Image from songwritershalloffame.orgFrom The Kentucky Encyclopedia -
Songwriter and musician Pee Wee King, the son of John and Helen (Mielczarek) Kuczynski, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on February 18, 1914. He joined the " Badger State Barn Dance" on Milwaukee's WJRN radio in 1933. The next year he was discovered by J.L. Frank and went to Louisville with a group called the Log Cabin Boys. In 1936 he went to WNOX in Knoxville and in 1937 to Nashville and the " Grand Ole Opry," where he stayed ten years. In 1942 he and his Golden West Cowboys were featured on the " Camel Caravan," which presented 175 shows in sixty-eight service-related establishments. In 1947 he returned to Louisville to appear on WAVE and other radio/television stations. He appeared in dozens of movies. The song Tennessee Waltz, which King wrote in collaboration with Redd Stewart, is country music's most- recorded (500 times), most-sold (70 million records) song of all time. Patti Page's version was one of the biggest hits in modern popular music history. King is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Association Hall of Fame. In 1936 he married Lydia Frank.
CHARLES F. FABER, Entry Author
Selected Sources from UK Libraries:
Hall, Wade, and University Press of Kentucky. Hell-bent for Music : The Life of Pee Wee King. Lexington, KY: U of Kentucky, 1996. Web.
ML422 .K57 H35 1996, Fine Arts Library
Flatt, Lester., Earl. Scruggs, Pee Wee King, Redd. Stewart, Jimmy. Simpson, Jimmie Skinner, Joe Lulu Belle & Scotty., Rose Lee. Maphis, Hylo. Brown, Leon. Hobson, Lyle. Collins, Maphis, Joe, and Willis Brothers. Doin' My Time. Madison, Tenn.]: Starday, 1964.
LP7340, Fine Arts - Media Center
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