George Kent

George Kent, ca. early 1960s

"Hello, I'm a Jukebox" by George Kent was one of my favorites when I started listening to country music. The song was written by legendary composer Tom T. Hall, and became Kent's biggest record, reaching #26 in Billboard's Hot Country Songs early in 1970. It was recorded in 1969 with the wonderful background voice of Diana Duke.

George Olen Kent, Jr., was born on June 12, 1935, to George Olen, Sr., and Edna Kent in Dallas, Texas, where he was raised with his brother Roland and his siter JoAnne. In the 1950s, he joined the Army Reserves, serving for four years, and afterwards began working with the Dallas Police Department.

However, music had been a passion for Kent for some time and in the late 1950s, he started his career as a country music singer. He began performing around Dallas and joined the Big D Jamboree, a nationally known live stage show that originated from the Dallas Sportarium and aired over KRLD. In the early 1960s, Kent also appeared on the Cowtown Hoedown and the Cowtown Jamboree from Fort Worth. 

Fort Worth Star Telegram
September 8, 1961

In 1959, Kent began recording for Maverick Records, a Dallas based label that also recorded such artists as Ronnie Dawson. Kent cut a total of four singles for the label, of which the third "Hall of Shame" enjoyed some local success. He held two demo sessions in 1961 and 1962 and one of the songs was "How Can I Write On Paper What I Feel In My Heart", which he co-wrote. The demo made it to Nashville and was pitched to Jim Reeves, whose version became #7 Billboard country hit in 1961. His "Forget Me Not", co-written with Eddie McDuff, was recorded by Bruce Chanel, Margie Singleton, and J. Frank Wilson.

This opened doors for him in Music City USA and he signed with the Dial label having his two singles for the label produced by Buddy Killen. The 1960s saw Kent hopping from one Nashville indie label to another, recording for Dial (1962-1963), Rice (1964-1967), Roulette (1965), Starday (1966-1967), Athena (1968), and Plantation (1968). Finally, in 1969, Kent signed with Mercury Records and enjoyed his most successful time with this label.

In August 1969, he cut "Hello, I'm a Jukebox", a recitation with Diana Duke's "Tonight, the Juke Box Plays for Me" in the background. The song was released by Mercury in November that year and it became #26 country hit for Kent early the following year. It also got Diana Duke a Mercury recording contract on her own, waxing a new version of "Tonight, the Juke Box Plays for Me". A few more singles followed on Mercury, though Kent could not repeat the success of "Hello, I'm a Juke Box". During the 1970s, he had a few more low-charting singles and returned to the Rice label in 1971 for four singles. He switched to Shannon Records for three years, beginning in 1973. His last records came out on the Cin Kay and Soundwaves labels in 1977. 

George Kent in the mid-1970s
Shannon Records promotional picture

In 1980, Kent and his wife Jeanne left Nashville and purchaed the Cow Palace in Fort Collins, a popular live music venue in Fort Collins, Colorado, north of Denver. Kent also performed on the Palace's stage and a former member of his band remembered in 2014: "George was quite the writer in his own right and taught us a lot. He allowed musicians to grew and was always there with an ear." The Kents sold the Cow Palace in 1997. They purchased land to raise horses. George Kent passed away on August 12, 2010, at McKee Medical Center in Loveland, Colorado. He was 75 years old.

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• 45cat entry

• Discogs

• SecondHandSongs

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

• From the Vaults Boppin' Bob