Ken Curtis
(1916 - 1991)
Ken had a wonderful voice, a true
voice. He was just like a pitch pipe. (Bob Nolan)
"Old Trail" from a cassette of Bob Nolan songs that Ken Curtis put together for P-Nuts, Bob's widow.
Ken Curtis (Curtis Wain Gates) was born to Daniel and Nellie Gates on July 2, 1916, on a homestead in southeastern Colorado. His mother chorded on the pump organ, his father played the fiddle, and his brother Chester played the banjo. He had another brother, Carl. They all sang and, if they sang as well as Ken Curtis, it must have been wonderful to hear. Ken's father was the Sheriff of Bent County for three terms and the family lived in the lower part of the jailhouse.
Text: "Three Reasons why Dan Gates will make and keep Bent County a clean place in which to live. Dan and his Three Boys: Carl, age 17; Chester, age 14; Curtis, age 10. Dan Gates pledges you strict law enforcement without fear and without favor. Vote for Dan Gates for Sheriff. (courtesy of Pandra Selivanov.)
Text: "Proudest boy in Bent County, Colo., 1927-8: young Curt (now Ken Curtis) standing between his dad, Sheriff Dan Gates, and his sure-shot mom, Nellie! At left, Under-Sheriff Arthur Dean and 'the smartest dog ever known to mankind - my dog Ted.'" (courtesy of Pandra Selivanov.)
Ken left home in 1935 to attend college in Colorado Springs with the intention of becoming a doctor. He became involved in college events, wrote a musical and decided that music, not medicine, would be his goal in life. In Los Angeles Ken and Dale (Shutts) Sloan formed a combo called "The Cats 'n' Jammers" and recorded a few songs. Late in 1939 he was invited to sing for Louis B. Mayer and several other movie and radio moguls and, as a result, he was signed by NBC. Ken and his brother Chester (Dud) traveled to New York with high hopes and worked in tunnel construction to make ends meet.
Back in Los Angeles, in late 1941, Ken was forced to take another job in construction but he also made a demo record which Jo Stafford took to Tommy Dorsey to audit. Dorsey may have signed Ken as a temporary replacement for Frank Sinatra. Curtis did at least one recording with the Dorsey Band in late 1941 - Love Sends A Little Gift Of Roses - with the Pied Pipers, one of whom was Jo Stafford. He shortly joined the Shep Fields organization with whom he made a few recordings.
(Karl E. Farr Collection)
Magazine article courtesy of Pandra Slelivanov.
He enlisted in the Army in June of 1942 and, when he was demobilized, he again met Jo Stafford who was working with Johnny Mercer on the Chesterfield Music Shop radio program. Ken was invited to make a guest appearance on the show, sang Tumbling Tumbleweeds and was signed by Columbia Pictures for a series of musical westerns. When Gene Autry moved from Republic to Columbia, Ken was dropped.
1946 Throw a Saddle on a Star with Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and Andy Clyde.
1949
In 1949 he was invited to join the Sons of the Pioneers when Tim Spencer retired and recorded with the group until 1957 although in 1953 he had dropped out of the Pioneers to became host of the Lucky U program. Lloyd told Ken Griffis that Ken was always first to rehearsal, willing to learn new material. He always supported Lloyd fully, always had a positive attitude and did a bit more than was expected of him. He was kind, with a fine sense of humor. He made you feel important, even if you weren't.
In 1950, Rex Allen invited the Sons of the Pioneers to be guests on his show and when Rex left it, the show became Lucky U Ranch, hosted by Ken Curtis while he was there. He often took the part of a country hick character called "Dink Swink" which may have made him suitable for the role of "Festus" later in Gunsmoke.
Rex Allen and the Sons of the Pioneers on the Rex Allen Show
Left to right: Ken Curtis, Tommy Doss and Lloyd Perryman
.jpg)
.jpg)
"I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" (video clip)
"I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" (mp3)
Left to right: Ken Curtis, Tommy Doss and Lloyd Perryman as the regimental singers in Rio Grande, 1950.
Back: Lloyd Perryman, Shug Fisher and Tommy Doss
Front: Hugh Farr, Karl Farr and Ken Curtis
While he was with the trio, the Sons of the Pioneers were invited to appear at Carnegie Hall, the first western group to do so. Then came the movie business in earnest with parts in a number of John Ford pictures with John Wayne such as Rio Grande, The Quiet Man and The Searchers.
As Dermot Fahy in The Quiet Man, 1952
.bmp)
.bmp)
.bmp)
Ken Curtis as Charlie McCorry in The Searchers, 1956
In 1957, he had a good part in the John Ford film "The Wings of Eagles" as John Dale Price, friend of Squadron Commander Spig Wead on whom the film is based.
Ken Curtis (John Dale Price) with John Wayne (Spig Wead) as young US Navy pilots at Annapolis.
.jpg)
With Maureen O'Hara who played Spig's wife, Min.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
He won the role of "Monk" in Have Gun Will Travel with Richard Boone and that, in turn, led to his role of "Festus" in Gunsmoke with James Arness.
Ken and Torrie Curtis
(courtesy of Pandra Selivanov)
Hi Busse and the Frontiersmen, the only group that backed up the people on Gunsmoke, backed Ken up on the road until 1980. Hi recalls that the Frontiersmen went to Norway with him, "His act was that he'd come out as Festus, but then he'd break into song. Boy, I tell you, he'd just knock 'em dead!"
Hi remembers Ken at a rodeo in Jasper, Texas, signing autographs, hat off, bearded. There was a long line of people waiting their turn, including a woman holding up a three-year-old boy. To keep her son occupied, she'd say frequently, "Do you know who that is? You're going to meet him pretty soon." When their turn came, she asked him once more, "Do you know who this is?" The little boy answered, "Jesus".
Among others, Ken Curtis wrote the songs, Be What You Want to Be and Buffalo. Ken and his wife were good friends of Dick and Dixie Goodman. Read Dick Goodman's memories for more.
John Wayne's production, The Alamo, gave Ken Curtis an important role that did not include singing.
The Alamo, 1960
Paul Harvey as Col. William Barrett Travis and Ken Curtis as Capt. Almeron Dickinson
Ken Curtis as Capt. Dickinson
John Wayne as Col. David Crockett and Ken Curtis as Capt. Dickinson
Paul Harvey as Col. Travis and Ken Curtis as Capt. Dickinson
Paul Harvey as Col. Travis and Ken Curtis as Capt. Dickinson
In 1979 Ken Curtis made an appearance in the German TV Show “It’s Country Time” in 1979. Ken Curtis met his “German voice” Gerd Duwner and they were making fun together with the show’s host Freddy Quinn commentating. This clip comes from the original video.
Ken Curtis and Freddy Quin
Courtesy of Ann Greb
Recently I found another video clip with Ken Curtis and Freddy Quinn singing together “Don’t fence me in”. I don’t know where it originally comes from but it must be also from Ken’s visit to Germany in 1979 maybe another TV appearance to promote his LP. During his stay in Germany Ken recorded an LP for Polydor Records with 12 songs half of them in German, “Don’t fence me in” together with Freddy Quinn and “Tumbling Tumbleweeds”. The LP is called “Meine Songs – mein Leben”. It’s surely not a great LP – the German lyrics are sometimes a little bit silly – but it’s a rare one and belongs to Ken’s discography. (Anne Greb, Germany)
Cover of the German Country Music Magazine, "Country Corner".
Courtesy of Ann Greb
Page 34 of the German Country Music Magazine, "Country Corner".
Courtesy of Ann Greb
Courtesy of Ann Greb
Courtesy of Ann Greb
In 1992 a documentary was released by MGM called "John Wayne's Alamo". It was dedicated to the memory of Ken Curtis and contained clips of a previously filmed interview.
Ken Curtis as Seaborn Tay in Conagher, 1991, released after his death.
On April 28, 1991, at age 74, Ken Curtis died in his sleep of a heart attack at his home in Clovis, California. His ashes were scattered over the Colorado flatlands where he grew up. In February of the next year, the city of Clovis unveiled a life size statue of "Festus" by local artist Sam Hutchings, who sculpted the statue based on pictures provided by Ken's widow, Torrie. Torrie also gave the artist Ken's boots, holster and hat.
Statue of Ken Curtis as "Festus" in Clovis, CO.
After Ken's death, Torrie asked Robert Wagoner to put together enough of Ken's songs to make up a cassette for his friends. They called it "Ken Curtis - Selections for Friends". From this cassette and from other tracks from Robert Wagoner, we have a list of the Bob Nolan songs Ken sang. Some of them were multiple track recordings he did himself. These selections, and the others Mr. Wagoner put together, will soon be available to the public in the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
* Lord, You Made the Cowboy Happy
* This Ain't the Same Old Range
Tumbling Tumbleweeds (from the Johnny Mercer Show)
*multiple recordings - all Ken's vocals and instruments
Thank you, Robert Wagoner.
(Unreleased Christmas recordings courtesy of Steve Howard.)
