![]() (Courtesy of Minard Coons) ![]() (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above are 'window cards' from a couple of the Ken Curtis/Hoosier Hot Shots musicals, COWBOY BLUES (Columbia, 1946) and OVER THE SANTA FE TRAIL (Columbia, 1947). The bottom card includes a tie-in to the very popular National Barn Dance (radio show). These 'window cards' measure about 11 inches x 4 inches and were displayed in the window of the ticket booth to advertise coming attractions. ![]() (Courtesy of Ed Phillips) Above - Ken Curtis attends to Gene Roth (Gene Stutenroth) while Roy Barcroft looks on. There are several unidentified players in the background - in the center, with checkerboard shirt and hands hanging at his side is an older Chick Hannon/Hannan. From the chapterplay DON DAREDEVIL RIDES AGAIN (Republic, 1951). |
Curtis ... and Tommy Dorsey ... and Shep
Fields... and the Sons of the Pioneers. |
One of the common stories reported in Curtis biographies is that he was the "replacement" for Frank Sinatra in the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Airchecks/transcriptions of Sinatra's final performance with Dorsey have been available for years - the date was September 3, 1942 in New York, and Frank's last vocal with the Dorsey band was "The Song Is You". That broadcast also includes Sinatra and Dorsey introducing Frank's replacement, Dick Haymes. Curtis did a couple recordings with the Dorsey Orchestra in late 1941. One was "Love Sends A Little Gift Of Roses", recorded 9/26/41 with the Pied Pipers vocal group (which then included Jo Stafford). That recording is available on the CD Whatcha Know Joe by The Pied Pipers.
Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra was a powerhouse and money maker in the early 1940s, with a bunch of talented sidemen, and vocals from Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Connie Haines, and the Pied Pipers. The band was originally handled by M.C.A., but around 1941, Dorsey broke away and formed Tommy Dorsey, Inc. which allowed him to do his own bookings and such. The relationship of Dorsey and Ken Curtis is not clear, but following are several bits of conjecture:
Curtis' brief time with Dorsey was mentioned in the November 26, 1941 issue of Variety: "Ken Curtis, singer, who recently made couple sides with Tommy Dorsey in place of Frank Sinatra, replaces Pat Foy with Shep Fields' band."
Ken Griffis' reference book on the Sons of the Pioneers, Hear My Song: The Story of the Celebrated Sons of the Pioneers, mentions: that Dorsey was the one who suggested the name change from Curtis Wain (not Wayne) Gates to Ken Curtis; and he joined the Sons of the Pioneers singing group in 1949 and was with them through 1953 (and he continued to record with the SOP through 1957). |
On the trail of Ken Curtis.
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The Family Search website (free), Ancestry.com (subscription), California Death Index, Social Security Death Index (SSDI), and newspaper obituaries provide more on Curtis Wain Gates / Ken Curtis:
Find A Grave website notes that Curtis was cremated: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6691389/ken-curtis |
Links
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![]() The Internet Archive has many episodes of the 1946 - 1948 ALL-STAR WESTERN THEATER. This link will take you to a bunch of episodes. Ken Curtis was featured in program #6, Clem Norman Story and #17, The Vought Cowboy: https://archive.org/details/All-starWesternTheatre The Internet Archive also has a lot of Ken Curtis songs: https://archive.org/details/KenCurtisCollection The Internet Archive has the Ken Curtis productions of THE KILLER SHREWS (1959) and THE GIANT GILA MONSTER (1959): https://archive.org/details/moviesandfilms?&and[]=%22ken%20curtis%22#collection-date-archived Daniel Neyer's "The Files of Jerry Blake" serial website has details on Curtis starring in the DON DAREDEVIL RIDES AGAIN (Republic, 1951) cliffhanger: https://filesofjerryblake.com/2014/01/09/don-daredevil-rides-again/ Teresa Murray has a Ken Curtis Appreciation website with a bio and photos. And there's photos and info on the memorial statue of Ken/Festus in Clovis, California which was crafted by local artist Sam Hutchings: http://www.eviltwin.velvetsofa.com/Curtis/main.html The BMI Music site has a listing of BMI licensed songs composed by Curtis. Go the BMI homepage at: https://repertoire.bmi.com/. In the Search box, select Writer / Composer and enter Ken Curtis. The official website for James Arness of movie and GUNSMOKE fame is at: http://www.jamesarness.com/ R. J. 'Bob' Marks II has a website on TV's GUNSMOKE: http://gunsmokenet.com/ |