Alvino Rey

The self-styled "King of the Guitar," swing-era bandleader Alvino Rey pioneered an otherworldly pedal steel sound which later formed the foundation of the space age pop aesthetic. Born Alvin McBurney in Oakland, CA, on July 1, 1911, a decade later he and his family relocated to Cleveland, OH, where as a teen he received a banjo as a birthday gift. He made his professional debut in 1927 as a member of Ev Jones' band, and a year later signed on with the Phil Spitalny Orchestra. Eventually switching over to guitar, he adopted the name Alvino Rey in 1929 while performing in New York City, where Latin music was then at its peak; stints backing Russ Morgan and Freddy Martin followed, and by the mid-'30s he was in San Francisco playing with Horace Heidt. With Heidt, Rey became a star upon adopting the pedal steel; a pioneering force behind the popularity of the amplified guitar, in early 1935 he was even recruited by the Gibson guitar manufacturing company to develop a prototype pickup. Later modifying his instrument to rechristen it the console guitar, Rey's innovative chord structures and distinctive sound earned him a major fan following, and in 1939 he formed his own band. He and his group (which included the vocal group Four King Sisters, one of whom -- Luise King -- became Rey's wife in 1937) were soon enlisted to serve as the staff orchestra at the Mutual Broadcasting radio network, in early 1942 scoring a major hit with their reading of "Deep in the Heart of Texas." That same year Rey dramatically altered the band's makeup to bring in an enormous brass section, with no less than six saxophones. The group's lineup was extraordinary -- members included the likes of Ray Conniff, Neal Hefti, Billy May, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims -- but the 1943 musicians' union's recording ban...