Pee Wee King

Though Pee Wee King cut a striking and forward-thinking presence at the peak of his career, his stature as an onstage talent has received less attention over time, while his stature as a tunesmith rests securely on the blockbuster success of "Tennessee Waltz." He pushed country music toward a more contemporary sound by bringing electric instruments, drums, and horns onto the traditionally cautious Grand Ole Opry stage and by outfitting the Golden West Cowboys in crisp, Western-cut Nudie suits that bore no resemblance to rural attire. Even though he favored Western swing and cowboy material, King was born to Polish parents, a background that contributed to his wide-ranging take on country. Born Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski on February 18, 1914, in Milwaukee, he grew up with a father who led a polka ensemble; the teenager eventually performed with the group, mastering fiddle and accordion yet focusing chiefly on the latter. He made his first paid radio appearance at age 14, later fronting his own outfit under the name Frank King—adopted in homage to bandleader Wayne King—while mixing polkas with cowboy numbers. From 1933 onward the group appeared steadily on Milwaukee’s The Badger State Barn Dance, where Gene Autry discovered them and recruited the musicians as his support act, bestowing the nickname “Pee Wee” on the five-foot-six-inch King. In 1934 Autry and King became fixtures on Louisville radio before Autry headed to Hollywood.

King chose to remain in Louisville, performing with the Log Cabin Boys in 1935; the next year he assembled the Golden West Cowboys, whose early members included fiddler Abner Sims, guitarist Curly Rhodes, and vocalist Texas Daisy. Fiddler Redd Stewart joined in 1937 and would soon become King’s chief songwriting collaborator. That same year the ensemble received an invitation to the Grand Ole Opry, an unconventional booking that unsettled traditionalists because of the band’s flashy wardrobe, polished showmanship, and the polka and waltz rhythms that shaped portions of their repertoire. They stayed on the program for the next decade while King also hosted a radio program in Knoxville, and during this period the group shifted further toward Western swing. King first brought an amplified electric guitar to the Opry stage in 1940 and introduced drums there in 1947. Over those years the Golden West Cowboys featured a succession of notable singers, among them Eddy Arnold, Cowboy Copas, Milton Estes, Tommy Sosebee, and Becky Barfield. In 1941 and 1942 the band recorded and toured as Minnie Pearl’s accompanists and also worked with Ernest Tubb. In addition, King appeared in several Western films portraying himself as a bandleader, beginning with the 1938 Gene Autry vehicle Gold Mine in the Sky.

A fresh chapter opened for the group in 1947 when King left the Grand Ole Opry to return to Louisville and host his own television program, which ran for ten years and reached a national audience on ABC during its final two seasons. He also secured a recording deal with RCA, after which Redd Stewart assumed lead vocal duties. Drawing inspiration from Bill Monroe’s “Kentucky Waltz,” King and Stewart added lyrics to an instrumental the band had been performing; cut in December 1947, “Tennessee Waltz” reached number three for King the following year. Patti Page recorded her own version in 1950, which topped the pop charts and sold several million copies, ranking among the most successful country-to-pop crossovers. King followed with the 1951 novelty “Slow Poke,” which claimed the top spot on both country and pop lists and remained at number one for more than three months. Additional hit compositions from King included “Silver and Gold” (1952), “Changing Partners” (1954), “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” “You Belong to Me,” “Walk by the River,” “Busybody,” and “Bimbo.” He also returned to the screen in a pair of Charles Starrett Westerns in the early 1950s.

King’s string of commercial successes diminished after 1954; his television series ended in 1957, and he continued recording for RCA until 1959. Between 1959 and 1963 he rejoined Minnie Pearl and led the Golden West Cowboys as her backing unit. In 1965 Tennessee designated “Tennessee Waltz” its official state song. King disbanded the Golden West Cowboys in 1969 and joined the Country Music Foundation, later serving as one of its directors. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1974, subsequently sat on its board of directors, and was also elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. King died in Louisville on March 7, 2000, following a heart attack.