Ray McKinley

Ray McKinley, Hotel Commodore, New York, circa April 1946.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

Ray McKinley , nickname "Eight Beat Mack" or "Mack", (born July 18, 1910 in Fort Worth , Texas , † May 7, 1995 in Largo (Florida) ) was an American jazz drummer, singer and band leader of the Swing .

McKinley played in local bands such as Savage Cummings and Larry Duncan in the Fort Worth / Dallas area before joining Smith Ballew's band in 1929, where he met Glenn Miller , who became a lifelong friend. Together they joined the Dorsey brothers in 1934. McKinley also stayed in the follow-up band, which Jimmy Dorsey led alone from 1935. In 1939 he switched to Will Bradley , with whom he soon led the band and had a hit as a singer with "Beat me Daddy, eight to the bar" in 1940 (as a songwriter he had partial rights under the girl's name of his wife Eleanore Sheehy). They played u. a. at the Famous Door and the Paramount Theaters . In January 1941 a 78er ( “Southpaw Sereande” ) was recorded in a duo with the pianist Freddie Slack ; In 1942 McKinley formed his own band, in which Imogene Lynn and himself were the singers, Lou Stein played the piano and Pete Candoli and Dick Cathcart played the trumpet. The band performed at the New York Commodore Hotel and in the film "Hit Parade 1943". In addition, some records were made for Capitol ; With the song "Big Boy" the McKinley band had their first hit in the national charts in May 1943 (# 14). After McKinley was drafted, he joined the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band as drummer , which he led with Jerry Gray from 1944 to 1945 after the disappearance of Miller .

After his discharge from the US Army in 1946, he founded his own formation again, initially a quartet with which he had the hit "Hoodle-Addle" (# 15) for Majestic . Finally he expanded the formation to a big band, which existed until early 1952, and arranged in the Deane Kincaide and Eddie Sauter ; other members were Johnny Carisi , Peanuts Hucko , Mundell Lowe and Nick Travis . Recordings of Sauter arrangements such as "Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)", "Your Red Wagon", "Hangover Square", "Sandstorm", "Tumblebug" and "Borderline" were made; the latter featured the newly added trombonist Vern Friley . The band's biggest hit was “You've Come a Long Way from St. Louis”, written by Bob Russell and John Benson Brooks , which he recorded with a small group for RCA and placed in the charts for 16 weeks. His last hit was "Sunflower" in March 1949.

In 1956 he accepted Helen Miller's offer to take over the management of the Glenn Miller Ghostband from Tex Beneke , which he did until 1966; it was then taken over by Buddy DeFranco . McKinley retired to Stamford (Connecticut) and only appeared occasionally at festivals, limited his activity to participating in television and radio advertising music. In the mid-1970s he moved to Key Largo , Florida .

literature

The Ray McKinley Orchestra saxophonists: Dean Kincaide, Bill Ainsworth, Ray Beller, Peanuts Hucko , Pete Terry, Vernon Friley, Irv Dinkin and Jim Harwood, Hotel Commodore, Century Room, New York City (circa January 1947). Photo: Gottlieb

• Leo Walker: The Big Band Almanac . Ward Ritchie Press, Pasadena. 1978
• Simon, George T .: The Big Bands . With a foreword by Frank Sinatra. 3rd revised edition. New York City, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co and London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1974, pp. 343-345

Web links

• McKinley at Drummerworld