Gene Austin With Les Paul - Yearning Cala California

American singer and songwriter, he is considered to have been the first "crooner". Born: June 24, 1900 in Gainesville, Texas, United States Died: January 24, 1972 in Palm Springs, California, United States. He was married to actress/singer/songwriter . After performing off and on in local taverns and in vaudeville since he was a teenager, Austin first had success as a songwriter. His 1924 song "How Come You Do Me Like You Do?" (written with his vaudeville partner, ) became a hit for . In April of that same year, hired Austin to lend his voice anonymously to several recordings by , and by September, Austin and Reneau performed duets for . In January 1925, another one of his songs, "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" (written with while both worked as staff writers for ) launched Austin's recording career with , when he was asked to perform it in a duet with singer . As early as the next month, Austin was again in the studio for a number of solo recordings. Austin's soft, clear, and laid-back tenor voice was a good fit for the electronic recording technology introduced in early 1925 and made him one of the originators of the "crooner" style of singing (along with other singers of the time like "Ukuele Ike" , , , , and ). Soon, he became immensely popular. His 1927 recording of "My Blue Heaven

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