ROOTS of Country Music

Kenny Roberts

King of the Yodelers

Best-known for his hit, I Never See Maggie Alone, Kenny Roberts was one of the last country singers to adapt the vocal method of the blue yodel. Inspired by Jimmie Rodgers, Gene Autry and Yodeling Slim Clark, Roberts first came to prominence in the late 1940s and over the next five years he built up a respectable fan base through his recording and touring. Though he only charted four times, between 1949 and 1950; he remained a popular concert attraction well into the '80s.

Kenny Roberts was born on October 14, 1927 in Lenoir City,Tennessee,USA and raised on a farm outside ofGreenfield,Massachusetts. When he was eleven years old, he organized a band that was made up entirely of young harmonica players. Later, he learned to play guitar and then bass fiddle and violin. At age 15, he joined a radio band, the Red River Rangers, at WHAI inGreenfield and Roberts developed his yodeling skills.

In 1943, he became part of the Down Homers, a local group who had a regular gig at WKNE, aNew Hampshireradio station. Eventually, the group made their way toward the Midwest, playing at radio stations inIowaand later settling inFort Wayne,Indiana, where they regularly played a show called the Hoosier Hop. In a short time, Roberts had developed a reputation as an accomplished singer and yodeler.

The Down Homers, who also featured Bob Mason, Guy Campbell, Shorty Cook, and Lloyd Cornell, cut a record released as a Vogue Picture Disc. Near the end of World War II (1945), Roberts decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy. After his enlistment ended, he returned toFort Wayne, where he began a solo career. In 1948, he moved toSt. Louis, where he appeared regularly on several shows on KMOX, as well as the CBS Saturday morning show Barnyard Frolics. In 1949, Roberts signed a recording contract with Coral Records, a division of Decca. His first release, I Never See Maggie Alone (No. 4, 1949), was his biggest chart song. The flip side, Wedding Bells (No. 15, 1949 and Jealous Heart (No. 14, 1949), kept Kenny in the top-twenty. Choc'late Ice Cream Cone (No. 8, 1950) became Kenny’s second and final top-ten single.

Roberts’ mega-hits were novelties, but they did not feature the yodeling that made him the King of the Yodelers and though he continued to record novelty songs, his forte was straight ahead country ballads and yodeling songs. While he only charted four songs on Billboard’s country charts, he had many regional hits includingRiverofTears, I’ve Got the Blues, Yodel Polka, She Taught Me to Yodel, Hillbilly Style and Country Music Singing Sensation.

Kenny not only yodeled but was a bit of a jumper while singing his tunes. During the 1950s, he became a regional star and his career took him to such venues as the Hoosier Hop that was out ofFort Wayne,Indianaas well the WCOP Hayloft Jamboree and the Midwestern Hayride aired on WLWT-TV Cincinnati, Ohio. He was popular with young children with his yodeling, jumping singing cowboy tunes. Tired of the grind of constant traveling, he settled down to local television, starring in a children’s TV show in 1953 onCincinnati’s WLW-TV. He also performed on Arthur Godfrey’s CBS network talent program.

During the early 1960s he began a daily cartoon show on WNEM TV-5 inSaginaw,Michigan, titled The Kenny Roberts Show where he was known as The Yodeling Cowboy. The popular black-and-white show featured Roberts singing and playing guitar between hosting the children in the studio audience and presenting cartoons. The Kenny Roberts Show lasted for five years. Eventually he moved toDayton.

In 1975 he returned toMassachusettswhere he began playing concerts across the East. A few years later, Roberts moved to a farm near his childhood home inGreenfield. Though he was essentially retired, he continued to give concerts around the Northeast throughout the decade. Until his return toMassachusetts, Roberts was a frequent guest on the WWVA Big Jamboree. He also has made numerous appearances on the Grand Old Opry and touredEurope.

Kenny Roberts’ recording career spans all the various forms on which a recording could appear except wax cylinders. His biggest hits were with Coral but he also recorded for Dot, Decca, King and Starday. Kenny was not a very successful recording artist. Nonetheless, his forte was fostering the yodeling technique, which earned him the title, King of the Yodelers.

Written by: Richard Bell, Country Music Historian, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Aug. 209.

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