1. Ray McKinley was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader.
13 Facts About Ray McKinley
1. 2.
Ray McKinley played drums and later led the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra in Europe.
3.
Ray McKinley led the new Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1956.
4.
Ray McKinley left home when he was 15 and played with Milt Shaw's Detroiters and the Smith Ballew and Duncan-Marin bands.
5.
The Dorsey brothers split in 1935, with Ray McKinley remaining with Jimmy Dorsey until 1939, when he joined Will Bradley, becoming co-leader.
6.
Ray McKinley's biggest hit with Bradley, as a singer, was "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", which he recorded early in the year 1940.
7.
Ray 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.
8.
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.
9.
In 1956, capitalizing on the popularity of The Glenn Miller Story movie with James Stewart, Ray McKinley was chosen to be the leader of the revived Glenn Miller Orchestra that still continues to operate, which he led until 1966.
10.
Ray McKinley 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.
11.
Ray McKinley's last recording session was in 1977 for Chiaroscuro Records.
12.
Ray McKinley wrote the lyrics to the 1945 wartime song "My Guy's Come Back" with music by Mel Powell.
13.
Ray McKinley received a songwriting credit for "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" using his wife's name.