Forgotten Artist: Kenny Roberts ~ King of the American Yodelers

Forgotten Artist: 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 of Greenfield, 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 in Greenfield 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, 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, 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 …
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