A start at my "Autobiography"
Selected stories by Dick Whitney
The King Family
Album Covers from my King Family Collection
Official
King Family site
(see video from first Color TV
Appearance in 1966 at bottom of this page)
Cam Clarke emailed me
his recollections of traveling with the King Family in the 1960's.
Here is his contribution written in the Spring of 2011:
Hey Dick,
I have so many great memories of spending time in the
fairgrounds. especially because of
my age. To be a little kid and have free access to all the rides and
such was
like a fantasy! I remember being on a double bill w/ Judy the Chimp and
Larry, I think it was, 'the crossed eyed lion' hows that for a match
up?
Living in Southern California, state fairs and carnivals were
not very present. I think because we had so much going on w/ disneyland
etc, that there never was much room. So you get out to middle
Avalmerica and you get to play those carni games where
you would spend ten bucks and if you were lucky you would win a stuffed
animal that
was worth about $1.95! Of course, my personal favorite, SPIN ART. I've
gone
on ebay and have found people selling their old spin art. what a
hoot!!! To
this day, I still can even remember the names of some of the rides. the
TILT-A-WHIRL, the ZIPPER, SPIN OUT, where you stuck to the walls as the
floor
dropped out. ( magic!) The smaller roller coasters in many areas were
called 'THE WILD MOUSE'. Nowadays I can not seem to remember a phone #
or where I
put my keys, but those fairground days are permanently etched in my
mind.
Again,thanks for sharing those potos. whats really cool, speaking of these questions you had for me was that in the distance in someof the nite shots you can see the neon lites coming from what to me appears to be none other than THE ZIPPER!!
Cheers,
Cam
Xan from the King Family, Mom and I at the Brockton Fairgrounds in 1967
King Cousins and King Sisters perform Red River Valley
The King Sisters - Yvonne, Alice, Louise, and Marilyn (The King
Sisters)
singing at the Brockton Fair in July, 1967 -
Dick Whitney photo
A clippings from the TV Guide - 1965?
When I was a teenager, I became a big fan of the King Family from
the
ABC television show that aired during the mid 1960's. My father had
brought
me up with big band music, and enjoyed there music. When I started
watching
the King Family show, I soon became one of their biggest fans. While
Alvino
Rey and the King Sisters were featured on the show, the program
also
highlighted the talents of others in their family, and featured 30+
others.
Their theme song was "Love at Home", which is a beautiful piece in both
words and music.
As an aside, one of the "King Cousins" - Tina, became famous as Rob's wife on the Show "My Three Son's", which Bob Clarke (Alice King's Husband) was a famous character actor on TV. I recall seeing him a number of times on Dragnet, for one.
Dad and Alvino Rey both were Ham Radio operators, and shortly after my becoming a big fan of the King Family, we began communicating via Ham Radio. As a result, we met with Alvino and Luise, as well as Alice and Bob Clarke on several of their tour dates through New England. The following schedul was sent to us from a fellow "Ham" who participated in contacts with Alvino and friends:
Looking back through my files, I found that I went to the following King Family concerts:
August 11, 1965 - Warwick RI
July 19, 1966 - Wallingford, CT
July 26, 1966 - Framingham, Ma
July 7 and 9, 1967 - Brockton, Ma
August 1969 - Saratoga Springs, NY
July 1966 photo of the King Cousins in the Round; below a photo I took
of the King Cousins on
the John Davidson show in the summer of 1966
1966 Photo of the 5 King Counsins on the John Davidson Show -
Photos taken of TV Screen by Dick Whithey
We also visited them when we traveled out to Los Angeles, where they were living at the time.
August 1969 King Family performance at Saratoga Springs, NY - Don
Whitney
Photo
Alvino Rey - August 1969
Sent: Mon, December 14, 2009 2:15:29 AM
Sadly, aunt vonnie passed away this afernoon around
5pm
in santa barbara. a
handful of us were on call to say our goodbyes and sing
some xmas carols....it is indeed the passing of an era.
thanks for checking in,
Cam