Ked Killen

b. 10 Might 1911, Jenkins, Kentucky, USA, d. 1986. Killen discovered to play acoustic guitar as an adolescent and inspired by recordings of Jimmie Rodgers, he started executing in the later 20s, both being a single musician and with regional groups. He ultimately formed his Traditional western All Superstars and played for quite some time at locations in Kentucky and Virginia. Killen’s organic traditional nation singing, in designs that bore details, without ever getting imitations, of Hank Williams and Macintosh Wiseman, with correct nation backing may have got led him to great achievement had he documented in the past due 40s or early 50s. He produced no recordings until he was 55, after that between 1966 and 1969, pursuing their newspaper advertisements for performers, he documented 20 edges for Traditional western Ranch Music in Clintwood, Virginia. He obtained some local achievement with materials that ranged from ‘Crying Blues’ and ‘Concerned Blues’, to nation weepies such as for example ‘The Small Blind Boy’ requesting God for his view, ‘Will The Pardon Arrive As well Later’ and a crippled youngster producing excuses for his drunken dad in ‘They Contact Him A Bum’. He retired from open public shows in 1969, but years afterwards was persuaded to create further recordings. Nevertheless, before these were produced, depression, due to his wife’s unexpected death, noticed his own wellness deteriorate. He passed away in 1986 and it is buried at Clintwood. In 1989, his recordings had been reissued in record form with the German label, Binge. It really is no fault from the musician that also their remastering didn’t completely enhance the poor tonal quality of a number of the originals but also for containing the just Killen recordings obtainable, the album certainly is collectable.