene Autry |
| 10/10/39 | OKLAHOMA FRONTIER | Universal | Johnny Mack Brown and Bob Baker |
| 11/29/39 | CHIP OF THE FLYING U | Universal | Johnny Mack Brown and Bob Baker |
| 2/14/40 | BULLETS AND BALLADS (Short) | Universal | Armida |
| 7/20/40 | SCATTERBRAIN | Republic | Judy Canova |
| 7/26/40 | SON OF ROARING DAN | Universal | Johnny Mack Brown |
| 9/20/40 | RAGTIME COWBOY JOE | Universal | Johnny Mack Brown |
| 6/20/41 | LAW OF THE RANGE | Universal | Johnny Mack Brown |
| 7/18/41 | RAWHIDE RANGERS | Universal | Johnny Mack Brown |
| 11/5/47 | LAST ROUND-UP, THE | Columbia | Gene Autry |
| 5/1/49 | ARKANSAS SWING, THE (Filming title-Texas Sandman ) |
Columbia | Hoosier Hot Shots |
 The Texas Rangers: Two Decades on Radio, Film, Television, and Stage by Ryan Ellett and Kevin Coffey chronicles the life of the Texas Rangers western singing group which was together from the early 1930s through the early 1950s.Their initial home was Kansas City's KMBC radio station. The quartet did westerns with Gene Autry and Johnny Mack Brown as well as a few other features with Judy Canova and the Hoosier Hot Shots. They were also the first group that Autry used in the initial season of his Melody Ranch radio show. Occasionally, they expanded with four additional members (on musical instruments), and you can see that eight member contingent in Autry's COLORADO SUNSET (Republic, 1939). This book is an interesting perspective on the Rangers and the individual members - as they did westerns, radio shows, personal appearances, early television, et al. And its full of insights documenting their ups and downs, peak entertainment years during the Depression and World War II period, and their fade in the post WW2 years. A good read, the paperback edition measures about 9 x 6 and has 345 pages. There's a filmography, recording sessions, radio program details, more. Most recall the Sons of the Pioneers as the main (or only) singing group in the old B western. We tend to forget that there were many other talented songsters in those ol' cowboy films. Glad the Texas Rangers are getting credit for their many years of work. Published 2014 by BearManor Media and priced at about $26.00: https://bearmanor-digital.myshopify.com/products/the-texas-rangers-two-decades-on-radio-film-television-and-stage-by-ryan-ellett-and-kevin-coffey?_pos=1&_sid=c3a7e37ff&_ss=r Paperback, hardbound and Kindle versions are available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Texas-Rangers-Decades-Television-Hardback/dp/1593935900/ |
Although some of the data may be incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on the Texas Rangers: