Ray McKinley (June 18, 1910 – May 7, 1995) was an American jazz drummer, singer, and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

. He played drums and later led the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra in Europe. He also led the new Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1956.

Career

Born in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States, McKinley's parents bought him his first drum set at the age of nine. Soon after he began playing with a local band called The Jolly Jazz Band in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. He left home when he was 15 and played with Milt Shaw's Detroiters and the Smith Ballew and Duncan-Marin bands. His first substantial professional engagement came in 1934 with the Dorsey Brothers' Orchestra. It was with the Smith Ballew band in 1929 that McKinley met

Glenn Miller Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...

. The two formed a friendship that lasted from 1929 until Miller's death in 1944. McKinley and Miller joined the Dorsey Brothers in 1934. Miller left for

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 3 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United S ...

in December 1934, while McKinley remained. The Dorsey brothers split in 1935, with McKinley remaining with Jimmy Dorsey until 1939, when he joined Will Bradley, becoming co-leader. McKinley's biggest hit with Bradley, as a singer, was "

Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

", which he recorded early in the year 1940 (and for which he got partial songwriting credit under his wife's maiden name Eleanore Sheehy). McKinley is referred to as "Eight Beat Mack" in the lyrics to the song " Down the Road a Piece," which he recorded as a trio with Will Bradley and Freddie Slack in 1940. This was the earliest recording of the song, which was written specifically for Bradley's band by Don Raye. McKinley and Bradley split in 1942 and McKinley formed his own band, which recorded for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. The McKinley band was short-lived. When McKinley broke up the band, he joined the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra, which he co-led with arranger Jerry Gray after Miller's disappearance in December 1944. Upon being discharged at the end of the following year, McKinley formed a modern big band that featured a book of original material by legendary arranger Eddie Sauter (along with a helping of novelty vocals by the leader). Sam Butera, later of the back-up band for

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (; December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he ...

was also a member. But with the business in decline, by 1950 McKinley began evolving into a part-time leader and sometime radio and TV personality. In 1956, capitalizing on the popularity of '' The Glenn Miller Story'' movie with James Stewart, McKinley was chosen to be the leader of the revived Glenn Miller Orchestra that still continues to operate, which he led until 1966. He co-hosted, with former Air Force band vocalist Johnny Desmond, a 13-week CBS-TV summer replacement series with the band called ''Glenn Miller Time'' in 1961. Ray McKinley's last recording session was in 1977 for Chiaroscuro Records."Swing Music Net Biography Ray McKinley"
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Compositions

Ray McKinley wrote the lyrics to the 1945 wartime song "My Guy's Come Back" with music by Mel Powell. The song was recorded by

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

with vocals by Liza Morrow and was released as a

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

78 single in 1945 and as a V-Disc in February, 1946 as No. 585A. He composed the songs "Jiminy Crickets", "Bahama Mama", and "Hoodle Addle" in 1947. He wrote "Old Doc Yak" with Freddie Slack. He received a songwriting credit for "

" using his wife's name.

Selected discography

* note: all recordings credited to Ray McKinley & His Orchestra 10" shellac (78-rpm) and 7" vinyl (45-rpm) releases

Hit Records

* 7005: "I'll Keep The Lovelight Burning" / "Who Wouldn't Love You" (1942) * 7006: "Got The Moon In My Pocket" / "This Is Worth Fighting For" (1942)

Capitol Records

* 117: "Manhattan Serenade" / "Without A Song" (1942) * 128: "Rock-a-bye Bay" / "That Russian Winter" (1942) * 131: "Big Boy" / "Hard Hearted Hannah" (1943)

Majestic Records

* 7169: "Patience And Fortitude" / "You've Got Me Crying Again" (1946) * 7178: "We'll Gather Lilacs" / "Have Ya' Got Any Gum, Chum" (1946) * 7184: "In The Land Of The Buffalo Nickel" / "Sand Storm" (1946) * 7189: "Down The Road A Piece" / "One Love" (1946) * 7190: " I'm a Big Girl Now, Pt. 1" / "I'm a Big Girl Now, Pt. 2" (1946) - both sides credited to Ray McKinley & His Soda Fountain Seven * 7201: "That Little Dream Got Nowhere" / "Hangover Square" (1946) * 7206: "Borderline" / "Tumblebug" (1946) * 7207: "Passe" / "Hoodle-addle" (1946) - just McKinley's quartet on the B-side * 7211: "That's Where I Came In" / "Howdy Friends" (1946) * 7216: " Red Silk Stockings and Green Perfume" / "Jiminy Crickets" (1946) * 7223: "Ivy" / "Meet Me At No Special Place (And I'll Be There At No Particular Time)" (1947) * 7249: "Pancho Maxmillian Hernandez" / "The Turntable Song" (1947) * 7274: "Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)" / "Those Things Money Can't Buy" (1947) * 7275: "Your Red Wagon" / "A Man's Best Friend Is A Bed" (1947) * 1185: "Over The Rainbow" / "You Don't Have To Know The Language" (1947) * 1187: "Mint Julep" / "Lazy Bones" (1947)

RCA Victor

* 20-2736: "Airizay" / "Cincinnati" (1947) * 20-2768: "Tambourine" / "A Man Could Be A Wonderful Thing" (1947) * 20-2873: " Put 'em in a Box, Tie 'em with a Ribbon, and Throw 'em in the Deep Blue Sea" / "You Can't Run Away from Love" (1947) * 20-2913: " You Came a Long Way from St. Louis" / "For Heaven's Sake" (1947) * 20-2993: "All The Way From San Jose" / "Bahama Mama" (1947) * 20-3049: "My Kind Of Love" / "The Morning Glory Road" (1947) * 20-3086: "Idiot's Delight" / "Cyclops" (1947) * 20-3097: "All The Way From San Jose" / "Mumbo Jumbo In Your Gumbo" (1947) * 20-3124: "What Did I Do" / "The Morning Glory Road" (1947) * 20-3334: "Sunflower" / "Little Jack Frost Get Lost" (1949) * 20-3377: "The Missouri Walking Preacher" / " Similau" (1949) * 20-3436: "I'm Not Too Sure Of My L'amour" / "I Wanna Be Loved" (1949) * 20-3507: "Only For Americans!" / "Every Night Is Saturday Night" (1949) * 20-3546: "Where Did The Wild West Go" / "Sarong" (1949) * 20-3660: "My Heart Stood Still" / "Blue Moon" (1950) * 20-3661: "You Took Advantage Of Me" / "It's Easy To Remember" (1950) * 20-3662: "Blue Room" / "Thou Swell" (1950) * 20-3678: "I Gotta Have My Baby Back" / "For You My Love" (1950) * 20-3709: "I Don't Wanna Be Kissed (By Anyone But You)" / "The Third Man Theme" (1950) * 20-3769: "The Lonesomest Whistle" / "Cane Bottom Chair" (1950) - the B-side credited to Ray McKinley & Some Of The Boys * 20-3849: "Rock-a-bye The Boogie" / "Boogie Woogie Washerwoman" (1950) * 20-3973: "Sam, Don't Slam The Door!" / "Mama's Gone, Good Bye" (1950)

References

External links

Ray McKinley Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (1994)
Ray McKinley recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:McKinley, Ray 1910 births 1995 deaths American jazz bandleaders American jazz drummers American jazz singers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American big band bandleaders United States Army Air Forces soldiers Capitol Records artists Decca Records artists Dot Records artists Epic Records artists RCA Victor artists Savoy Records artists 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American singers Majestic Records artists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians The Dorsey Brothers members Hep Records artists Drummers from Texas