CBS launched “Hee Haw” in summer 1969 as country music’s answer to Rowan and Martin’s “Laugh-In.” Weaving performances by the genre’s top stars with surprise cameos and down-home comedy skits loaded with catchphrases, it lasted three seasons on the network before moving to first-run syndication in 1971 — where it aired for 22 more years.
As a musician, he had 50 singles hit Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart from 1963 to 1984, including nine top 10s and the No. 1 hit “Come Live with Me” in 1973. He personified “pickin’ ‘n’ grinnin’,” having started playing banjo and mandolin before he picked up a guitar.