Born 119 Years Ago Today in Texas, the “Best Singing Cowboy of All Time,” According to Two Legendary Singing Cowboys

When reflecting on country music’s great tradition of singing cowboys, it’s likely that two names immediately come to mind: Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Ask either of those men who the best in the game was, however, and they’d give you the same answer: Eddie Dean, the golden-throated cowboy of country music and the first of his ilk to star in color films. Today, we’re diving into the life and career of the man born Edgar Dean Glosup in Posey, Texas, on this day (July 9) in 1907.

The son of a farmer and school teacher, Glosup learned to sing and harmonize from his mother. He moved to Chicago in 1926 to pursue a career in radio.

However, when that endeavor proved mostly fruitless, he shortened his name to Eddie Dean and moved to Shenandoah, Iowa.

In 1929, Dean joined forces with his brother Jimmy (not the sausage magnate) and the two embarked on a singing career together.

From 1930 to 1932, they performed at a radio station in Topeka, Kansas, before returning to Chicago, where they began appearing regularly on the prestigious WLS National Barn Dance program. They recorded duets for the ARC label, in addition to some gospel tunes for Decca Records.

Eddie Dean Transitions to the Screen

In 1936, Eddie Dean moved to Los Angeles and segued into film with small roles in Westerns such as Tex Ritter’s Golden Trail.

His big break came in 1944, when he starred and sang in the musical Western Harmony Trail with Ken Maynard. That led to a partnership with producer Robert Emmett Tansey, who wanted Dean to star in a series of Western films released by PRC.

These were the first such Westerns to be filmed in Cinecolor, and the movies were instantly successful.

Dean went on to star in roughly 20 more Westerns. At the height of his career, he ranked among the top ten cowboy stars of the 1940s.

Retirement From Film and Return to Music

In the late 1940s, Eddie Dean’s film career stalled, and he pivoted to country music. In 1948, he co-wrote the single “One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)” with wife Lorene and Hollywood songwriter Hal Blair.

While Dean’s rendition peaked at number 11 on the U.S. country charts, fellow “singing cowboy” Jimmy Wakely would later take it to number one.

Eddie Dean’s other charting country hits included “I Dreamed of a Hill-Billy Heaven” (1955, number 10) and “Way Out Yonder”.

“He was a singer first and foremost,” James Nottage, curator at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, told the Los Angeles Times.

Eddie Dean continued performing well into his 80s, often appearing at the Palomino Club in North Hollywood and dazzling crowds with both his singing and spot-on celebrity impressions.

He died on March 4, 1999 in Thousands Oaks, California from heart and lung disease at age 91.

Featured image by Getty Images

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