Ray Eberle
Ray Eberle (born January 19, 1919 in Mechanicville , New York , † August 25, 1979 in Douglasville , Georgia ) was a singer of the big band swing . He had his first hits with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and later continued his career as a band leader.
Live and act
Eberle, brother of the singer Bob Eberly , who became a member of the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra , sang like his brother as an autodidact at school parties. When Glenn Miller started his band, he took advice from Dorsey; he was of the opinion that a big band definitely needed a singer. When Miller asked, Bob Eberly, who was present at the interview, suggested his brother. Miller took Eberle, who in 1937 already with Eddie Miller recorded, in 1938 in his band and had success with his interpretations of Over the Rainbow , Indian Summer , At Last , My Prayer , A Nightingale in Berkeley Square , Moonlight Cocktails , Serenade In Blue which partly developed into hits. Eberle was also seen in the music films Sun Valley Serenade (1941) and Orchestra Wives (1942).
In June 1942, Eberle had to leave the Miller Band after being late for rehearsals. He then became a member of Gene Krupa's band . After completing his military service in 1943, he founded his own band in 1945, which initially played pieces such as Moonlight Serenade and arrangements in the Miller style. The band, which increasingly played easy listening , survived until the mid-1950s. He then appeared on television and worked with The Modernaires , before touring with Tex Beneke and his Original Glenn Miller Band in the early 1970s. Then he worked with his own band in Las Vegas . In 1978 he was still playing in New York's Madison Garden .
In 1995 he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame .
Eberle's daughter, Jan Eberle , is a singer and published a biography of her father in 2002 ( The Eberle Named Ray ).
literature
- Richard Grudens Chattanooga Choo Choo: The Life and Times of the World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra Celebrity Profiles 2004; ISBN 978-1575792774 (pp. 144–148)
Web links
- Ray Eberle at Allmusic (English)
- Short portrait at Jazzbiographies (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Big Band Data Base
- ↑ Between 1940 and 1943 he achieved good positions in the Billboard College Poll, cf. Billboard, April 24, 1948
- ↑ cf. Jazz Rough Guide , Modernaires article
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Eberle, Ray |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American swing singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 19, 1919 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mechanicville , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 25, 1979 |
| Place of death | Douglasville , Georgia |