Ken Carson

Ken Carson (November 14, 1914 – April 7, 1994) was an American entertainer primarily known for singing Western music. He was an early member of the Sons of the Pioneers, appearing with that group in 22 of Roy Rogers' films. His voice was featured on their iconic recordings of Tumbling Tumbleweeds and Cool Water.

Carson was born Hubert Paul Flatt on November 14, 1914 in Centrahoma, Oklahoma. When he was a few weeks old, his family moved to the oil boom town of Drumright, Oklahoma, where they lived for a time in a tent. Much of his childhood was spent in Wichita, Kansas, living with his maternal grandparents. It was there at age 12 or 13 that he became an accomplished musician, playing guitar and harmonica, and organizing his own band. Shortly thereafter, he and his grandparents joined his mother in the Los Angeles area, where he attended La Puente and Garfield high schools.

Carson's adult career began in 1932, when he was only seventeen and still performing as Hubert Flatt. After a short stint on other local radio programs, he spent nine months as a thrice-weekly performer on Stuart Hamblen's popular Family Album radio program, appearing with such early stars as Patsy Montana. He spent the next several years with popular groups in Los Angeles and Chicago. Ken, then billed as Shorty Carson, and two others formed a group called The Ranch Boys, which played on shows like Don McNeill's Breakfast Club and Garry Moore's Club Matinee, and which made several recordings for Decca Records. In 1934 they appeared in the Clark Gable film It Happened One Night, and in 1935 they were regulars on the Tom Mix radio program, also singing the commercial jingle for Shredded Ralston. In 1938, Carson and The Ranch Boys did a promotion for one of their sponsors, riding 3,975 miles on horseback from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York.

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