What happens
Gene Autry hosts a Sunday variety program at Melody Ranch, with songs from Johnny Bond, the Cass County Boys and Julie Lou Crosby. Gene's sidekick Lou and the cowhand Johnny trade jokes over a poem about the Fourth of July, which they read aloud. Gene then tells a tale from his days with the Bar-S Ranch, under boss Jim Slater, about a fierce paint bronc called Sky Ball Paint. At the Carterville rodeo, Gene draws the horse and is thrown hard, and Slater later offers a cash prize to any cowboy who can stay on it. Riders keep falling off, and the story follows the rivalry that grows around the horse.
Melody Ranch and the Bar-S Ranch, with the Carterville rodeo as the main location of Gene's story
Characters: Gene Autry, Lou, Johnny, Jim Slater, Blackie, Hank, Slim Brian, Sky Ball Paint
Listen for: Gene's account of his first ride on Sky Ball Paint at the Carterville rodeo, and the rivalry with Blackie
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.