Country Singer Kenny Price, 56, Regular on ‘Hee Haw’ Show, Dies

Kenny Price, the corpulent Elrod on television’s “Hee Haw,” has died after suffering a heart attack. He was 56.

The country singer and guitar player died in a hospital in Florence, Ky., Tuesday.

Price, who weighed more than 240 pounds, was known as the “Round Mound of Sound.” He was a lifelong resident of Florence, south of Cincinnati in northern Kentucky, and had been a star and host of “Midwestern Hayride,” a Cincinnati TV show, before joining “Hee Haw” in 1973, two years after the show left national television and went into syndication.

“Hee Haw” was a rustic version of “Laugh-In” and featured corny humor, silly one-liners and an assortment of curious guest stars who mingled on stage with animal characters.

Price portrayed Elrod, the singing sheriff who sang as part of a quartet that rendered at least one gospel song on every program.

Price, whose parents bought him his first guitar when he was 5, recorded 23 albums and had extensive songwriting credits. Among his hits were “Happy Tracks” and “Walking on New Grass,” both top-10 hits in 1966-67, and “Northeast Arkansas Mississippi County Bootlegger,” “My Goal for Today” and “Biloxi.”

He also was seen on The Nashville Network’s cable TV series “Wish You Were Here.”