BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Full Name: Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski
Description: Fiddle, Composer, USA
Known For: “The Tennessee Waltz” Co Composer of the song.
Instruments: Voice
Music Styles: Country, Easy listening
Location: United States of America
Date Born: 18th February 1914
Location Born: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States of America
Date Died: 7th March 2000
Location Died: Louisville,, Kentucky, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Heart attack
Memorial: He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1974.
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BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Pee Wee King
Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski (February 18, 1914 – March 7, 2000), known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing “Tennessee Waltz”.
Pee Wee King is mainly known for the ever lasting country standard
“THE TENNESSEE WALTZ” with co writer Redd Stewart, written in 1947.
King was born in Abrams, Wisconsin to a Polish American family and lived in Abrams during his youth. He learned to play the fiddle from his father, who was a professional polka musician. In the 1930s, he toured and made cowboy movies with Gene Autry.[1] King joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1937.
In 1946, while the bandleader of the Golden West Cowboys, King, together with the band’s vocalist, Redd Stewart, composed “The Tennessee Waltz”, inspired by “The Kentucky Waltz” by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe. King and Stewart first recorded “The Tennessee Waltz” in 1948, and it went on to become a country music standard.
King’s other songs included “Slow Poke” and “You Belong to Me”, both co-authored with Chilton Price and Redd Stewart. His songs introduced waltzes, polkas, and cowboy songs to country music.
King was not permitted to use the drummer and trumpeter he featured on his stage shows when the band played at the Grand Ole Opry. King refused to change his band’s sound at the Grand Ole Opry, over the years being among the first to introduce or popularize drums (along with Bob Wills, who defied the Opry ban in 1945), horns, the accordion, and electric instruments including the pedal steel guitar to the Opry’s brand of country music. His band also introduced on-stage dancing and Nudie Cohn’s customized ‘rhinestone cowboy’ outfits to the Opry which later became popular with Nashville and country musicians, including Elvis Presley.
He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1974.
He joined producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the In the Heat of the Night cast CD Christmas 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 in Louisville, Kentucky, at age 86.
Noted Songs Written.
TENNESSEE WALTZ – CO/WRITER Redd Stewart
SLOW POKE – CO/WRITER Redd Stewart
YOU BELONG TO ME – CO/WRITER Redd Stewart-Chilton Price.
I’LL FORGIVE YOU BUT I CAN’T FORGET YOU – 1944
CHANGING PARTNERS – 1954
TENNESSEE TANGO – CO WRITER Redd Stewart
WALK ME BY THE RIVER
A CRAZY WALTZ – CO/WRITER Redd Stewart-R Ayres
RIVER ROAD TWO STEP – CO WRITER Redd Stewart
Voted No 1 Country and Western Band Leader.
By BILLBOARD,CASHBOX,ORCHESTRAWORLD in 1950 to 1955.
Redd Stewart sang lead on all songs.
Albums
Pee Wee King, RCA Victor, 1954
Waltzes, RCA Victor, 1955
Swing West, RCA Victor, 1956
Country Barn Dance, Camden, 1965
Ballroom King, Detour, 1982
Hog Wild Too!, Zu Zazz, 1990
Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys (6-CD box set), Bear Family, 1995
Pee Wee King’s Country Hoedown (live radio performances), Bloodshot, 1999