Kenny Price
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James Kenneth "Kenny" Price (May 27, 1931 - August 4, 1987) was an accomplished singer, songwriter, and actor.
He was born in Florence, Kentucky and raised on a farm in Boone County, Kentucky. Price learned to play guitar when he was five years old. At age 14, he started playing live music for WZIP in Cincinnati, Ohio. From 1952 until 1954, Price served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, reaching the rank of corporal. While stationed in Korea, he auditioned for a USO show, and before being discharged, he had decided to become a professional musician. He studied for a brief time at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and began playing for "Midwestern Hayride" on WLWT. In 1957, he was appearing on Buddy Ross' show "Hometown".
Price was a regular cast member on the television variety show "Hee Haw" from 1976 until his death. He was a member of The Hee Haw Gospel Quartet, which included Grandpa Jones, Buck Owens, and Roy Clark. Price also appeared in two episodes of The Love Boat with fellow "Hee Haw" castmember Lulu Roman and a small role in the film "Cold Justice".
Standing six feet tall and weighing nearly 300 pounds, he was known as "The Round Mound of Sound". Price had 34 singles chart in his career, including "Walking on the New Grass" (a top 10 in 1966), "Happy Tracks", "Northeast Arkansas Mississippi County Bootlegger" (a top 20 in 1969), and "The Sheriff of Boone County" (a pop crossover top 10).
Price died of heart failure and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Erlanger, Kentucky.
[edit] Discography
- One Hit Follows Another (1967)
- Southern Bound (1969)
- Charlotte Fever (1971)
- A Red Foley Songbook (1971)
- The Sheriff of Boone County (1971)
- Sea of Heartbreak (And Other Don Gibson Hits) (1972)
- Super Sideman (1972)
- You Almost Slipped My Mind (1972)
- Turn on Your Light and Let It Shine (1974)
- The Best of Both (1980)
- A Pocket Full of Tunes (1982)
- The Hee Haw Gospel Quartet (1984)
