@mrjyn
January 29, 2011
Alvino Rey Is Dead at 95 - NYTimes.com
Alvino Rey Is Dead at 95; Virtuoso of the Steel Guitar
Alvino Rey, a bandleader of the swing era who made the steel guitar sing and led many talented young musicians in honing their signature sounds, died on Tuesday at his home in Salt Lake City. He was 95.
His death was confirmed yesterday by his son Jon.
Mr. Rey, who styled himself King of the Guitar in those days, originated the singing sound of the electrified instrument, controlled with a pedal and called the pedal steel guitar. He could coax good, solid rhythmic swing from it as well as pleasantly sweet tones for dancing.
He led his own ensembles for more than 40 years, starting in 1939 in New York with the Alvino Rey Orchestra, accompanied by the Four King Sisters. The sisters, who were six altogether, performing in various combinations, stayed with his ensemble, and Mr. Rey married one of them, Luise, in 1937.
The band had an early hit in 1942 with ''Deep in the Heart of Texas,'' which brought national stardom. Aside from the King Sisters, its lineup of musicians included Neal Hefti, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Don Lamond and Johnny Mandel, who was also an arranger.
Over the years Mr. Rey's bands employed a remarkable array of arrangers, including Ray Conniff, Billy May, Frank Devol and Skeets Herfurt, who also played clarinet. Other fledgling arrangers were Nelson Riddle and a very young George Handy.
Alvino Rey was born Alvin McBurney in Oakland, Calif., on July 1, 1908, his son said, and grew up in Cleveland. His first instrument was a banjo, a birthday gift. He tinkered with it, attaching electric wiring to amplify its twang through his radio loudspeaker.
He made his professional debut in 1927 and the next year joined the Phil Spitalny Orchestra when it played in Cleveland. He switched to the guitar and, studying it with the virtuoso Roy Smeck, chose the new electric guitar and its offspring. He changed his name to Alvino Rey in 1929 to help fit in with a Latin music craze.
In 1934 he joined Horace Heidt's Musical Knights and, as their steel guitarist, became one of the best known -- and best paid -- sidemen in the country. He also met Luise King, then one of the band's singing quartet.
He left Heidt in 1940, taking the King Sisters with him. His band broke records at the Paramount Theater in Los Angeles, became the resident orchestra for the Mutual Broadcasting network and made many recordings.
The 1943 recording ban, imposed by the musicians' union, and World War II broke up that first group. He served in the Navy until 1946, while the King Sisters toured with Artie Shaw and headlined at the Copacabana. He assembled another Alvino Rey Orchestra in 1946 and toured with it until 1950. Among that band's hits was the novelty item ''Cement Mixer.''
He played with small groups and also led a band that appeared at Disneyland into the late 1980's.
Starting in January 1965 Mr. Rey appeared on television with the King Sisters and dozens of other members of their talented family on ''The King Family Show,'' which began as a replacement for ''The Outer Limits'' and ended up running on ABC for several seasons.
In addition to his son Jon, of Salt Lake City, Mr. Rey is survived by another son, Robert, of Bountiful, Utah; a daughter, Liza Butler of Southwest Harbor, Me.; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Mr. Rey's final appearance with a group came in 1994, when he formed a jazz quartet in Salt Lake City. Luise, then 80, took her last bow in public with it as the ''girl singer.'' She died three years later, in 1997.
Photo: Alvino Rey with an electric guitar. (Photo by Ray Lee Jackson)
Alvino Rey Is Dead at 95; Virtuoso of the Steel Guitar Alvino Rey, a bandleader of the swing era who made the steel guitar sing and led many talented young musicians in honing their signature sounds, died on Tuesday at his home in Salt Lake City. He was 95. His death was confirmed yesterday by his s ...... Read MORE » on Dogmeat
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