The King's Men aired in 1949 and was a foursome that featured Ken Darby, Rad Robinson, Jon Dodson and Bud Linn singing their tunes a
half hour show crown piece of a "fits any finger" ring. The radio show ran until 1954, having been aired simultaneously with the first portion of the television
version. Ken Darby's choral group, The Ken Darby Singers, sang backup for Bing Crosby on the original 1942 Decca Records studio recording of "White Christmas."
In 1940 they also sang on the first album ever made of the songs from The Wizard of Oz, a film on which Darby had worked. However, the album was a studio cast
recording, not a true soundtrack album (although it did feature Judy Garland), and it did not use the film's original arrangements. Darby also performed as part
of "The King's Men," a vocal quartet who recorded several songs with Paul Whiteman's orchestra in the mid 1930s and were the featured vocalists on the Fibber
McGee and Molly radio program from 1940 through 1953. They also participated on the soundtracks of several MGM films, including The Wizard Of Oz and occasional
Tom and Jerry cartoons. He also provided the theme song and the soundtrack for "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp," the 1950s-60s television series starring Hugh
O'Brian. He was a composer and production supervisor for Walt Disney Studios and was choral and vocal director on the 1946 Disney film classic Song of the South.
He was also Marilyn Monroe's vocal coach for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and There's No Business Like Show Business (1954). Darby was also the principal
composer of the 1956 Elvis Presley hit "Love Me Tender" for the movie of the same name but signed the rights over to his wife, Vera Matson, whose name appears
as co-lyricist and co-composer with Elvis Presley. The song was adapted from the Civil War era song "Aura Lee." An avid fan of Nero Wolfe, Rex Stout's fictional
detective genius, Darby wrote a detailed biography of Wolfe's home titled The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe (1983). Ken Darby died January 24, 1992, in the final
stages of production of his last book, Hollywood Holyland: The Filming and Scoring of 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'
[oldtimeradiodownloads.com]
