Kenny Roberts

George S, Kingsbury, Jr. Athol -George S. Kingsbury, Jr. 85, of 165 Allen St. known as “Kenny Roberts, King of the Yodelers”, died Sunday, April 29, 2012 at the Athol Memorial Hospital.      George was born October 14,1926 in Lenoir City, Tennessee and later raised on a farm in Orange, MA and has lived in Athol most of his life.  He was the son of George S. and Sarah L. (Bennett) Kingsbury, Sr.      He served in the U. S. Navy during World War II.      George leaves his wife of 36 years, Betty Anne (Campbell) Kingsbury; five sons, Kenneth Kingsbury and his wife Becky of Holt, MI, Robert Kingsbury and his wife Diana of Hendersonville, TN, Michael Kingsbury and his wife Marilyn of Cottontown, TN, Jeff Kingsbury and his wife Linda of Gallatin, TN, Kevin Kingsbury of Destin, FL; three daughters, Lisa Hughes and her husband Don of Beaver Creek, OH, Christine Shope and her husband Steve of Huber Heights, OH and Debby Pridmore and her husband Brian of Bellbrook, OH; his former wife, Freda Rabideau of Beaver Creek, OH; three step-sons, Paul Sprague of Brockton, MA , Gary Sprague of Abington, MA and Harry Sprague of North Weymouth, MA and many grandchildren and great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.  He was predeceased by an infant daughter Jenna and his sister Betty Carey.      Calling hours will be held Thursday, May 3, 2012 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Higgins-O’Connor Funeral Home, 146 Main St., Athol, MA.  A service with military honors will be Friday, May 4th at 10:00 A.M. at the Massachusetts Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Winchendon with the Rev. Fr. Richard Jakubauskas, pastor of Our Lady Immaculate Church officiating.  In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions be made to:  the Franklin County Home Care Corp., 330 Montague City Road, Turners Falls, MA  01376.  For further information or to share a memory with the family go to: www.higginsoconnorfuneralhome.com.         Kenny Roberts (George S. Kingsbury Jr.), the North Quabbin Region’s beloved country and western star, died Sunday, April 29, 2012, at Athol Memorial Hospital nestled in the hills that echoed with his musical talents so many times over the generations. He was 85. Roberts, billed as America’s King of the Yodelers, was born Oct. 14, 1926, in Lenoir City, Tenn., but was raised on a farm in Orange. He started in music at the age of 11, when he organized a band consisting entirely of young harmonica players. Later, he learned to play guitar and then bass fiddle and violin. He was inspired by Yodeling Slim Clark, Jimmie Rodgers and other singing cowboys. His career included many guest appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, starting in 1951. In 1942, a 15-year-old Roberts joined the Red River Rangers, performing on WHAI Radio in Greenfield along with Slim Clark and the Newberry Brothers of Petersham. Roberts learned to yodel and at the age of 17 won a New Hampshire radio contest to be chosen as “Eastern States Yodeling Champion” in 1944. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in early 1945, and moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., after World War II ended. He performed on several shows on radio station KMOX in St. Louis, Mo., as well as the CBS Saturday morning show “Barnyard Frolics,” then organized and led a Pennsylvania-based western swing band called the Down Homers, recording for Vogue Records. Rock and roll pioneer Bill Haley joined the band in 1946 as a guitarist and yodeler. In the early 2000s, a set of 1946 radio recordings by the Down Homers were discovered, and Haley is named and performs the solo number “She Taught Me to Yodel.” When the Down Homers left Fort Wayne in 1946, Roberts stayed on with the station’s Saturday Night Live shows and later went to KMOX in St. Louis and the Uncle Dick Slack Barn Dance Shows on CBS. This move began his solo career. Roberts signed a recording contract with Coral Records in 1949, a division of Decca. His first release, “I Never See Maggie Alone,” was an immediate hit. He followed with other hits, including “River of Tears,” “I’ve Got the Blues,” “Yodel Polka,” “She Taught Me to Yodel,” and “Hillbilly Style.” The band which Hank Williams used on his first recordings is the same which backed Roberts’ first record for Coral, “River of Tears.” Other personalities backing early Coral songs included Chet Atkins, Grady Martin, Owen Bradley and Jerry Byrd. Roberts soon began to jump while yodeling and became popular with youngsters thanks to the jumping, yodeling and his cowboy tunes. He starred in a children’s TV show in 1953, performing in Cincinnati on WLW-TV. He performed on Arthur Godfrey’s CBS network talent program. Roberts played at the Hoosier Hop in Fort Wayne, Ind., as well as the WCOP Hayloft Jamboree. He later performed on the Midwestern Hayride, during the 1950s, from Cincinnati. He became a regional star through television shows in Dayton, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Ind. Roberts began a daily cartoon show on WNEM TV-5 in Saginaw, Mich., about 1961, as “The Kenny Roberts Show,” in which he was known as “The Yodeling Cowboy.” The popular black-and-white show featured Roberts singing and playing guitar as he hosted children in the studio, and presented cartoons. Roberts developed his own “galloping yodel” style which he described as “one of the fastest yodels ever created” that won him a world championship at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1964. His best-known locally-performed song was “Cheer Up, Things Could Be Worse.” Roberts moved back to Dayton in the early 1970s, and later, moved back to Massachusetts. He played concerts in the region, and released an album for Palomino around 1980, followed by Longhorn’s “Then and Now,” which combined historical cuts with new recordings. Though essentially retired, he continued to give concerts around the northeast throughout the ensuing decade. He also appeared on television on a variety of shows over the years as well, aside from those already mentioned. In the 1970s, he was featured on the Bob Hope Special from Ohio and appeared as a guest on shows such as To Tell The Truth and Hee Haw. He was also named winner of the Most Popular Star Contest in 1975 at the WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia. Roberts’ many recordings include: The Christmas Cannonball; Christmas Roses; Hush Puppies, Sweet Little Cherokee; I Never See Maggie Alone; Wedding Bells; I’ve Got the Blues; River of Tears; Jealous Heart; There’s a Bluebird on Your Windowsill; Slide Them Jugs Down the Mountain; When I’d Yoo-Hoo in the Valley; Hillbilly Fever; Choc’late Ice Cream Cone; Boogie Woogie Yodel Song; Billy and Nanny Goat; Our Lady of Fatima; Mother Dear, O Pray For Me; Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie; I Finally Got Maggie Alone; If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time; Molasses, Molasses; Cry Baby Blues; One Way Ticket; May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You; Wide is the Gate; If You’ve Got the Money; Mickey the Chickey; Casper, The Candy Cowboy; I Believe I’m Entitled to You. Also, Just Yodel For Me; Grandfather Kringle; He’ll Be Coming Down the Chimney; The Sissy Song (w/Tommy Sosebee); She Said (w/Tommy Sosebee); It’s Great to be a Christian (w/Tommy Sosebee); Let Jesus Come Into Your Heart (w/Tommy Sosebee); F.O.B. Tennessee; Good Old Mountain Dew; Hillbilly Style; The Yodel Polka; Call of the Wild; Love Makes a New Fool Every Day; Tennessee Spelling Bee; I’m Unwanted; Two Steps Forward; Goodbye For Him; Twenty-Four Hours With the Blues; I’m Crying on the Inside. In June 1978, Roberts was inducted into the Walkway of Stars at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn., and his wife, Bettyanne, had become, by now, a major part of his stageshows. A talented singer and songwriter, she became an increasing part of the Kenny Roberts story as the years went on. Together they made their first tour of Europe in 1979. Roberts’ greatest thrill occurred one day when Hollywood director Peter Bogdanovich asked him to go to New York and teach actor Gene Wilder the craft of yodeling for the movie “Another You.” Roberts is the yodeling voice you hear in the movie as Wilder lip synchs to the tune. Artists who over the years shared the same stage with Roberts include Hank Williams, Roy Acuff, Red Foley, Minnie Pearl, Jim Reeves, Hank Snow. Jimmie Dickens, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Ernest Tubb, George Morgan and many others. $(document).ready(function(){ });