Ken Darby

Career

Darby's choral group, the Ken Darby Singers, provided backup vocals for Bing Crosby on the original 1942 Decca Records studio recording of "White Christmas." In 1940, they sang on the first album ever made of songs from The Wizard of Oz, a film Darby had worked on, though it was a studio cast recording—not a true soundtrack—and did not use the film's original arrangements, despite featuring Judy Garland. Darby also performed as part of the King's Men, a vocal quartet that recorded 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.

In the early 1940s, he and the King's Men performed a musical version of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" he wrote called "T'was the Night Before Christmas" on the show's Christmas episodes. The King's Men contributed to soundtracks of several MGM films, including The Wizard of Oz and occasional Tom and Jerry cartoons, and in the film Honolulu they spoofed the Marx Brothers, with Darby playing one of two Grouchos. He provided the theme song and soundtrack for the television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, The Adventures of Jim Bowie, and The Californians.

At Walt Disney Studios, Darby worked as a composer and production supervisor, and served as choral and vocal director on the 1946 film Song of the South. He was Marilyn Monroe's vocal coach for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and There's No Business Like Show Business (1954). Darby was the principal composer of Elvis Presley's 1956 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 Presley.

The song was adapted from the Civil War-era song "Aura Lee." Presley's composing credit was mandated by his management to entice him to record. When asked about crediting his wife, Darby's standard response was, "Because she didn't write it either." In reality, Darby wasn't credited because he was represented by another musicians association.

A fan of Rex Stout's detective Nero Wolfe, Darby wrote The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe (1983). He died on January 24, 1992, during the final stages of production of his last book, Hollywood Holyland: The Filming and Scoring of 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' (1992).