He was born in Glasgow, Kentucky, where his father was a barber who loved music and inspired Billy to teach himself to play the mandolin at the age of three, while suffering from measles. He went on to learn a number of other instruments.
In 1941 Vaughn joined the United States National Guard for what had been planned as a one-year assignment, but when World War II broke out, he was sent abroad till the war ended in 1945. He decided to make music a career when he was discharged from the army at the end of the war, and attended Western Kentucky State College, now known as Western Kentucky University, majoring in music composition. He had apparently learned barbering from his father, because he did some while studying at Western Kentucky to support himself financially, when he was not able to get jobs playing the piano at local night clubs and lounges. While he was a student there, three other students, Jimmy Sacca, Donald McGuire, and Seymour Spiegelman, who had formed a vocal trio, the Hilltoppers, recruited Vaughn to play the piano with them. He soon added his voice to theirs, converting the trio to a quartet. As a member of the group, he also wrote their first hit song, "Trying," which charted in 1952.
Hollywood Reporter news items and MGM publicity material provide the following information about the production: MGM purchased MacKinlay Kantor's novel in February 1942. Filming began on October 6, 1942, but when director W. S. Van Dyke became ill in early November 1942, production was halted. Tay Garnett was to take over direction on November 9, 1942, but the project was shelved and not revived until June 1944.
"Gentle Annie" is a popular American song composed by Stephen Foster in 1856. The song has original lyrics but is said to be based on a traditional Irish melody. According to his niece, Evelyn Foster Morneweck, there is a tradition that it was written in honor of Annie Jenkins, the daughter of a grocer in Federal Street, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, named Morgan Jenkins. She disputes this, and states that it is probably written in honor of his cousin, Annie Evans, who died shortly before it was composed. Some sources say it is Foster's farewell to his maternal grandmother, Annie Pratt McGinnis Hart. His paternal grandmother was Ann Barclay.
Australian version
An alternative version from Australia is also known as Gentle Annie. This was published in Australian Tradition, Vol. 1, no. e, in 1964. It was recorded by Martyn Wyndham-Read. The tune is the same as the Stephen Foster version, but the lyrics are different. The Australian lyrics were written by Lame Jack Cousens of Springhurst, Victoria. Sources state that its subject is Annie Waits.
The song "Gentle Annie" sung by Tommy Makem is a different song from both the Foster and the Australian version.
♫ · ♫ · ♫
Stephen Foster (1826-1864)
Gentle Annie (1856)
Leslie Guinn, baritone
Gilbert Kalish, piano
recorded on period instruments at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
♫ · ♫ · ♫
published: 05 May 2014
Gentle Annie by Foster & Allen
A Gentle Love Song by The Magic Maestro's.
published: 03 Jul 2009
Gentle Annie
Provided to YouTube by Vex
Gentle Annie · Foster · Allen · Makem
Love, Love, Love
℗ Crestchart Ltd.
Released on: 2009-02-02
Auto-generated by YouTube.
published: 05 Oct 2016
Linda Ronstadt - Gentle Annie with McGarrigle Sisters
Linda Ronstadt joins Kate & Anna McGarrigle around the piano on Stephen Foster folk song Gentle Annie.
published: 09 Apr 2013
Kate&Anna McGarrigle"Gentle Annie"
Gentle Annie
published: 04 Dec 2006
Gentle Annie
Provided to YouTube by Sanctuary Records
Gentle Annie · Johnny McEvoy
Legends of Irish Music
℗ 1972 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Performance: Johnny McEvoy
Auto-generated by YouTube.
published: 25 Jan 2017
Gentle Annie-Makem & Clancy 7/8
May 1983 BBC Northern ireland
published: 21 Apr 2014
Gentle Annie (feat. Linda Ronstadt)
Provided to YouTube by Ryko/Rhino
Gentle Annie (feat. Linda Ronstadt) · Kate & Anna McGarrigle · Linda Ronstadt
The McGarrigle Hour
℗ 1998 Hannibal Records
Producer: Joe Boyd
Mixer: John Wood
Writer: Stephen Foster
Auto-generated by YouTube.
♫ · ♫ · ♫
Stephen Foster (1826-1864)
Gentle Annie (1856)
Leslie Guinn, baritone
Gilbert Kalish, piano
recorded on period instruments at the Smithsonian Inst...
♫ · ♫ · ♫
Stephen Foster (1826-1864)
Gentle Annie (1856)
Leslie Guinn, baritone
Gilbert Kalish, piano
recorded on period instruments at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
♫ · ♫ · ♫
♫ · ♫ · ♫
Stephen Foster (1826-1864)
Gentle Annie (1856)
Leslie Guinn, baritone
Gilbert Kalish, piano
recorded on period instruments at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
♫ · ♫ · ♫
Provided to YouTube by Sanctuary Records
Gentle Annie · Johnny McEvoy
Legends of Irish Music
℗ 1972 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Performance:...
Provided to YouTube by Sanctuary Records
Gentle Annie · Johnny McEvoy
Legends of Irish Music
℗ 1972 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Performance: Johnny McEvoy
Auto-generated by YouTube.
Provided to YouTube by Sanctuary Records
Gentle Annie · Johnny McEvoy
Legends of Irish Music
℗ 1972 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Performance: Johnny McEvoy
Auto-generated by YouTube.
Provided to YouTube by Ryko/Rhino
Gentle Annie (feat. Linda Ronstadt) · Kate & Anna McGarrigle · Linda Ronstadt
The McGarrigle Hour
℗ 1998 Hannibal Records
...
Provided to YouTube by Ryko/Rhino
Gentle Annie (feat. Linda Ronstadt) · Kate & Anna McGarrigle · Linda Ronstadt
The McGarrigle Hour
℗ 1998 Hannibal Records
Producer: Joe Boyd
Mixer: John Wood
Writer: Stephen Foster
Auto-generated by YouTube.
Provided to YouTube by Ryko/Rhino
Gentle Annie (feat. Linda Ronstadt) · Kate & Anna McGarrigle · Linda Ronstadt
The McGarrigle Hour
℗ 1998 Hannibal Records
Producer: Joe Boyd
Mixer: John Wood
Writer: Stephen Foster
Auto-generated by YouTube.
♫ · ♫ · ♫
Stephen Foster (1826-1864)
Gentle Annie (1856)
Leslie Guinn, baritone
Gilbert Kalish, piano
recorded on period instruments at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
♫ · ♫ · ♫
Provided to YouTube by Sanctuary Records
Gentle Annie · Johnny McEvoy
Legends of Irish Music
℗ 1972 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Performance: Johnny McEvoy
Auto-generated by YouTube.
Provided to YouTube by Ryko/Rhino
Gentle Annie (feat. Linda Ronstadt) · Kate & Anna McGarrigle · Linda Ronstadt
The McGarrigle Hour
℗ 1998 Hannibal Records
Producer: Joe Boyd
Mixer: John Wood
Writer: Stephen Foster
Auto-generated by YouTube.
He was born in Glasgow, Kentucky, where his father was a barber who loved music and inspired Billy to teach himself to play the mandolin at the age of three, while suffering from measles. He went on to learn a number of other instruments.
In 1941 Vaughn joined the United States National Guard for what had been planned as a one-year assignment, but when World War II broke out, he was sent abroad till the war ended in 1945. He decided to make music a career when he was discharged from the army at the end of the war, and attended Western Kentucky State College, now known as Western Kentucky University, majoring in music composition. He had apparently learned barbering from his father, because he did some while studying at Western Kentucky to support himself financially, when he was not able to get jobs playing the piano at local night clubs and lounges. While he was a student there, three other students, Jimmy Sacca, Donald McGuire, and Seymour Spiegelman, who had formed a vocal trio, the Hilltoppers, recruited Vaughn to play the piano with them. He soon added his voice to theirs, converting the trio to a quartet. As a member of the group, he also wrote their first hit song, "Trying," which charted in 1952.
I discovered the valley of the shifting, whispering sands While prospecting for gold in one of our western States I saw the silent windmills, the crumbling water tanks The bones of cattle and burros, picked clean by buzzards Bleached by the desert suns I stumbled over a crumbling buckboard nearly covered by the sands And stopping to rest, I heard a tinkling, whispering sound Then suddenly realized that even though the wind was quiet The sand did not lie still I seemed to be surround by a mystery So heavy and oppressive I could scarcely breath For days and weeks I wandered aimlessly in this valley Seeking answers to the many questions That raced through my fevered mind Where was everyone Why the white bones The dry wells The barren valley where people must have lived and died Finally I could go no farther My food and water gone I sat down and buried my face in my hands And resting thus, I learned the secret Of the Shifting, whispering sands How I managed to escape from the valley I do not know But now to pay my final debt for being spared I must tell you what I learned out on the desert So many years ago When the day is awfully quiet And the breeze seems not to blow One would think the sand was resting But you'll find this is not so It is whispering, softly whispering As it slowly moves along And for those who stop and listen It will sing this mournful song Of sidewinders and the horn toads Of the thorny chaparral Endless sunny days and moonlit nights The coyotes lonely yell Of the stars seem you could tough them As you lay and gaze on high At the heavens where we're hoping We'll be going when we die Yes it always whispers to me Of the days of long ago When the settlers and the miners Fought the crafty Navajo How the cattle roamed the valley Happy people worked the land And now everything is covered By the shifting, whispering sands How the miner left his buckboards Went to work his claims that day And the burro's broke their halters When they thought he'd gone to stay Wandered far in search of water On to old sidewinder's well And there, their bones picked clean by buzzards That were circling when they fell How they found the ancient miner Lying dead upon the sand After months they could but wonder If he died by human hand So they dug his grave and laid him On his back and crossed his hands And his secret still is hidden By the shifting, whispering sands This is what they whispered to me On the quiet desert air Of the people and the cattle And the miner lying there If you want to learn their secret Wander through this quiet land And I'm sure you'll hear the story Of the shifting, whispering sands