Alvin McBurney (July 1, 1908 – February 24, 2004), known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American jazz guitarist and bandleader.

Career

Alvin McBurney was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, United States, but grew up in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Early in life he had a knack for music and electronics. When he was eight, he built his first radio, and within a couple years he was one of the youngest ham radio operators in the country. In his teens, he was given a banjo as a birthday present. His professional career began in 1927 when he got a job playing banjo with Cleveland bandleader Ev Jones. During the following year, he became a member of the

Phil Spitalny Phil Spitalny (November 7, 1890 – October 11, 1970) was a Russian Empire-born American musician, music critic, composer, and bandleader heard often on radio during the 1930s and 1940s. He rose to fame after he led an all-female orchestra, a nov ...

Orchestra. He switched from banjo to guitar, then changed his name to Alvino Rey to take advantage of the popularity of

Latin music Latin music ( Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Spain and Portugal) and the Latino United States inspired by Latin Amer ...

in New York City at the time. From 1932 to 1938 he was a member of

Horace Heidt Horace Heidt (May 21, 1901 – December 1, 1986) was an American pianist, big band leader, and radio and television personality. His band, Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights, toured vaudeville and performed on radio and television during the 19 ...

and His Musical Knights. He drew attention to himself and the band when he started playing

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

. The

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

corporation asked him to develop a pickup for the guitar. In 1937, he married Luise King of

the King Sisters The King Sisters were an American big band-era vocal group consisting of six sisters: Alyce, Donna, Luise, Marilyn, Maxine, and Yvonne King. History Born and raised in Pleasant Grove, Utah, the King sisters were part of the Driggs family of e ...

. In 1939, he formed his own band with the King Sisters and moved to Hollywood, where he became musical director at KHJ Mutual Broadcasting radio network. As leader of the house band, he recorded a version of "

Deep in the Heart of Texas "Deep in the Heart of Texas" is an American popular song about Texas. The 1941 song features lyrics by June Hershey and music by Don Swander. There were no fewer than five versions in the Billboard charts in 1942. "Deep in the Heart of Texas" s ...

" that was a hit in 1942. During the same year he hired

Al Cohn Al Cohn (November 24, 1925 – February 15, 1988) was an American jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer. He came to prominence in the band of clarinetist Woody Herman and was known for his longtime musical partnership with fellow saxophonist ...

, Ray Conniff,

Neal Hefti Neal Paul Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He wrote music for '' The Odd Couple'' movie and TV series and for the ''Batman'' TV series. He began arranging professionally in his ...

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

, and arranger Billy May. In the 1940s he also worked with saxophonist

Herbie Steward Herbert Bickford "Herbie" Steward (May 7, 1926 Los Angeles, California, United States – August 9, 2003 Clearlake, California) was an American jazz saxophonist. He was widely known for being one of the tenor saxophone players in Four Brother ...

, drummer

Dave Tough Dave Tough (April 26, 1907 – December 9, 1948) was an American jazz drummer associated with Dixieland and swing jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. Biography Born in Oak Park, Illinois, United States, Tough was a friend of Bud Freeman, who was p ...

, and arrangers

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...

Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...

, and

George Handy George Handy (born George Joseph Hendleman) (January 17, 1920 – January 8, 1997) was an American jazz arranger, composer and pianist whose musical beginnings were fostered under the tutelage of composer Aaron Copland. While he had an impressiv ...

. The band didn't record in 1943 due to the musicians' strike. The band broke up, and Rey found work at Lockheed as a mechanic. In 1944, he enlisted in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

, where he worked on radar systems and directed a band. After his service, he formed an orchestra that had fifteen horns and recorded a cover version of "Cement Mixer" by Slim Gaillard that became a hit. During the 1950s, he played

in small groups, often with Buddy Cole, his brother-in-law. Beginning about 1957, Rey produced many of the

George Greeley George Greeley (born Georgio Guariglia; July 23, 1917 – May 26, 2007) was an Italian-American pianist, conductor, composer, arranger, recording artist and record producer who is known for his extensive work across the spectrum of the entertainm ...

piano recordings for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. During the 1960s, he was music director for ''

The King Family Show ''The King Family Show'' is an American musical variety series that featured The King Sisters and their extended musical family. The series first aired on ABC from January 1965 to January 1966. The series was revived in 1969, airing from Marc ...

'' with the King Sisters. Rey made frequent appearances on the show performing "The Alvino Rey Talking Guitar" which was in fact a pedal steel. He also played steel guitar in recording sessions with

Jack Costanzo Jack Costanzo (September 24, 1919 – August 18, 2018) was an American percussionist. Biography A composer, conductor and drummer, Costanzo is best known for having been a bongo player, and was nicknamed "Mr. Bongo". He visited Havana three ...

George Cates George Cates (October 19, 1911 – May 10, 2002) was an American music arranger, conductor, songwriter and record executive known for his work with Lawrence Welk and his orchestra. Biography Born and raised in New York City, New York, United ...

, Esquivel, and the studio group the Surfmen. These musicians were associated with the short-lived genre

exotica Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records ...

, which combined Hawaiian music, Latin music, lounge jazz, and unconventional instruments from Burma and Indonesia. In 1978, he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. In the early 1990s, Rey moved with his wife Luise to her native Utah. In Salt Lake City, he formed a jazz quartet which played in local clubs, sometimes with Luise sitting in. He quit performing in 1994. Luise died in 1997 after 60 years of marriage. In 2004, after breaking his hip and suffering complications including pneumonia and congestive heart failure, Rey died at the age of 95 at a rehabilitation center.

Pioneer of electrified instruments

Rey amplified his banjo in the 1920s. In 1935,

hired him to develop a prototype pickup with engineers at the

Lyon & Healy Lyon & Healy Harps, Inc. is an American musical instrument manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois and is a subsidiary of Salvi Harps. Today best known for concert harps, the company's Chicago headquarters and manufacturing facility contains a ...

company in Chicago, based on the one he developed for his banjo. The result was used for Gibson's first electric guitar

ES-150 The Gibson Guitar Corporation's ES-150 guitar is generally recognized as the world's first commercially successful Spanish-style electric guitar. The ES stands for Electric Spanish, and Gibson designated it "150" because they priced it (in an in ...

. The prototype is kept in the

Experience Music Project The Museum of Pop Culture or MoPOP is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then MoPOP has organized ...

museum in Seattle. In 1939, Rey invented an early version of a "

talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...

" device that modified the sound of his electric steel guitar to sound like words. For performances of his big band, he created an animated mechanical character he named "Stringy", shaped like a guitar, that "sang" the altered guitar sounds. A later commercial version of the talk box, using a different technology developed by

Bob Heil Bob Heil (born October 5, 1940) is an American sound and radio engineer most well known for creating the template for modern rock sound systems. He founded the company Heil Sound in 1966, which went on to create unique touring sound systems for ...

, was made famous by guitarist

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English musician and songwriter who was a member of the rock bands Humble Pie and the Herd. As a solo artist, he has released several albums, including his major breakthrough album, the live ...

. Around 1959 to 1960, Rey collaborated with composer Euel Box of PAMS Productions of Dallas to bring his distinctive pedal steel guitar sounds to radio jingles. This jingle package was part of the new Top Forty radio format and was heard on such innovative radio stations as K-BOX in Dallas and W-FUN Miami. Rey is also credited with inspiring the later, ground-breaking "Sonosational" PAMS Jingles Series 18 in 1961 which featured the talking or singing instrument effects of Rey's "sonovox".

Discography

As leader

* ''Swingin' Fling'' (

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

, 1958) * ''Refreshing Melodies'' (Sacred, 1958; reissued 1976) * ''My Reverie'' (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

, 1959) * ''Ping-Pong!'' (Capitol, 1960) * ''That Lonely Feeling'' (Capitol, 1960) * ''Alvino Rey! ...His Greatest Hits'' e-recordings( Dot, 1961) * ''As I Remember Hawaii'' (Dot, 1962) * ''The Big Band Steel Guitar'' (Steel Guitar Record Club, 1977) * ''Dance With Me ...The Big Band Sound of Alvino Rey'' (Alysa, 1978) * ''The Greatest Jazz Band'' (Alysa, 1979)

As sideman

* Joe "Fingers" Carr, ''The Riotous, Raucous, Red-Hot 20's!'' (Warner Bros., 1961) *

, ''George Cates' Polynesian Percussion'' (Dot, 1961) *

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, ''Blue Hawaii'' (RCA Victor, 1961) *

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

and

Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John, grandsons Jason and ...

, ''Stan Kenton! Tex Ritter!'' (Capitol, 1962) * Kirby Stone Four, ''Frank Loesser's Broadway Hit 'Guys & Dolls' '' (Columbia 1962)

References

Sources

Jazz Journalists Association

External links

*
Alvino Rey Interview
NAMM Oral History Program (2001) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rey, Alvino 1908 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American guitarists American jazz guitarists American jazz bandleaders Converts to Mormonism American Latter Day Saints Big band bandleaders Pedal steel guitarists Musicians from Oakland, California Musicians from Salt Lake City Capitol Records artists Deaths from pneumonia in Utah Amateur radio people King family (show business) American jazz banjoists Guitarists from California Guitarists from Utah American male guitarists Musicians from Cleveland Burials at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park Jazz musicians from California Guitarists from Ohio Jazz musicians from Ohio 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians