Record #0177: Down the Road Apiece/ Hoodle Addle – RAY McKINLEY

Dot 15350 (original) USA, 1956
Words & Music by:  Side A – Don Ray; Side B – Ray McKinley
Musicians: Ray McKinley (vocals & drums) others unknown
Recording sessions: 1956
Highest chart positions: none, but an earlier recording of side B went US #15 in 1947

Ray McKinley was most famous for his work as a drummer with Glen Miller and with the Dorsey Brothers. He also took the lead in Glen Miller’s band, when Miller became a casualty of war in 1944.

McKinley also played and sang on the original recording of the title song, which was released by Will Bradley Trio in 1940. He also recorded it in 1946 as “Ray McKinley & His Orchestra”. Initially I thought that this recording for Dot was a re-issue of the 1946 one, but then I found a piece of info saying that McKinley “recorded some boogie woogie for Dot in 1956”. This gotta be it.

I couldn’t find either of these in YouTube, but here’s the 1940 original. It sounds much like the 1956 version, but the latter has more prominent drums.

“Down the Road Apiece” was arranged to Rock’n’Roll by Chuck Berry in 1960 and that arrangement was later copied by Manfred Mann, The Rolling Stones and others.

List price:  Not listed in Goldmine guide