[78-L] Dale Evans

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

Singer Dale Evens and Husband, Roy Rogers. Born Frances Octavia Smith 
in Uvalde, Texas in 1913, she got her first steady singing job in radio 
in Memphis using her then married name of Frances Fox. She had eloped 
with her high-school sweetheart in what would be a short-lived 
marriage. She later worked for radio stations in Dallas, Louisville, 
and Chicago, and sang with several big bands, including that of Anson 
Weeks, before getting her first weekly network program, “News and 
Rhythm,” on CBS in 1940. Soon after, she went to Hollywood and began 
appearing in pictures, including “Orchestra Wives” and “Swing Your 
Partner.” On occasion, she guested on various network shows, including 
that of The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show. On the September 
26, 1943 program, which also featured Hedy Lamarr, she sang “Put Your 
Arms Around Me Honey, Hold Me Tight,” backed by Ray Noble and His 
Orchestra. The Orchestra kicks off the program in fine form. Neither 
the tune nor Ms. Evans’ confident big-band-style of singing is what we 
would associate with her later religiosity and focus on devotional 
themes. Evans recorded for Victor and Majestic under her own name; Bell 
with husband Roy Rogers; and Bluebird with Abe Lyman & his 
Californians. She also recorded with Eddie Skrivanck and His Orchestra 
for C. P. MacGregor transcriptions in Hollywood. The label on the 
16-inch plastic disc does not give a session date for BMI 66 but the 
tunes and their playing times are:

Sagebrush Serenade (2:45)
What’s a Girl Supposed to Do (2:56)
I Wish I Never Met Sunshine (2:39)
Going Back Home (2:00)
Shy Ann from Cheyenne (1:18)

The personnel is interesting because it includes several jazz players 
but no drummer. Eddie Skrivanck, guitar; Charles La Vere, piano; Blake 
Reynolds, clarinet; and Rafael Mendez, trumpet. Mendez would record a 
series of sides for the Pan American label showcasing his virtuosic 
playing and elegant sound. A dark-haired, pretty woman of medium 
height, Dale Evans had a refreshing smile. She met her future husband 
Roy Rogers, “King of the Cowboys,” at a USO event, and in 1944, made 
her first B western movie with the singing cowboy star in The Cowboy 
and the Senorita. They married in 1947, following the death of Rogers’ 
wife Arline shortly after giving birth to son Roy Jr. in 1946. During 
her career, Evans made 28 movies and recorded more than 400 songs with 
Rogers, wrote more than 20 books, had her own television show, “A Date 
With Dale,” and was known as “Queen of the West.” Active in Christian 
evangelism, in 1955 she wrote the gospel standard “The Bible Tells Me 
So.” It’s easy to remember mantra repeats: “How do I know? The Bible 
tells me so.” The closing line for the popular Roy Rogers-Dale Evans 
radio show was “May the Good Lord take a likin’ to you.” The couple’s 
radio and TV theme song was “Happy Trails,” which she co-wrote in 1951. 
Evans died February 7, 2001 of congestive heart failure at age 88 at 
her high-desert ranch in Victorville, California. Nearby is the 
30,000-square-foot Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum that houses their 
memorabilia. Her husband Roy Rogers pre-deceased her in 1998.
Geoffrey Wheeler