Pee Wee King | |
|---|---|
 Pee Wee King c. 1944 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski |
| Born | (1914-02-18)February 18, 1914 Abrams, Wisconsin, United States |
| Died | March 7, 2000(2000-03-07) (aged 86) Louisville, Kentucky, United States |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Accordion,fiddle |
| Years active | 1930s–1969 |
Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski[1] (February 18, 1914 – March 7, 2000),[2] known professionally asPee Wee King, was an Americancountry music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "Tennessee Waltz".
Pee Wee King is credited with bringing the musicians union to the Grand Ole Opry — he was one of the first musicians in Nashville to carry a union card, and to have the members of his band work union. He also served on the board of theCountry Music Hall of Fame.
King was born inAbrams, Wisconsin to a Polish American family, and lived in Abrams during his youth. He learned to play the accordion from his father, who was a professionalpolka musician. In the 1930s, he toured and made cowboy movies withGene Autry.[3] King joined theGrand Ole Opry in 1937, with the help of his father-in-lawJ.L. Frank.[1]
In 1946, while he was the bandleader of the Golden West Cowboys,[1] King, together with the band's vocalist,Redd Stewart, composed "The Tennessee Waltz", inspired by "The Kentucky Waltz" bybluegrass musicianBill Monroe.[1] King and Stewart first recorded "The Tennessee Waltz" in 1948.[1] It went on to become a country music standard, due, mainly, to the immense success ofPatti Page's version of the song.
King had thePee Wee King Show onWAVE-TV in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1949, with the Golden West Cowboys and announcer Bob Kay. The half-hour program was broadcast at 7:15 p.m. on Mondays.[4]
King wrote or co-wrote more than four hundred songs and recorded more than twenty albums and 157 singles. His other songs included "Slow Poke" and "You Belong to Me", both co-authored withChilton Price andRedd Stewart.[1] His songs introducedwaltzes, polkas, andcowboy songs to country music.[1] King became one of the charter members of theNashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.[1]
King was not permitted to use the drummer and trumpeter he featured in his stage shows when the band played at theGrand Ole Opry, where both instruments were banned. He ignored that ban only once, appearing at the Ryman in April 1945 following the death ofFranklin Delano Roosevelt. The Opry had been canceled, but since a number of fans showed up, management decided to have King perform his stage show for them, performing as he did outside the Opry. He used his full band, with drums and trumpet. When confronted about it afterward, King told Opry emceeGeorge D. Hay that he had done his stage show, as asked. Bob Wills had defied the Opry ban on drums a year earlier during a 1944 guest appearance.[5][6]
His band also introduced on-stage dancing andNudie Cohn's customized 'rhinestone cowboy' outfits,[7] which later became popular with Nashville and country musicians, includingElvis Presley, to the Opry.[8] He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1974.
He joined producersRandall Franks andAlan Autry for theIn the Heat of the Night cast CDChristmas Time's A Comin' performing "Jingle Bells" with the cast released on Sonlite and MGM/UA for one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers.
He died of a heart attack inLouisville, Kentucky, at age 86.[2]
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | ||
| 1948 | "Tennessee Waltz" | 3 | |
| 1949 | "Tennessee Tears" | 12 | |
| "Tennessee Polka" | 3 | ||
| 1950 | "Bonaparte's Retreat" | 10 | |
| 1951 | "Tennessee Waltz"(re-release) | 6 | |
| "Slow Poke" | 1 | 1 | |
| 1952 | "Silver and Gold" | 5 | 18 |
| "Busybody" | 8 | 27 | |
| 1954 | "Changing Partners" | 4 | |
| "Bimbo" | 9 | ||
| "Backward, Turn Backward" | 15 | ||
