Kenneth Burns; ‘Jethro’ of ‘Homer and Jethro’ Duo

Kenneth C. (Jethro) Burns, the mandolin-strumming half of the “Homer and Jethro” country music comedy duo, died Saturday at his home in Evanston, Ill., after a long illness. He was 68.

Burns and his guitar-picking partner, Homer Haynes, reigned for three decades as one of the finest comedy duos in country music, taking some of the period’s most popular songs and performing them with irreverence. Haynes died in 1971.

Burns, like Haynes, was born and raised in Knoxville, Tenn. Both learned to play stringed instruments as boys, and teamed for the first time in 1932 when they were contestants on an amateur program.

In 1948, after military service in World War II, the duo cracked the music charts with their version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” recorded with June Carter. They scored their biggest hit in 1953 with “Hound Dog in the Winter.” Homer and Jethro released about 20 albums during the 1960s.

They frequently performed in Las Vegas and also made repeat appearances on such television shows as Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show” and Dean Martin’s Music Country.

Burns is survived by his wife, a son, a daughter and two grandchildren. No memorial services were planned.