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Lee Jones Prem & Kennedy Jones Jr.

November 4, 1988 OHC233 170 min.

Biography


Country performer and daughter of legendary Kentucky guitarist, Kennedy Jones. Performed on WLW’s Midwestern Hayride as Lee Jones. Her brother, Kennedy Jones Jr., was also a performer on the Midwestern Hayride.

Interview Summary

1988 November 4
(2 hours, 50 minutes)
Lee Jones Prem and Kennedy Jones Jr., the children of legendary guitarist Kennedy Jones, talk about their father’s musical legacy. Discussion includes a family history; the Kentucky community where their father grew up; his start as a guitar player and his early career; creation of his thumb-picking method; the influence of Arnold Shultz; memories of Ike, Charlie, and Leonard Everly; his experience as a medicine show performer; memories of their father and Merle Travis; comments on their home as a gathering place for local musicians; his willingness to teach other musicians; his compositions and examples of the type of music he enjoyed playing; their father as a natural entertainer; his early radio career; memories of their father and Mose Rager; his versatility as a musician; his guitars; comments on the Muhlenberg guitar community and individual styles of the guitarists; the family’s move to Chicago and his work playing nightclubs; memories of their family and the Everly family; a description of their own careers, including Lee’s work on WLW-Cincinnati and the Midwestern Hayride and Kennedy Jr.‘s work as part of the Hayriders, the Midwestern Hayride staff band.

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