A chart-topping Canadian artist in the 1950s and '60s, Ontario's Bob King (1934-1989) started his career in the early 'Fifties and had been plugging away for over a decade before scoring a hit with his version of "Working On The County Road," a song by Maine songwriter Don Peters that brought him regional fame and almost cracked into the US market. Like many Canadian artists of the era, Bob King worked on both sides of the border, including a stint as a cast member of the WWVA Wheeling Jamboree, in West Virginia, though his real stomping grounds were in Ottawa's booming country scene. His wife, Marie King, was also a popular country artist, and their daughter, Carole King, also cut some country albums, both with her parents and as a solo artist. Here's a quick look at his work...
Bob King & The Country Kings "Sing With Bob King And The Country Kings" (Banff Records, 195-?) (LP)
Bob King "Sing A Country Song" (Banff Records, 1959) (LP)
Bob King "Just Me And My Old Guitar" (Banff Records, 195--?) (LP)
Bob King "By Request, v.2: Bob King Sings Songs That Tell A Story" (Rodeo Records, 1959) (LP)
Bob King "Sing For Laura Lee" (Banff Records, 1963) (LP)
Bob King "Tenth Anniversary: The Boy With A Future" (Banff Records, 19--?) (LP)
Bob King "A King In The Country" (Banff Records, 19--?) (LP)
Bob King "Songs For A Country Fan" (Banff Records, 1967) (LP)
Bob King "The Versatile Bob King Sings" (Banff Records, 1967) (LP)
Bob King "The Blue Grass Side Of Me" (Bonanza Records, 1974-?) (LP)
(Produced by Paul Menard)
Bob King "Sandwich Likin' Man" (Armchair Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bob King & Norbert Dupasquier)
Bob King "Keepin' It Country" (San-Lyn Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Swanson & Bob King)
King reprises his old hit, "Working On The County Road" on this indie album, along with several others penned by Peters. The rest of the songs are originals as well, including one by Billy Don Burns, another from Jack Swanson, and three by Bob King himself, "Daddy's Despair," "Josephine" and "Laurel Lee." Two tracks are duets with his wife, Marie King, while the rest of the band is also identified by first name only, including a steel player named Quincy. Bob King recorded this set over a decade after giving up on his solo career: after the RCA label declined to promote him in the States and his contract with Banff Records petered out, the Kings joined the Brown Family road show, and also performed as a duo in the '80s, before Mr. King succumbed to lung cancer.
Bob King & Marie King "25 Ans De Musique Western" (Diligence Records, 1981) (LP)
Bob King & Marie King "25 Ans De Musique Western" (Diligence Records, 1984) (LP)
