Tennessee Waltz

Tennessee Waltz

Old-Time Country waltz; Words and Music by Redd Stewart and Frank "Pee Wee" King

ARTIST: Redd Steward and Frank "Pee Wee" King

CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes

EARLIEST DATE: 1947

RECORDING INFO: Tennessee Waltz - Stewart, Redd/King, Peewee

Austen, Seth. Appalachian Fiddle Tunes for Finger Style Guitar, Kicking Mule KM 174, LP (1982), trk# 3
Barrett, Dick (Texas). Dick Barrett Waltz Album, Barrett Number 6, LP (197?), trk# B.05 Brother Oswald (Kirby, Pete). Brother Oswald, Rounder 0013, LP (1972), trk# 10
Davis, Bill. Smoky Mountain Melodies, Old Traditions BWD 61172, LP (1960s), trk# A.06
Greene, Richard. Duets, Rounder 0075, LP (1977), trk# 8
Jeffers, Russ & Becky. Russ & Becky Jeffers, Royal American RA 1014, LP (197?), trk# A.05
Kessinger, Clark. Old Time Music With Fiddle and Guitar, Rounder 0004, LP (1972), trk# 6 [1971/04/10]
King, Pee Wee; & Redd Stewart. Tennessee Waltz & Slow Poke, Country Road CR-5-14, Cas (1976), trk# 1
Laughlin, Rose. Souvenir, Laughlin --, CD (2005), trk# 4
Mid-Columbia Old-Time Music Club. Way It Was, Kuiper, CD (2002/1978), trk# 19
Mom and the Dads. 22 Favorite Waltzes with the Mom and Dads, GRT 2103-716, LP (1976), trk# 1
Muddy Bottom Boys. Slaughter on the Highway, Grassroots GR 002, LP (1976), trk# B.06
Whittington, Oscar. Old Time Waltzes, Rural Rhythm RR 174, LP (196?), trk# 12
Wijnkamp, Leo;, Jr.. Rags to Riches, Kicking Mule KM 117, LP (1975), trk# B.03

SOURCES: On-line; Mudcat


NOTES: One on the most popular and recognizable country melodies, the Tennesee Waltz,  may have been created indirectly by Bill Monroe; he had a hit with the Kentucky Waltz which prompted those King and Stewart to write one for Tennesee. Certainly any professional country fiddler from 1947 on has had to learn and perform the song. It's considered a fiddle tune by some and is frequently included in fiddle books.

Frank "Pee Wee" King, died on March 09, 2000, at the age of 86, co-writer of the classic "Tennessee Waltz."

Born Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski in Milwaukee, King joined his father's dance band at the age of 14. Within a year, he had formed the first of his own bands. His most successful group was the Golden West Cowboys. King wrote "Tennessee Waltz" with fellow band member Redd Stewart in 1947. They said they were riding in Stewart's truck when the idea struck them, and they wrote the song on an unfolded matchbox.
Although King's own recording of the song did well, it was Patti Page's version that became a No. 1 pop hit and sold 65 million copies.

"Tennessee Waltz" was adopted as the state song of Tennessee in 1965. Among King's other hits were "You Belong to Me," "Slow Poke," "Silver and Gold," "Bonaparte's Retreat" and "Changing Partners." King introduced Polish polka rhythms and waltzes to country music and did much to meld country with Western.

With his band, the accordion-playing King performed at the Grand Ole Opry for 10 years, setting a Western dress style for the formerly hillbilly-garbed cast and introducing trumpets, drums and electric guitars. King and his band appeared in several of Gene Autry's movies and in other Westerns with Johnny Mack Brown and the Durango Kid. King was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1974. One of King's band members was Eddy Arnold, who said he "learned a lot about showmanship" from King before going on to establish himself as a hit country singer. On Tuesday he died in Louisville, Ky., after a heart attack.

The success of Tennesse Waltz spawned a parody by Homer and Jethro:

TENNESSEE WALTZ- Stewart/King 1947

I was dancing with my darling to the Tennessee Waltz,
When an old friend I happened to see.
Introduced him to my loved one,
And while they were waltzing,
My friend stole my sweetheart from me.

I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz.
Now I know just how much I have lost.
Yes, I lost my little darlin'
The night they were playin'
That beautiful Tennessee Waltz.