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'{{Infobox musical artist | name = Pee Wee King | image = Pee Wee King 1944.jpg | caption = Pee Wee King c. 1944 | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date|1914|2|18}} | birth_place = [[Abrams (CDP), Wisconsin|Abrams, Wisconsin]], [[United States]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|2000|3|7|1914|2|18}} | death_place = [[Louisville, Kentucky]], United States | instrument = [[Accordion]], [[fiddle]] | genre = [[Country music|Country]] | occupation = [[Singer-songwriter]] | years_active = 1948&ndash;1954 | associated_acts = [[Redd Stewart]] }} '''Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski''' (February 18, 1914 &ndash; March 7, 2000), known professionally as '''Pee Wee King''', was an [[United States|American]] [[country 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 the Country Music Hall of Fame. ==Life and career== King was born in [[Abrams (CDP), Wisconsin|Abrams, 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 professional [[polka]] musician. In the 1930s, he toured and made cowboy movies with [[Gene Autry]].<ref name=miller>Miller, James. ''Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947-1977''. Simon & Schuster (1999), pp. 44-45. {{ISBN|0-684-80873-0}}.</ref> 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 music|bluegrass]] musician [[Bill Monroe]]. King and Stewart first recorded "The Tennessee Waltz" in 1948, and it went on to become a country music standard, due, mainly, to the immense success of [[Patti Page]]'s version of the song. King's other songs included "[[Slow Poke]]" and "[[You Belong to Me (1952 song)|You Belong to Me]]", both co-authored with [[Chilton Price]] and [[Redd Stewart]]. His songs introduced [[waltz]]es, polkas, and [[Cowboy music|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]], where both instruments were banned. He ignored that ban only once, appearing at the Ryman in April, 1945 following the death of [[Franklin 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. He used his full band, with drums and trumpet. When confronted about it afterward, King told Opry emceed [[George D. Hay]] that he had done his stage show, as asked. Bob Wills, had defied the Opry ban on drums during a 1944 guest appearance,<ref>Kienzle, Richard. (2003). Southwest shuffle: pioneers of honky-tonk, Western swing, and country jazz. New York: Routledge. pp.&nbsp;254-257.</ref><ref>In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp.&nbsp;80–81.</ref> His band also introduced on-stage dancing and [[Nudie Cohn]]'s customized 'rhinestone cowboy' outfits<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nudiesrodeotailor.com/gallery/galleryfashion06a.html |title=Nudies Rodeo Tailors official website of Nudies suits |publisher=Nudiesrodeotailor.com |accessdate=2012-04-01 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329171929/http://www.nudiesrodeotailor.com/gallery/galleryfashion06a.html |archivedate=2012-03-29 }}</ref> to the Opry which later became popular with Nashville and country musicians, including [[Elvis Presley]].<ref>[http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/inductees.aspx?cid=135# Countrymusichalloffame.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813041602/http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/inductees.aspx?cid=135 |date=August 13, 2007 }}</ref> [[File:Pee Wee King Country Music Hall of Fame Plaque .jpg|alt=Pee Wee King's Country Music Hall of Fame Plaque located in the Hall of Fame Rotunda in Nashville, TN.|thumb|Pee Wee King's Country Music Hall of Fame Plaque located in the Hall of Fame Rotunda in Nashville, TN.]] 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 (TV Series)|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 [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] in [[Louisville, Kentucky]], at age 86. ==Discography== [[File:Pee Wee King.png|thumb|right|Pee Wee King in 1970]] ===Albums=== *''Pee Wee King'', RCA Victor, 1954 *''Waltzes'', RCA Victor, 1955 *''Swing West'', RCA Victor, 1956 *''Country Barn Dance'', RCA 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 ===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Single ! colspan="2"| Chart Positions |- ! style="width:50px;"| <small>[[Hot Country Songs|US Country]]</small> ! style="width:50px;"| <small>[[Billboard Hot 100|US]]</small> |- | 1948 | "[[Tennessee Waltz]]" | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | |- | rowspan="2"| 1949 | "Tennessee Tears" | style="text-align:center;"| 12 | |- | "Tennessee Polka" | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | |- | 1950 | "[[Bonaparte's Retreat (Pee Wee King song)|Bonaparte's Retreat]]" | style="text-align:center;"| 10 | |- | rowspan="2"| 1951 | "Tennessee Waltz" <small>(re-release)</small> | style="text-align:center;"| 6 | |- | "[[Slow Poke]]" | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1 |- | rowspan="2"| 1952 | "Silver and Gold" | style="text-align:center;"| 5 | style="text-align:center;"| 18 |- | "Busybody" | style="text-align:center;"| 8 | style="text-align:center;"| 27 |- | rowspan="3"| 1954 | "[[Changing Partners]]" | style="text-align:center;"| 4 | |- | "[[Bimbo (song)|Bimbo]]" | style="text-align:center;"| 9 | |- | "Backward, Turn Backward" | style="text-align:center;"| 15 | |} ==Notes== {{Reflist}} ==References== *Hall, Wade. (1998). "Pee Wee King". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp.&nbsp;283–4. ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110221120035/http://countrymusichalloffame.org/full-list-of-inductees/view/pee-wee-king Pee Wee King at the Country Music Hall of Fame] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080704120518/http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/king.html Pee Wee King at the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame] * {{IMDb name|id=0455128|name=Pee Wee King}} * [http://elvispelvis.com/peeweeking.htm Pee Wee King obit] * [http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608002731/Pee-Wee-King.html Pee Wee King biography] {{Pee Wee King}} {{Grand Ole Opry members}} {{1970s Country Music Hall of Fame}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Pee Wee}} [[Category:1914 births]] [[Category:2000 deaths]] [[Category:American country fiddlers]] [[Category:American people of Polish descent]] [[Category:American country singer-songwriters]] [[Category:Country musicians from Wisconsin]] [[Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees]] [[Category:Singers from Wisconsin]] [[Category:Musicians from Milwaukee]] [[Category:Grand Ole Opry members]] [[Category:Starday Records artists]] [[Category:Apex Records artists]] [[Category:RCA Victor artists]] [[Category:Top Rank Records artists]] [[Category:20th-century American singers]] [[Category:Songwriters from Wisconsin]] [[Category:People from Abrams, Wisconsin]]'