Ronald Patrick Ross McManus (20 October 1927 – 24 November 2011) was an English musician, singer and trumpet player of Irish descent. He performed with Joe Loss and his orchestra. He was the father of

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...

Life and career

McManus was born on Conway Street,

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

,Thomson, Graeme. ''Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello''. Edinburgh: Canongate Ltd (2005) to Mabel and Pat McManus. He began singing at the age of nine as a chorister at St Thomas' Roman Catholic Church. He attended Saint Anselm's College. He later adapted his surname to MacManus. Prior to joining the Joe Loss Band, he had his own band called Ross MacManus & The New Era Music from 1950 until 1955. That

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

band played at various Liverpool nightspots. He later joined Joe Loss in March 1955. He wrote and sang "Patsy Girl", a 1964 single credited to Ross McManus and the Joe Loss Blue Beats. The song was featured on the "Fathers" episode of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's radio series, '' Theme Time Radio Hour'' in 2006. In 1970, he recorded a version of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' song "

The Long and Winding Road "The Long and Winding Road" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album '' Let It Be''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. When issued as a single in May 1970, a month after the Beatl ...

" under the pseudonym of Day Costello,Leigh, Spencer
"Ross MacManus - Elvis' Dad"
, BBC ''Radio Merseyside'' interview. which spent 17 weeks in the Australian chart, peaking at number 16. MacManus was responsible for the music and vocals from the

R. White's Lemonade R. White's Lemonade is a British brand of a carbonated lemonade, which is produced and sold in the United Kingdom by Britvic. Robert and Mary White produced the first R. White's lemonade in Camberwell, south London, in 1845. The White Family took ...

television advertisement theme song "Secret Lemonade Drinker", on which Costello sang backing vocals. He also wrote and sang a number of songs for British 1970's sex comedies including the ''

Alan Street Alan Street (born 17 April 1982) is a British former competitive figure skater. He is the 2001 British national champion in men's singles. He competed at four World Junior Championships, achieving his best result, sixth, in 2001 ( Sofia, Bulgar ...

'' trilogy (1974), '' Secrets of a Superstud'' (1976) and ''Can I Come Too?'' (1979). He played the trumpet on two of Elvis Costello's albums: '' Out Of Our Idiot'' (1987) on the song, "A Town Called Big Nothing", credited to the MacManus Gang and originally recorded for the film '' Straight To Hell'', and '' Mighty Like A Rose'' (1991) on the song, "Invasion Hit Parade". His 1972 album of cover versions of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

songs, ''Elvis Presley's Golden Hits Sung by Big Ross & The Memphis Sound'', was reissued on CD in 2008 as ''Elvis' Dad Sings Elvis''. McManus died in November 2011, at the age of 84.

Family

MacManus married Lillian Alda Ablett in 1952; the couple later divorced. Their son Declan, better known as

, was born in 1954. With his second wife, Sara Thompson, a singer who died on 12 November 2011, he had four sons: Ronan MacManus, Ruairi, Liam and Kieran, who were formerly in the band Riverway. Ronan was lead singer in

The BibleCode Sundays The London-based The BibleCode Sundays are a band often described as Celtic rock, folk music or rock music. Their sound fuses influences from a mixture of traditional Irish instruments and contemporary rock back line. History The band was or ...

and Ronan and Ruairi also perform together as The MacManus Brothers.

UK discography

Singles

* "Patsy Girl" / "I'm the Greatest" by Ross McManus and the Joe Loss Blue Beats ( HMV, 1964) * "Stop Your Playing Around" / "Girlie Girlie" by Ross McManus (HMV, 1966) * " Can't Take My Eyes Off You" / " If I Were A Rich Man" by Ross McManus (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

, 1967) * "

The Long And Winding Road "The Long and Winding Road" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album '' Let It Be''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. When issued as a single in May 1970, a month after the Beatl ...

" / "Free (Unlimited Horizons)" by Day Costello (Spark, 1970)

Albums

* ''Elvis Presley's Golden Hits Sung by Big Ross & The Memphis Sound'' (1972) * ''Elvis' Dad Sings Elvis'' (reissued on CD in 2008)

References

External links

*
Elvis-costello.net mini-biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:McManus, Ross 1927 births 2011 deaths Elvis Costello English jazz singers English jazz trumpeters Male trumpeters English male singers English people of Irish descent English Roman Catholics People educated at St. Anselm's College People from Birkenhead British male jazz musicians