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About The Artist George Frederick (Fred) Pendleton was born to parents George W. and Matilda (Blankenship) Pendleton in 1904. Fred Pendleton was a West Virginia coal miner who played fiddle with different musical groups in the general area of Princeton, West Virginia.
At different times, he worked and made recordings with Blind Alfred Reed's West Virginia Night Owls and the area's other noted blind musician Richard Harold. In 1928, Fred and Clyde Meadows journeyed to Bristol and cut two sides for Victor, but neither was released.
A topical song, "Wreck of the Westbound Air Liner," that concerned the death of noted Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne stirred the most interest. Coach Rockne died in the crash on a Transcontinental & Western Airline flight in Kansas on October 13, 1931. In October 1932, the local Bluefield newspaper reported that Fred along with Henry Barley, Cline T. Jackson and Walter Humphries would be attending the Pittsburgh vs Notre Dame football game on Saturday, October 29, 1932. Pittsburgh did win 12-0. Two of these numbers were also released on Superior. Six weeks later, Fred returned to the Richmond, Indiana, Gennett studio and fiddled on a session with neighbors Woody Leftwich and Roy Lilly, but only one number was issued. That ended his recording career, but many years later researchers located him and Alfred Reed's son Arville and they proved to be valuable sources of information. In November 1937, Fred Pendleton and his Rhythm Kings had a 15-minute radio show on WHIS in Bluefield at 8:45 pm. It is interesting to note the many different names attributed to the 'band' that Fred Pendleton headed over the years based on small articles and promotional ads seen. Some of these iterations included:
Fred married Ethel Bray in 1927. She passed away on August 26, 1972. It appears the couple had one daughter, Betty Jean, born in 1928. Credits & Sources
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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)
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