Born July 2, 1916 in Lamar, Colorado, Ken Curtis was the youngest of three sons born to Dan Gates and Nellie (Sneed) Gates. His real name was Curtis Wain (not Wayne) Gates and he grew up in Las Animas, Colorado where his father was the sheriff. Circa 1939-1940, he was a staff/studio singer doing non-country and non-western tunes over the NBC radio network. In the 1940 census, he's living in Yonkers, New York and his occupation is "Singer - radio". In 1941-1942, he sang with the bands of Shep Fields and Tommy Dorsey (more details on his connection with Dorsey...