Kenneth C. Burns (March 10, 1920 – February 4, 1989) was an American countr… Read Full Bio ↴Kenneth C. Burns (March 10, 1920 – February 4, 1989) was an American country musician, comedian, and mandolin player. He was better known by his stage name Jethro from his years with Henry D. Haynes as part of the comedic musical duo Homer & Jethro beginning in 1936.
Burns was born in Conasauga, Tennessee on March 10, 1920. His family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee when he was three. In 1936, he auditioned for a talent contest at Knoxville radio station WNOX where he met Henry Haynes, also 16. The two formed a duo and WNOX program director Lowell Blanchard gave them the stage names Homer and Jethro after forgetting their names on the air.
Burns was drafted into the US Army and served in Europe during World War II and reunited with Haynes, who had served in the Pacific, in Knoxville in 1945. By 1947, the duo moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and were working at WLW on the station's Midwestern Hayride. They signed with King Records, where they worked as a house band and recorded singles on their own, and two years later signed with RCA Records. The pair were fired along with other stars by new management at WLW in 1948, and after a brief tour, they moved to Springfield, Missouri and performed on KWTO with Chet Atkins, the Carter Family and Slim Wilson.
In 1949, they moved to Chicago, Illinois and played at the Chicago Theatre. Between shows, they would go to WLS to appear live on National Barn Dance. While performing on WLS, Burns met and married his wife, Lois Johnson, who he called Gussie. Her twin sister Leona was married to Atkins.
In 1959, they won a Grammy for the best comedy performance in 1959 for "The Battle of Kookamonga", a parody of Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans".
Burns was a highly-influential mandolin stylist, preferring clean single-note jazzy melodies and sophisticated chords over the dominant bluegrass stylings of Bill Monroe, and since he performed mostly in a country music setting, introduced many country mandolinists to sophisticated jazz harmonies and improvisational techniques, as well as standards from the songbooks of Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt and Cole Porter.
By the 1970s, Burns' influence had spread to a younger generation of bluegrass and "new-acoustic" musicians, most notably New Grass Revival mandolinist Sam Bush. His participation in Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns, an independently released album produced by promoter Hank Deane, was reportedly at Bush's suggestion. During that same decade, Burns' acquaintance with erstwhile bluegrass mandolinist David Grisman led to Burns' writing a number of music/humor columns in the Grisman-published journal Mandolin World News. Grisman also produced a 1978 duet album on Kaleidoscope Records, Back to Back, featuring Burns and Western swing electric mandolinist Tiny Moore. Although Burns and Moore were approximately the same age and were among the few of their generation to make their reputations playing jazz and swing mandolin, the two had never met prior to the production of the album, its liner notes report.
After Haynes died in 1971, Burns's regular musical partner was guitarist Ken Eidson, with whom he co-authored an influential mandolin method tome (Mel Bay's Complete Jethro Burns Mandolin Book, still in print), and they continued to perform as Homer and Jethro. After the partnership ended, Burns continued to play, most notably with Chicago folk singer Steve Goodman. He appeared on several of Goodman's albums and also toured nationally with him. At times he appeared in the Million Dollar Band on TV's Hee Haw with Atkins and swing fiddler Johnny Gimble. He also became a master teacher of mandolin jazz. He died in 1989 from prostate cancer in Evanston, Illinois.
In 2001, Burns and Haynes were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Some of Burns' most influential recordings (in order of recording):
Bear Family BCD-15728AH Jazz From the Hills, Country All Stars (reissue of sessions from 1952–1955); with Jerry Byrd, Chet Atkins, Henry D. Haynes, Dale Potter
RCA Victor Playing It Straight (1962), Homer and Jethro; reissued on CD by RCA Japan
RCA Victor It Ain't Necessarily Square (1965?), Homer and Jethro; reissued on CD by RCA Japan
RCA Camden Down Yonder and Other Old-Time Favorites (1967) by Wade Ray and the Country Fiddlers.
FRC-653-CD "The Puritan Sessions" with swing fiddler Keith Coleman; cut originally for Puritan label in 1975, but not issued until 1998
Flying Fish Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (1975)
Acoustic Disc ACD-60 Back to Back (originally 1979 on Kaleidescope), with Tiny Moore, Eldon Shamblin, Shelly Manne, Ray Browne
Acoustic Disc ACD-15 Swing Low Sweet Mandolin (1987); with Don Stiernberg
Acoustic Disc ACD-29 Bye Bye Blues (1987); with Don Stiernberg
The two RCA Victor albums showcased Homer and Jethro as jazz musicians rather than comedy kings. They didn't have wide commercial appeal, so the studio gave them a free hand to select material, arrange and improvise.
The RCA Camden LP was a budget release by a studio group with Wade Ray (overdubbed fiddles), Sonny Osborne (banjo) and Homer and Jethro. Burns played jazzy interpretations of old-time fiddle standards.
Back to Back paired Burns with Western swing giant Moore and an all-star jazz rhythm section with Ron Carter und Shelly Manne.
The two ACD were recorded by Burns after his cancer was advancing; he and Stiernberg worked in an intimate setting to put as many of Burns' musical ideas on high-quality recordings for future generations to enjoy and for aspiring swing mandolinists (and guitarists) to learn from.
Burns was born in Conasauga, Tennessee on March 10, 1920. His family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee when he was three. In 1936, he auditioned for a talent contest at Knoxville radio station WNOX where he met Henry Haynes, also 16. The two formed a duo and WNOX program director Lowell Blanchard gave them the stage names Homer and Jethro after forgetting their names on the air.
Burns was drafted into the US Army and served in Europe during World War II and reunited with Haynes, who had served in the Pacific, in Knoxville in 1945. By 1947, the duo moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and were working at WLW on the station's Midwestern Hayride. They signed with King Records, where they worked as a house band and recorded singles on their own, and two years later signed with RCA Records. The pair were fired along with other stars by new management at WLW in 1948, and after a brief tour, they moved to Springfield, Missouri and performed on KWTO with Chet Atkins, the Carter Family and Slim Wilson.
In 1949, they moved to Chicago, Illinois and played at the Chicago Theatre. Between shows, they would go to WLS to appear live on National Barn Dance. While performing on WLS, Burns met and married his wife, Lois Johnson, who he called Gussie. Her twin sister Leona was married to Atkins.
In 1959, they won a Grammy for the best comedy performance in 1959 for "The Battle of Kookamonga", a parody of Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans".
Burns was a highly-influential mandolin stylist, preferring clean single-note jazzy melodies and sophisticated chords over the dominant bluegrass stylings of Bill Monroe, and since he performed mostly in a country music setting, introduced many country mandolinists to sophisticated jazz harmonies and improvisational techniques, as well as standards from the songbooks of Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt and Cole Porter.
By the 1970s, Burns' influence had spread to a younger generation of bluegrass and "new-acoustic" musicians, most notably New Grass Revival mandolinist Sam Bush. His participation in Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns, an independently released album produced by promoter Hank Deane, was reportedly at Bush's suggestion. During that same decade, Burns' acquaintance with erstwhile bluegrass mandolinist David Grisman led to Burns' writing a number of music/humor columns in the Grisman-published journal Mandolin World News. Grisman also produced a 1978 duet album on Kaleidoscope Records, Back to Back, featuring Burns and Western swing electric mandolinist Tiny Moore. Although Burns and Moore were approximately the same age and were among the few of their generation to make their reputations playing jazz and swing mandolin, the two had never met prior to the production of the album, its liner notes report.
After Haynes died in 1971, Burns's regular musical partner was guitarist Ken Eidson, with whom he co-authored an influential mandolin method tome (Mel Bay's Complete Jethro Burns Mandolin Book, still in print), and they continued to perform as Homer and Jethro. After the partnership ended, Burns continued to play, most notably with Chicago folk singer Steve Goodman. He appeared on several of Goodman's albums and also toured nationally with him. At times he appeared in the Million Dollar Band on TV's Hee Haw with Atkins and swing fiddler Johnny Gimble. He also became a master teacher of mandolin jazz. He died in 1989 from prostate cancer in Evanston, Illinois.
In 2001, Burns and Haynes were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Some of Burns' most influential recordings (in order of recording):
Bear Family BCD-15728AH Jazz From the Hills, Country All Stars (reissue of sessions from 1952–1955); with Jerry Byrd, Chet Atkins, Henry D. Haynes, Dale Potter
RCA Victor Playing It Straight (1962), Homer and Jethro; reissued on CD by RCA Japan
RCA Victor It Ain't Necessarily Square (1965?), Homer and Jethro; reissued on CD by RCA Japan
RCA Camden Down Yonder and Other Old-Time Favorites (1967) by Wade Ray and the Country Fiddlers.
FRC-653-CD "The Puritan Sessions" with swing fiddler Keith Coleman; cut originally for Puritan label in 1975, but not issued until 1998
Flying Fish Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (1975)
Acoustic Disc ACD-60 Back to Back (originally 1979 on Kaleidescope), with Tiny Moore, Eldon Shamblin, Shelly Manne, Ray Browne
Acoustic Disc ACD-15 Swing Low Sweet Mandolin (1987); with Don Stiernberg
Acoustic Disc ACD-29 Bye Bye Blues (1987); with Don Stiernberg
The two RCA Victor albums showcased Homer and Jethro as jazz musicians rather than comedy kings. They didn't have wide commercial appeal, so the studio gave them a free hand to select material, arrange and improvise.
The RCA Camden LP was a budget release by a studio group with Wade Ray (overdubbed fiddles), Sonny Osborne (banjo) and Homer and Jethro. Burns played jazzy interpretations of old-time fiddle standards.
Back to Back paired Burns with Western swing giant Moore and an all-star jazz rhythm section with Ron Carter und Shelly Manne.
The two ACD were recorded by Burns after his cancer was advancing; he and Stiernberg worked in an intimate setting to put as many of Burns' musical ideas on high-quality recordings for future generations to enjoy and for aspiring swing mandolinists (and guitarists) to learn from.
Sunday
Jethro Burns Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Jethro Burns:
After You've Gone Now won't you listen honey, while I say, How could…
Body and Soul My heart is sad and lonely For you I sigh, for…
Bye Bye Blues I got a big surprise when I saw you smile I…
Corrina Corrina Corrine Corrina, where you been so long? Corrine Corrina, wh…
Golden Earrings There's a story the gypsies know is true That when your…
I Can't Give You Anything But Love Gee, but it's tough to be broke, kid. It's not a…
I Can't Sleep Gee, but it's tough to be broke, kid. It's not a…
I Never Knew I'll never be the same Stars have lost their meaning for…
I'll Never Be the Same I'll never be the same Stars have lost their meaning for…
Just Friends Just friends, lovers no more Just friends, but not like befo…
Laura You know the feeling of something half remembered Of someth…
Love Me or Leave Me Love me or leave me and let me be lonely You…
Shadow of Your Smile The shadow of your smile When you have gone Will color all…
Solitude In my solitude You haunt me With dreadful ease Of days gone …
The Shadow of Your Smile The shadow of your smile When you have gone Will color all…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Lawrie F. White
Nothing as fine as Steve Goodman’s smile 🙏
H.M. Evans
The genuine love between those two.. at the Steve Goodman tribute concert when he died, Jethro had to go on later he was crying so hard.
Fridgerator Sam
What a gem of a video. Anything with any 3 of them in it is worth a watch. Followed Steve's music from the early 70's. Heard The Dutchman on WDTH and literally got goose bumps. Didn't know who it was and when I heard his name I wrote it down and got that album- Somebody Else's Troubles- and eventually got all the rest of them. You could tell the cancer was taking its toll on his playing with the solo. No one else like him. Him and Prine. Jethro was also unique. The best in his day on his instrument and a standup comic too. The audience was so responsive and respectful. Nice to that long gone class. The camera work was great. When musicians that are that good you want to watch what's making the sound that you're hearing. One of the better examples I've seen on how to do it right. And Chet is so smooth and effortless as to be other worldly. Wish I could've been there. This is certainly the next best thing. Good going
John Fineberg
Thanks for your comments, Fridgerator Sam. I was, indeed, fortunate to be in the audience (for both the dress rehearsal and the broadcast show). Perhaps the responsiveness and respectfulness were due to being in a small TV studio, rather than in a big auditorium. And maybe it was due to being in St. Paul, MN, not New York, NY. I don't know. But I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.
Roger Steinbrink
Steve was battling leukemia most of his professional career. You would never know it due to his beautiful smile, his unbelievable energy, and good humor.
I saw an interview with Kris Kristofferson where he mentioned that Steve was "bald as a baby" when he was touring with Johnny Cash.
A funny trouper until the end. A great singer, better songwriter, awesome picker, and amazing human being.
The Yiddish word is "mensch."
SWilliams
A heartfelt thank you. Wonderful, wonderful show. We were so blessed to have Steve Goodman.
pianopappy
I saw Steve Goodman open, as a solo act, for Steve Martin at "The Great Allentown Fair" in Allentown, PA. Goodman did something that night that I never saw a guitar player do before or since. In the middle of singing a tune, one of his guitar strings broke. Somehow, Steve kept on singing AND playing while a roadie came out on stage and strung a replacement. Steve made up lyrics to fit the incident and sang them while strumming as the new string was being strung and tuned. Once the string was replaced, Steve said a quick, "Thanks, man" to his roadie, while still playing. I don't know the year that this happened; but, it must have been before 1980, which was about the time I took up the guitar. It was then that I had even more of an appreciation of what Steve did that night. Perhaps it was a stunt; because, anyone else would have had a second guitar backstage for just such an occurrence.
Lawrence Taylor
@pianopappy I've seen a video of that song, and it was amazing.
Carl Jautakis
Thank you so much for posting this video, Steve Goodman was an incredible musician who with Jethro define music.
pianopappy
Thank you for sharing this, John. It's wonderful!