Kenny Roberts (October 14, 1926 – April 29, 2012) was an American country music singer. Best-known for his 1949 hit "I Never See Maggie Alone," Kenny Roberts was one of the last country singers to specialize in the legendary vocal technique of the blue yodel. Inspired by Yodeling Slim Clark, Jimmie Rodgers, and
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several singing cowboys, Roberts first came to prominence in the late '40s, and over the next five years he built up a fan base through his recording, frequent tours, and his appearance at yodeling concerts. Though he never had many hits -- he only charted four times, between 1949 and 1950 -- he nevertheless remained a popular concert attraction well into the '80s.
several singing cowboys, Roberts first came to prominence in the late '40s, and over the next five years he built up a fan base through his recording, frequent tours, and his appearance at yodeling concerts. Though he never had many hits -- he only charted four times, between 1949 and 1950 -- he nevertheless remained a popular concert attraction well into the '80s.Roberts was born George Kingsbury in Lenoir City, TN. After Roberts’ mother died when he was a child, the family relocated to a farm near Athol, Massachusetts. He learned guitar, harmonica and fiddle and grew up listening to the music of the singing cowboys and the yodelling of Elton Britt. He won a talent competition when he was 13 years old and first played with the Red River Rangers on WHAI Greenfield in 1942.He made his first radio appearance when he was 15. At the age of 17, he won a New Hampshire radio contest to be chosen as "Eastern States Yodeling Champion" in 1944.
Roberts became part of the Down Homers, a local group who had a regular gig at WKNE, a New Hampshire radio station. Eventually, the group made their way toward the Midwest, playing at radio stations in Iowa and later settling in Fort Wayne, IN, where they regularly played a show called the Hoosier Hop. In a short time, Roberts had developed a reputation as a first-rate singer and yodeler.
Roberts signed a recording contract with Coral Records in 1949, a division of Decca. His career took off when his first release "I Never See Maggie Alone" was an immediate hit. It sold a million copies. The flip side, "Wedding Bells," also was a hit, reaching
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number 15, while his second single, "Jealous Heart," reached number 14. He followed with other hits including "River of Tears,""I've Got the Blues,""Yodel Polka,""She Taught Me to Yodel," and "Hillbilly Style." In the spring of 1950, "Choc'late Ice Cream Cone" became his second Top Ten single; it would also prove to be his last charting single.
Following his chart success, Roberts moved to Cincinnati, where he starred in a children's TV show in 1953, performing in Cincinnati on WLW-TV. He also performed on Arthur Godfrey's CBS network talent program. He became a regional star through television shows in Dayton, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Indiana. He began a daily cartoon show on WNEM TV-5 in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1961, as "The Kenny
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Roberts Show" where he was known as "The Yodelling Cowboy", or (according to at least one former child guest) "The Jumping Cowboy". The popular black-and-white show featured Roberts singing and playing guitar as he hosted children in the studio, and presented cartoons.
For the remainder of the decade, he concentrated his efforts on the Midwest, becoming a big regional star through his television shows in Dayton, OH (which became his home in 1952), Indianapolis,
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Indiana, and Saginaw, MI. Roberts continued to appear regularly on daytime Midwestern television -- and, as of 1962, WWVA's Wheeling Jamboree -- until the mid '60s. Around that time, he released an EP on the independent label Essgee, which led to a contract with Starday Records in 1965. Over the next five years, he released four albums for the label. Once his deal with Starday expired, he recorded briefly in the early '70s for Nashville Records.
In the early '70s, Roberts moved back to Dayton and concentrated on working in the Midwest and Canada. During the mid-'70s, he made a pair of albums for the Canadian label Point. By the end of the decade, he had moved back to his home state of Massachusetts,
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where he began playing concerts across the East. Roberts released one album for Palomino around 1980, which was followed by Longhorn's Then and Now, which combined historical cuts with new recordings. A few years later, Roberts moved to a farm near his childhood home in Greenfield. Though he was essentially retired, he continued to give concerts around the Northeast throughout the decade.
Roberts died in April 2012 in Athol, Massachusetts, aged 85.
(Compiled and edited from All Music & Wikipedia)