Jenkins’ Lyrics Beckoned Folks to Valley

It could be argued that Gordon Jenkins was single-handedly responsible for transplanting thousands of people to the San Fernando Valley with his catchy lyrics that spoke of “cow country” and forwarding mail “care of RFD.”

On April 29, 1944, Jenkins’ song “The San Fernando Valley” hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Moviegoers heard it first in a Roy Rogers western earlier that year, but it was Bing Crosby’s recording that beckoned folks to move west and make the Valley their home.

Jenkins wrote the song when he lived in Sherman Oaks, after moving here from New York. Gordon Jenkins Jr. once told The Times that his father knew the song was going to be such a hit that it would pay for the family house.

Oddly enough, Jenkins’ son said, the song was one of his father’s least favorite, but it was one of the most popular written by the elder Jenkins, who died in 1984 at the age of 73.

The late composer- arranger-conductor began his career doing arrangements for a St. Louis radio station. He later wrote arrangements for Benny Goodman, Vincent Lopez and Andre Kostelanetz, among others. In 1945, he signed with Decca Records and had several Top 10 hits, including the million-seller “Maybe You’ll Be There” in 1947. As a musical director for the record label, Jenkins was responsible for signing the Weavers to Decca in 1949.

He later moved to Capitol Records, where he frequently worked with Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. He made a major contribution to Sinatra’s “No One Cares” album in 1959 and came up with the lush arrangement of Cole’s “When I Fall in Love” in 1957.