Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys (1936-1969)
(March 1951) - "Slow Poke" Chilton Price, music librarian at the radio station in Louisville, had written a batch of six songs, which she shyly gave to Pee Wee to see whether he thought they had any potential, and, if they did, to get him to do whatever he thought necessary to them.
Pee Wee and Redd slowly worked their way through the songs, revising the lyrics as needed to make them easier to sing, punching them up as needed, and coming up with improvemehts on the melodies.
Pee Wee remembers telling her at one point that the song had potential and "I think we can get a Tommy Tucker on it, or else a Guy Lombardo." The passage of time has obscured the details of exactly what changes Pee Wee and Redd made, but Pee Wee recalls among their lyrical changes the addition of both 'aggravating' and the resolution 'dear.' They tried it out several times on dances, and the response was encouraging to the band's straight two-beat treatment.
They brought the song to the studio, but "there was an emptiness; it sounded better on stage in a ballroom than it did in the stuido. Something missing. And finally our drummer picked up the old tempo box and the sticks out of the tick-tock." Pee Wee says, "That's what made it, the tick-tock rhythm." The recording came out well, although Pee Wee recalls that he deliberately put a slur in on his part to cover up the clicking of the accordion keys.
When it was released as a single at the end of July 1951, 'Billboard' gave it a lukewarm review:
"Light bounce ditty written by King is better pop material, tho Stewart and the group hadn it an okay country reading."
The infrectious melody and ingratiating lyrics were not lost on those who may have read the review, for the song was covered seven ways from breakfast. Pee Wee & Redd's version became Pee Wee's only #1 country hit as an artist (as well as his only #1 pop hit as an artist), spending fifteen weeks atop the country Juke Box chart and three at #1 pop. 'Billboard' later listed it as the #5 country single of 1952.
(November 1951) The ramifications of "Slow Poke" on the career of Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys cannot be overestimated. Pee Wee credits it with opening up doors in more prestigious venues: "As time went on we were accepted in the hotels and country clubs as a, well, I guess as a novelty band - not the Spike Jones type, but we did a lot of foolishness and had a lot of clever stuff." The Golden West Cowboys were reported as the only country act featured at the big Record Week party at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago in November 1951.
While in Chicago in November 1951, the band did a TV show for "The Old American Barn Dance" series for Kling Studios, before flying to California for another movie. On December 7, while returning from filming the movie, "The Rough, Tough West" with Charles Starret and Smiley Burnette, their airplane was reported missing and they were reported killed. Pee Wee carried around a newspaper clipping of his "reported death" for a long time. (con't on next page)
Welcome
About Us
His Life
Biography
Discography
Filmography
Achievements
His Music
Redd's Songs
Videos
Memories
Family Reflections
Photo Gallery
CD Reviews
The Store
Links
TN Waltz (Releases)
Special Thanks
Newsletters
Archives
Golden West Cowboys
Contact Us
Friends of Redd
Pee Wee King
Patti Page
Ernest Tubb
Hank Williams
Jett Williams
Minnie Pearl
Grandpa Jones
Roy Acuff
Gene Autry
Jimmy Dickens
A Note From Billy
Redd's
YouTube Videos