Will Bradley & Ray McKinley's Best of the Big Bands is the Bradley & McKinley entry among an early series of Sony-made CD reissues of 1930s and '40s big-band music, and so far it is the only Bradley & McKinley reissue that Sony has done. Its 16 selections cover many, though not all, of the high points in the studio legacy of this important and immensely popular but ultimately short-lived group. Will Bradley was the titular leader of the band, with Ray McKinley co-billed as its star attraction as vocalist and drummer. Some ...
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Will Bradley & Ray McKinley's Best of the Big Bands is the Bradley & McKinley entry among an early series of Sony-made CD reissues of 1930s and '40s big-band music, and so far it is the only Bradley & McKinley reissue that Sony has done. Its 16 selections cover many, though not all, of the high points in the studio legacy of this important and immensely popular but ultimately short-lived group. Will Bradley was the titular leader of the band, with Ray McKinley co-billed as its star attraction as vocalist and drummer. Some of the recordings Bradley & McKinley made for Columbia between 1939 and their demise in early 1942 were solid hits, and helped to establish CBS Records as a major powerhouse within the record industry.The problem of the big bands falling into the critical bailiwick of jazz writers is that bands like Bradley & McKinley are subjected to a "divide and conquer" approach. The fine work that Bradley & McKinley did in a jazz vein is separated from the equally fine work that they did recording pop material, which is seen as ephemeral within the context of jazz. Both styles are heard here, from the trailblazing "Celery Stalks at Midnight" and "Strange Cargo" (an unusual and persuasive tune that turns boogie-blues on its head) to less musically ambitious but catchier novelties such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" and "Down the Road a Piece." Such uptempo, boogie-woogie-styled numbers are disparaged by jazz mavens as populist junk, but these enormously popular records sold into the hundreds of thousands of 78-rpm copies. Pianist Freddie Slack is a featured artist on some of these more popularly oriented records, and his playing is very good, as are the arrangements Slack contributed to the band's book. It is a tremendously enjoyable disc overall, as the Bradley & McKinley band's high spirits kick from one track to the next, only occasionally settling into a more sedate groove.The sound on Best of the Big Bands is not as good as it could be, given that these tracks are all taken from master materials in Sony's vault, but it's not bad and a great deal better than listening to this music from the typically dubbed Columbia 78s of the period. Missing is the biggest record that Bradley & McKinley had, the two-sided hit "Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat" and "Boogie Woogie Conga," and present is "Old Doc Yak," a tune so obscure that Ray McKinley didn't remember that he'd recorded it when interviewed on that score. The legacy of the Bradley & McKinley orchestra has been diluted to some degree by the wide availability of broadcast transcription material the band made, interesting in itself, but not representing the hit records that the public knew and happily bought in large numbers. Best of the Big Bands is the closest listeners have yet come to a collection of Bradley & McKinley's core material; hopefully the future will bring better products to represent the second most popular dance band in immediate pre-World War II America. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis, Rovi
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