Al Rinker (December 20, 1907 – June 11, 1982) was an American musician who began his career as a teen performing with Bing Crosby in the early 1920s in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

. In 1925 the pair moved to Los Angeles, eventually forming the Rhythm Boys trio with

Harry Barris Harry Barris (November 24, 1905 – December 13, 1962) was an American popular singer and songwriter. He was one of the earliest singers to use "scat singing" in recordings. Barris, one of Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys, along with Bing Crosby an ...

Biography

Barris wrote the songs "

Mississippi Mud "Mississippi Mud" is a 1927 song written by Harry Barris, first sung by Bing Crosby as a member of Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys. Background The Rhythm Boys originally recorded the song on June 20, 1927 in New York for Victor as a medley with ...

", "

I Surrender, Dear "I Surrender Dear" (sometimes written as "I Surrender, Dear") is a song composed by Harry Barris with lyrics by Gordon Clifford, first performed by Gus Arnheim and His Cocoanut Grove Orchestra with Bing Crosby in 1931, which became his first ...

", and " Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams". The singing group worked with

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...

's Big Band for three years. They went out on their own for a year until Crosby effectively dissolved the group to go solo. The Rhythm Boys were filmed for the movie '' King of Jazz'' (1930) singing "Mississippi Mud", "So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together", "A Bench in the Park", and "Happy Feet". According to a filmed interview of Rinker, Crosby performed the first two weeks on his first film while on daytime work release from jail after crashing his car into a telephone pole while driving drunk. After the Rhythm Boys broke up, they reunited once on the ''Paul Whiteman Presents'' radio broadcast on July 4, 1943. In 1952, a song for which Rinker wrote the music with lyrics by Floyd Huddleston, "You Can't Do Wrong Doin' Right", appeared in the films '' Push-Button Kitty'' and '' The Affairs of Dobie Gillis''. "You Can't Do Wrong Doin' Right" also previously appeared in the 1950 film ''

Duchess Of Idaho Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

''. He also wrote the song "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat" also with Floyd Huddleston for the Disney animated children's movie ''

The Aristocats ''The Aristocats'' is a 1970 American animated romantic musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. The 20th Disney animated feature film, the film is based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom R ...

'' (1970). Rinker was born in Tekoa, Washington; his mother, Josephine, was an enrolled member of the

Coeur d'Alene Tribe The Coeur d'Alene (also ''Skitswish''; natively ''Schi̲tsu'umsh'') are a Native American nation and one of five federally recognized tribes in the state of Idaho. The Coeur d'Alene have sovereign control of their Coeur d'Alene Reservation, ...

Miller, John
"Idaho tribe: 'Mrs. Swing' was Indian."
''The Wenatchee World'', March 16, 2012; retrieved March 27, 2012 and a devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

. He and his siblings grew up on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation near

De Smet, Idaho De Smet (also spelled Desmet) is an unincorporated census-designated place in the northwestern United States, located on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Benewah County, Idaho. U.S. Route 95 passes nearby and the community is located about a m ...

. Their father, Charles, played fiddle and called square dances, and their mother played piano every evening after supper. His younger brother

Charles Rinker Charles Rinker (January 14, 1911 – December 28, 1989) was an American lyricist who worked frequently with Gene de Paul and Bob Rothberg, among others. His older brother, Al Rinker, was one of the famous Rhythm Boys with Bing Crosby in the lat ...

became a lyricist who worked frequently with composer Gene de Paul. Rinker married Elizabeth Neuberger on October 25, 1938. Their older sister Mildred, under her married name of Mildred Bailey, had embarked on a musical career in Los Angeles before Rinker and Crosby became known. She became a well-known jazz singer after the Rhythm Boys arranged for

to "discover" her singing at a party; he hired her to sing with his band. For a time she was known as "Mrs. Swing."

References

Sources

*Donald Shepherd and Robert F. Slatzer, ''Bing Crosby: The Hollow Man'' (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1981),

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rinker, Al 1907 births 1982 deaths American jazz singers American lyricists 20th-century American singers Bing Crosby Coeur d'Alene people American Roman Catholics People from Tekoa, Washington Jazz musicians from Washington (state)