Claude King
Photo Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Singer-songwriter
Claude King, best remembered for his 1962 hit "Wolverton
Mountain," died Thursday (March 7) at his home in Shreveport, La., at age 90. Born near Keithville, La., he spent the '40s
and early '50s working as a construction engineer. Performing music in area clubs and on TV and radio, he met Tillman Franks,
who also managed
Johnny Horton and was a talent agent for the Louisiana
Hayride on KWKH/Shreveport. After recording for independent labels, King first hit the chart in 1961 with two Top 10 singles
-- "Big River, Big Man" and "The Comancheros." A year later, he released "Wolverton Mountain," which spent nine weeks at the
top of
Billboard's country songs chart and peaked at No. 6 on the pop chart. He co-wrote the song with veteran songwriter
Merle Kilgore. King later enjoyed three additional Top 10 hits among more than two dozen singles he released on Columbia through
1972. As an actor, King appeared in two feature films,
Swamp Girl and
Year of the Wahoo, and the 1982 TV miniseries
The Blue and the Gray.
