Thanks Henk, I nearly passed on this one, glad i didn't, Some great covers on this Excerpt - the Scotsman "Born in Glasgow in the late 1930s, McVay became a professional musician at the age of 13 as a saxophonist. In the 50s he became a music director for many big names such as Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Conway Twitty and Billy Fury. His name got bigger and better known in the industry when he fronted his own show band, the Ray McVay Orchestra, and he became a familiar face in the UK when he was featured on the TV series Come Dancing.
In 1960, at the end of a tour in the UK with Cochran and Vincent, McVay was preparing to head to Heathrow airport when fate intervened.
"We were all very jovial at the end of a very successful tour," recalls McVay. "Eddie decided he wanted to take his amp back to the United States to be repaired but the driver of the car said that there was no room for it unless someone got out. I volunteered and travelled with the other boys from the group in my Dormobile."
An hour later, following a horrific car crash, Cochran was dead. The taxi McVay was supposed to have taken crashed into a lamppost on Rowden Hill in London. Songwriter Sharon Sheeley (Cochran's fiance) and singer Vincent survived the crash.
"Fate had obviously kept me alive," recalls McVay. "The seat I had given up was the seat that Eddie Cochran had sat in. As we all know, he later died from his severe head injuries."
Today, McVay leads the Glenn Miller Orchestra UK, which boasts a repertoire of hundreds of original compositions, from jumping jive to slow and sweet"
Thanks Henk, I nearly passed on this one, glad i didn't, Some great covers on this
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"Born in Glasgow in the late 1930s, McVay became a professional musician at the age of 13 as a saxophonist. In the 50s he became a music director for many big names such as Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Conway Twitty and Billy Fury. His name got bigger and better known in the industry when he fronted his own show band, the Ray McVay Orchestra, and he became a familiar face in the UK when he was featured on the TV series Come Dancing.
In 1960, at the end of a tour in the UK with Cochran and Vincent, McVay was preparing to head to Heathrow airport when fate intervened.
"We were all very jovial at the end of a very successful tour," recalls McVay. "Eddie decided he wanted to take his amp back to the United States to be repaired but the driver of the car said that there was no room for it unless someone got out. I volunteered and travelled with the other boys from the group in my Dormobile."
An hour later, following a horrific car crash, Cochran was dead. The taxi McVay was supposed to have taken crashed into a lamppost on Rowden Hill in London. Songwriter Sharon Sheeley (Cochran's fiance) and singer Vincent survived the crash.
"Fate had obviously kept me alive," recalls McVay. "The seat I had given up was the seat that Eddie Cochran had sat in. As we all know, he later died from his severe head injuries."
Today, McVay leads the Glenn Miller Orchestra UK, which boasts a repertoire of hundreds of original compositions, from jumping jive to slow and sweet"
wow.... crazy story!!! funny that a guy who was leading a Glenn Miller Orchestra was also making records like this one :)
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