Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar
{{Infobox song
| name = Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar
| cover = Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar sheet music cover.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Sheet music cover
| type = single
| artist = Will Bradley and His Orchestra featuring Ray McKinley
| album =
| B-side = Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar Pt. 2
| released = {{Start date|1940}}
| recorded = May 21, 1940
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Boogie woogie
| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=39}}
| label = Columbia (no. 35530)
| writer = *Don Raye
- Hughie Prince
- Ray McKinley under his wife's name Eleanore Sheehy
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
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}}
"Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" is a song written in 1940 by Don Raye, Hughie Prince, and Ray McKinley. It follows the American boogie-woogie tradition of syncopated piano music.
Background
The title adopts 1940s' hipster slang coined by Raye's friend, Ray McKinley, a drummer and lead singer in the Jimmy Dorsey band in the 1930s. McKinley kicked off certain uptempo songs by asking pianist Freddie Slack (nicknamed "Daddy") to give him a boogie beat, or "eight to the bar". McKinley, in a discussion with the jazz writer George Simon relates, "We were playing one of them (a boogie, blues) one night at the Famous Door and two songwriters, Don Raye and Hughie Prince, were there. There was one part where I had a drum break, and for some reason or other that night, instead of playing the break, I sang out, "Oh, Beat Me, Daddy, Eight to the Bar." After the set, Hughie called me over to the table and asked if they could write a song using that break. I told him to go ahead and they offered to cut me in on the tune. That was fine with me."Simon, George T., The Big Bands, 4th Edition, Introduction by Frank Sinatra, Schirmer Books, New York, 1981 p. 95 For that reason Raye gave a partial songwriting credit to McKinley. The song was formally published under McKinley's wife's name, Eleanore Sheehy, because McKinley was under a songwriting contract with another publisher. The nickname "Daddy Slack" was also used in the 1941 recording by "Pig Foot Pete" with Don Raye singing in Slack's band. It is commonly accepted by jazz historians that this song is in reference and tribute to Peck Kelley, a 1920s jazz pianist.{{cite book| last = Yanow| first = Scott| author-link = Scott Yanow| title = Classic Jazz| publisher = Backbeat Books| year = 2001| page = [https://archive.org/details/classicjazz00yano/page/127 127]| isbn = 0-87930-659-9| url = https://archive.org/details/classicjazz00yano/page/127}} However McKinley, talking to George Simon says, "A lot of people seem to think I was referring to Peck Kelley, and some years later Peck even thanked me for it. But, you know, I didn't have anybody - Peck or anybody else - in mind, just an imaginary piano player in an imaginary town."
The song was first recorded in 1940 by the Will Bradley orchestra, featuring drummer McKinley on vocals and Freddie Slack on piano.
Charts
Recordings
- Will Bradley and His Orchestra in 1940 on Columbia Records, set C-123.{{Cite web|url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_676160|title=Beat Me Daddy (Eight to the Bar)|website=National Museum of American History|access-date=February 18, 2020}}
- Andrews Sisters, first in 1940;{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/beat-me-daddy-eight-to-the-bar-mw0000086917|title=Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar - The Andrews Sisters | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=February 18, 2020}} their 1941 hit, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", which praises a fictional trumpet player, resembles this hit.{{Pop Chronicles 40s|2|B}} Both songs were written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince.
- Glenn Miller and His Orchestra in 1940 on RCA Victor Bluebird.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/millenium-anthology-mw0000899849|title=Millenium Anthology - Glenn Miller | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=February 18, 2020}}
- Woody Herman in 1940 on Decca.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/1940-1941-mw0000039020|title=1940-1941 - Woody Herman & His Orchestra | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=February 18, 2020}}
- Ella Fitzgerald recorded this song with arrangements by Russell Garcia on her Verve release Get Happy! (1959).{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/get-happy!-mw0000044909|title=Get Happy! - Ella Fitzgerald | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=February 18, 2020}}
- Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen on their album Lost in the Ozone (1971).{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/lost-in-the-ozone-mw0000194078|title=Lost in the Ozone - Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=February 18, 2020}} (#82 Canada{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4179.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - September 16, 1972}})
References
{{Reflist}}
{{The Andrews Sisters}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Songs of World War II
Category:Songs written by Don Raye
Category:Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen songs
Category:Songs written by Hughie Prince