JERRY WALLACE
Like most entertainers, "Show Me State" singer Jerry Wallace undertook a rung-by-rung climb in show business, enduring several years of failed recordings while making adjustments to his image, such that it was considering his personality seldom shone through in the early going. At some point, a nickname came seemingly from nowhere: "Mr. Smooth" was a reasonable description of his vocal sound, not overly dramatic or dull, but he sang on key and tackled a variety of song choices (patterning his style after Nat "King" Cole, he sometimes sounded uncannily similar to the superstar singer). In 1957, Wallace caught the eyes and ears of Gene Autry who, in addition to his lucrative "Singing Cowboy" image on film, had just launched ... MORE ››