Ricky May

Ricky May (22 November 1943^[1] – 1 June 1988)^[2][3] was a jazz musician in the Louis Armstrong-style who found fame in his native New Zealand as well as Australia.

Biography

Ricky May was born in Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand, of Māori descent. Apart from being a vocalist, he played drums and piano but was known best as a variety entertainer. He would often introduce unconventional vocalisations, improvisation and the spoken-word while singing. He commonly recorded compositions of Nat King Cole and appeared on many television tonight shows including The Don Lane Show, Farnham and Byrne, along with regular appearances on the Midday Show. In 1962 he moved to Australia and began a career in cabaret. In 1966 he hosted the Sydney teen pop music show Ten on the Town^[4] He found national fame and popularity with the show Hey Hey It's Saturday.

Awards and honours

In 1988 May received the Benny Award from the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc, the highest honour available to a New Zealand variety entertainer.^[5]

Origin

In 1961 jazz pianist Ronnie Smith set up a group to play at the "Sorrento" in Wellington. The group included Tommy Tamati on bass and a young Ricky May on drums and vocals. Bruno Lawrence was always watching in the audience and was given a chance to play the drums when Ricky got up to sing. He impressed Ronnie enough to become a regular with the group. The group stayed together for about a year, even touring around the lower North Island area.

Recordings

At the end of 1961, Ricky May got fed up with Wellington weather and headed back to Auckland. He released a single in 1961 called "Let's Twist Again"/"Hucklebuck" on the La Gloria label and followed this with a second in 1962, "I Could Have Danced All Night"/"Ballin' The Jack".

In 1966 May released another single for RCA (Bluebird Records) called "This Little Boy's Gone Rockin' "/"Spanish Harlem".^[6][7]

Beyond this he concentrated on live cabaret performances and television work. He released no further material until 1973. This was a double album with the Julian Lee Orchestra called "Fats Enough", released on ABC records. In 1974 ABC decided to release a second double album, which was called "Just Foolin' Around - A Tribute To Louis Armstrong". In 1983, the first half of this double album was re-released on CD, called "A Tribute To The Greats". 1981 saw the J&B released album called "Ricky May" and ABC records released "The Best Of Ricky May" in 1983 on CD. In 1986 RCA released a Christmas album called "It's The Christmas Man".

May was involved in one more single in 1983, when he recorded the song "Built For Comfort (I Ain't Built For Speed)"/"Off The Record", as The Big Boys with Jonathan Coleman.

Ricky May is credited as the composer of the words and music of the team song of the Newtown Jets Rugby League football club.. May is also credited with writing a tribute song to the show Hey Hey It's Saturday, an arrangement of which the band often played over the final credits.

Successful singles

• "Let's Twist Again"/"Hucklebuck" La Gloria (1961)
• "I Could Have Danced All Night"/"Ballin' The Jack" La Gloria (1962)
• "This Little Boy's Gone Rockin' "/"Spanish Harlem" RCA (1966)^[7]
• "Built For Comfort (I Ain't Built For Speed)"/"Off The Record" WEA 7-259903 (1983)

Successful albums

• "Ricky May" J&B JB-057 (1980)
• "Fats Enough" ABC L-60011/12 (1983)
• "It's The Christmas Man" Festival L-38686 (1986)
• "Just Foolin' Around - A Tribute To Louis Armstrong" ABC L-60027 (1987)

References

Notes

• "Ricky May - New Zealand Music of the 60's, 70's and a bit of 80's". Retrieved 2009-04-23. 

External links

• Ricky May at the Internet Movie Database
• Ricky May, recordings.