Ray ellington biography

Henry Pitts Brown, known professionally as Ray Ellington, was an English singer, drummer and bandleader.
Ray Ellington was an English singer, drummer and bandleader.
Ray Ellington was born on March 17, 1916 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and composer, known for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004).

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Ray Ellington was born of an American father and Russian mother in London on 17 March 1916. On leaving school, at fourteen, he joined his uncle's business as an apprentice cabinet maker. Meantime, he took up the drums and started accepting gigs with various small groups; in addition, his distinctive vocal contributions went down very well.

His big break came in January 1937 when he joined Harry Roy and His Orchestra as the band's drummer, replacing Joe Daniels. His vocal talents were put to good use too, from the time of his first session when he recorded "Swing for Sale." Through records and many radio broadcasts, the name of Ray Ellington began to become known in many households across the country. Come the war, Ray was called up in the spring of 1940 when he joined the RAF as a physical training instructor.

On his demobilization, Ray resumed his career, initially working in small groups led by Tito Burns. After a while he fronted his own be-bop group, playing at the Bag O'Nails club. Early in 1947, he rejoined the Harry Roy band for a few months.

The Ray Ellington Quartet ev

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Ray Ellington was an English jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader. He was most famous for his regular appearances, with his quartet, on the Goon Show. Ellington had a music slot in each show and also occasionally played minor characters.

Ellington was born Harry Pitts Brown, in Kennington, London, the youngest of four children. His father was Harry Pitts Brown, a black music-hall comedian and entertainer, and his mother was Eva Stenkell Rosenthal, a Russian Jew. His father died when Brown was four years old. He was brought up as a strictly Orthodox Jew, attending South London Jewish School (1924–30), before entering show business at the age of twelve, when he appeared in an acting role on the London stage.

Ellington specialised in jazz but experimented with many other genres throughout the show's history and his musical style was heavily influenced by the comic jump blues of Louis Jordan. Ellington's band was one of the first in the U.K. to feature the stripped-back guitar/bass/drums/piano format that became the basis of rock and roll, as well as being one of the fir

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Ray Ellington

English singer, drummer and bandleader (1916–1985)

Ray Ellington
Ray Ellington
Birth name	Henry Pitts Brown
Born	(1916-03-17)17 March 1916^[1] Kennington, London, England
Origin	England
Died	27 February 1985(1985-02-27) (aged 68)^[2] England
Genres	Jazz, blues
Occupation(s)	Singer, drummer, bandleader
Instrument	Drums

Musical artist

Henry Pitts Brown (17 March 1916 – 27 February 1985),^[2] known professionally as Ray Ellington, was an English singer, drummer and bandleader. He is best known for his appearances on The Goon Show from 1951 to 1960. The Ray Ellington Quartet had a regular musical segment on the show, and Ellington also had a small speaking role in many episodes, often as a parodic African, Native American or Arabchieftain (but also often, with no attempt to change his normal accent, in counter-intuitive roles such as a female secretary or a Scotsman).

Early life

Ellington was born Henry Pitts Brown, at 155 Kennington Road, Kennington, London, England, the youn