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The Tennessee Waltz
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Frank "Pee Wee" King, who co-wrote the "Tennessee Waltz" and helped introduced several instruments and musical styles to the Grand Ole Opry, died Tuesday, March 7, 2000. He was 86. King had been hospitalized after suffering a heart attack Feb. 28. Born Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski in Abrams, Wisconsin, King wrote "Tennessee Waltz" with fellow band member Redd Stewart in 1947. The two said they wrote it on an unfolded matchbox as they were riding in Stewart's truck. While King's recording did well, a version of the song by Patti Page became a No. 1 pop hit and sold 65 million copies. It became the state song of Tennessee in 1965.
13:55 6/29/2008
Singer Redd Stewart formed several bands in and around Louisville, KY, in the 1930s with moderate success before meeting and teaming up with a brash young accordionist and bandleader named Pee Wee King and achieving widespread popularity. Though the band did well in the late '30s, it wasn't until after WWII that the group really hit full stride. It was during that time that Stewart began writing and, inspired by his service time, wrote a smash hit for Ernest Tubb in the weepy "A Soldier's Last Letter." And with King as a writing partner, the team churned out hits such as "Bonaparte's Retreat" and the enduring country classic "Tennessee Waltz." The hits kept coming with "Slow Poke" and "You Belong to Me" topping the charts in the early '50s, and the duo continued to play in bands together throughout the '60s.
~ Steve Kurutz, All Music Guide
Note: Most MIDI
files are downloadable... ~ CLICK HERE ~!
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MIDI Music Arranged by:
Frank "Grandpa" Schober
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