David McEnery
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
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Red River Dave McEnery
- Genres: Folk
Biography
A sort of Walter Kronkite with a guitar, McEnery is best known for his story songs about news events such as his 1941 recording, "Amelia Earhart's Last Flight." Bouncing between his native South and New York City, McEnery busted out of the small time and found a wide audience in 1938 when he began performing on NYC's WHN radio. Using this momentum, he released his chart topping song about Earhart in 1941 and returned to Texas, where he performed at a series of small stations along the Texas/Mexico border. Though he was absent for much of the ‘50s (which is a shame considering all the fodder for song topics that happened during the cold war era), he returned in the ‘60s to write such gems as "The Ballad of Francis Gary Powers," an ode to the U2 spy plane pilot, and "The Ballad of Patty Hearst." ~ Steve Kurutz, RoviWikipedia on Answers.com:
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David McEnery (musician)
| "Red River Dave" McEnery | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Red River Dave |
| Born | December 15, 1914 San Antonio, Texas United States |
| Died | January 15, 2002 (aged 87) |
| Genres | Western music |
| Occupations | Musician, Songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar |
| Years active | 1937–2002 |
| Labels | Decca Records Savoy Records |
| Associated acts | The Swift Cowboys |
Red River Dave McEnery (December 15, 1914 - January 15, 2002[1]) was a musician and writer of topical songs. He was born in San Antonio, Texas. He got the nickname "Red River Dave" because he enjoyed singing "Red River Valley" in high school. He was the leader of The Swift Cowboys.
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Career
As a teenager, he appeared regularly on KABC radio. Dave began his career by singing, yodeling, and performing rope tricks at rodeos. In 1936, he broadcast a live singing performance from the Goodyear blimp over CBS AM radio station WQAM in Miami. His career really took off with his song "Amelia Earhart's Last Flight", broadcast in a pioneer television broadcast from the 1939 New York World's Fair.[2] Her worked for radio station WOR (AM) in New York City.[3] He was a radio personality in border radio for station XERF. He was a well known painter as well, he was known to paint nature on canvas as well as paint on the back of his guitars
Cinema
He worked in several westerns as a singing cowboy, including Swing in the Saddle (1944), Hidden Valley Days (1948) and Echo Ranch (1948).
Publications
- Dave, Red River; Betty Ann Fisher (1939). Red River Dave song book: marvelous collection of cowboy, hill-billy, mountain and home songs, all originals. New York: Stasny Music Corporation.
- McEnery, Dave (1940?). Red River Dave's Louisiana Jamboree and Nashville Favorites. San Antonio, Texas: Red River Dave Music Company.
Songs
Red River Dave's songs have been recorded by Hank Snow and Tex Ritter.
- "Amelia Earhart's Last Flight" 1937
- "The Blind Boy's Dog" ("I'd Like To Give My Dog To Uncle Sam")
- "The Red Deck of Cards"[4] 1954
- "Ballad Of Emmett Till"
- "The Ballad Of Francis Powers" 1960[5]
- "Trial of Francis Powers" 1960
- "The Flight Of Apollo Eleven" 1969
- "The California Hippy Murders"
- "The Ballad Of Patty Hearst"
- "The Ballad of Three Mile Island" 1979
- "Shame is the Middle Name Of Exxon"
- "Atlanta's Black Children" 1981
- "Ballad to Pine Tar" 1983[6]
- "Night That Ronald Reagan Rode With Santa Claus"[7] 1984[8]
References
- ^ Social Security Death Index
- ^ Wadey, Paul (2002-01-21). "Red River Dave McEnery". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/red-river--dave-mcenery-729682.html. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
- ^ Kingsbury, Paul (2004). The Encyclopedia of Country Music: the ultimate guide to the music. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 432.
- ^ Lyrics
- ^ Ballad of Francis Powers lyrics
- ^ Rogers, Thomas (1983-08-04). "Ballad to Pine Tar". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/04/sports/scouting-ballad-to-pine-tar.html?scp=2&sq=%22Dave%20McEnery%22&st=cse. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
- ^ Russell, Tony (2002-03-21). "Red River Dave". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2002/mar/21/guardianobituaries1. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
- ^ Gallagher, Peter B. (1984-12-24). "Red River Dave tries to keep America humming". St. Petersburg Times. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19841224&id=TwkOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=y3wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2491,166557. Retrieved May 17, 2009. "The sleigh bells were playing Yankee Doodle in time"
External links
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