Pee Wee King, musician, 86

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

Pee Wee King, Co-Writer of 'Tennessee Waltz,' Dies

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Reuters) - Pee Wee King, a songwriter, singer and
bandleader who wrote the ``Tennessee Waltz,'' died Tuesday, a hospital
spokeswoman said.

King, 86, who was born Frank Kuczynski in Milwaukee, suffered a serious
heart attack late last month and died with his wife and family at his
bedside, a spokeswoman for Jewish Hospital said.

King began his career playing accordion with local polka bands in Milwaukee
and then moved into country music, in part because he and cowboy actor and
singer Gene Autry got to know each other when both performed on the same
Chicago radio station.

It was as a songwriter that King had his greatest successes. Besides
co-writing the ``Tennessee Waltz'' with Redd Stewart, King wrote such hits
as ``Slow Poke,'' ``Walk Me By the River'' and ``Napoleon's Retreat.''

Patti Page turned the ``Tennessee Waltz'' into a hit when she recorded it on
the flip side of her 1947 disc featuring ''Santa Claus Boogie.'' The waltz
later became the state song of Tennessee.

As a performer, King was a regular on the radio program ''Mid-Day Merry Go
Round'' in Knoxville in 1936, and joined the ''Golden West Cowboys'' band.
He became leader of the group that helped launch the careers of crooner Eddy
Arnold, honky-tonk singer Cowboy Copas and singer Ernest Tubb.

King's group also became the first full-time band for the Grand Ole Opry in
1937 at a time when Opry performers were part-time and often held other jobs
to make ends meet.

King was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1974.

He is survived by his wife, a daughter and three sons.


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