William Francis Kenny Jr. (June 12, 1914 – March 23, 1978) was an American vocalist with a wide vocal range spanning four octaves.Montreal Gazette, December 24, 1974 – Pg. 31 Often regarded as one of the most influential high-tenor singers of all time, Kenny was noted for his "bell-like" vocal clarity and impeccable diction. Although he is most famous for his role as lead tenor with the Ink Spots, Kenny also led a successful solo career after disbanding the Ink Spots in 1954.Goldberg, Marv (1998). More Than Words Can Say: The Ink Spots And Their Music, Scarecrow Press. Throughout the 1950s and 60s Kenny recorded, toured the world and appeared on many popular variety television shows. In 1966 Kenny became the star and host of his own musical variety show The Bill Kenny Show which aired on CBC.Jet Magazine, October 21, 1965, p. 56. In 1989, 11 years after his death, Bill Kenny was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kenny is often noted as being the "godfather" of R&B tenor vocalists.

Early life and education Kenny was born William Francis Kenny Jr. in 1914 at Mercy HospitalBaltimore Afro-American, March 28, 1978, p. 15. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although Kenny was born in Philadelphia, he spent much of his young life in Baltimore, Maryland, with his twin brother Herb Kenny, who later on would also become a member of The Ink Spots. The boys' father, William Francis Kenny Sr., died of influenza in 1919 when the boys were five years old."Bill Kenny Mr. Ink Spot" Warwick Records, W 2021 That same year, their widowed mother, Jennie Kenny (1894–1958) moved the boys to Washington D.C and then to Baltimore, where the family attended St. Peter Claver Church and lived at 1151 Carey Street. Mrs. Kenny worked as a dressmaker and made drapery for department stores to support the boys. It was in the third grade that young Bill walked out on stage at his school, St. Peter's Parochial, to sing his first song in public. It was "The Japanese Sandman". Kenny demonstrated early on his high Tenor singing abilities, singing C over high C and participating in various school operettas at Booker T. Washington Junior High School and later at Douglass High School where he graduated. Here is an excerpt from a 1944 interview with the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper, where Kenny recalls singing as a young boy

Baltimore Afro-American, November 12, 1944, p. 12.

It was in high school that Kenny began to focus on singing more than before and often appeared singing solo in his school assemblies. After graduation, Kenny attended an art school in Washington, D.C., but would on occasion, appear as a soloist in amateur contests in theaters throughout the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C. and in his hometown of Baltimore.

Career While Kenny was on vacation in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the young singer competed in 22 amateur night club contests, winning 21 of them. Bill Kenny's first professional booking was in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the Ritz-Carlton Gardens. After Milton Berle's brother, Phil Berle, heard Kenny singing ballads, he signed him to a contract. Because jobs were too difficult to get in New York City, Berle decided to release Kenny from the contract after a short time. It was around this time that Kenny sang "Trees" in an amateur contest at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, and won first place, and a position singing with a group known as "The Ink Spots".

Influences and musical impact In a 1992 interview, Kenny's twin brother Herb noted that singer Morton Downey had a tremendous influence on Bill and that Bill would often listen to Downey when he came home from school. It also is assumed that singer Orlando Roberson had influenced Kenny early on. Kenny has often been regarded as one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th Century. Singers such as Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Michael Bublé, Clyde McPhatter, Garland Jeffreys, Johnny Mathis, Tony Williams (The Platters), Del Shannon, Rudy West (The Five Keys), Sollie McElroy (The Flamingos), Jackie Wilson, Johnny Bragg (The Prisonaires), Nolan Strong and Prentice Moreland have all noted Bill Kenny as a major influence on their own singing. Elvis Presley frequently spoke of his admiration of Kenny and was once noted as saying that he could "honestly never hope to equal the musical achievements of Bill Kenny".Peter Guralnick, Last Train To Memphis: The Rise Of Elvis Presley. In 1971 Presley recorded Kenny's composition "There Is No God But God".Ernst Jørgensen, Elvis Presley: A Life In Music, p. 334. In the book "Group Harmony: The Black Urban Roots of Rhythm and Blues" by Stuart L. Goosman, Bill Kenny's immense influence on other vocal group singers is expressed in this excerpt:

Stuart Goosman, Group Harmony: The Black Urban Roots of Rhythm and Blues, p.4

Some of Kenny's favorite vocalists over the years included Ella Fitzgerald, Vic Damone, Lena Horne, Paul Robeson, John Gary, Roland Hayes and Nat King Cole.

The Ink Spots

In 1936 The Ink Spots 1st Tenor Jerry Daniels left the group and was replaced by Bill Kenny. Kenny made his first recordings with The Ink Spots "It Ain't Nobody's Biz'ness What I Do" and the swing tune "Your Feet's Too Big" on May 12 of that year. Kenny had a brief solo on "Your Feet's Too Big".Warner, Jay (2000). The Da Capo Book of American Singing Groups: A History, 1940–1990, Da Capo Press, p. 38. Kenny's first known solo feature came in February 1938 on a radio broadcast for radio station WEAF. The song was "Tune In On My Heart" from the 1929 Broadway musical "Remote Control", lyrics and music by Buddy Valentine and Gene Johnston.New York Times, February 15, 1938. Kenny's first recorded solo feature to be recorded in a studio came in 1938 for Decca records on the ballad "I Wish You The Best Of Everything"."I Wish You The Best Of Everything", Decca Records – 63813A In 1939 The Ink Spots were scheduled for a recording session at Decca recording studio in NYC. Songwriter Jack Lawrence brought with him his latest composition "If I Didn't Care" for The Ink Spots to record. Bill Kenny was featured throughout except for the middle "talking Bass" part done by Orville "Hoppy" Jones. Each member was paid only $37.50 for the recording, however, once the record sold 200,000 Decca destroyed the original contract and The Ink Spots were paid an additional $3,750. The record went on to sell more than 19 million copies and was Bill Kenny's first top hit feature.Jack Lawrence Songwriter website The year 1939 was the start of a new format for The Ink Spots that would feature Charlie Fuqua's trademark Guitar intro, Bill Kenny's Tenor lead, and Hoppy Jones "talking bass". Other Bill Kenny features such as "Address Unknown", "My Prayer", "Memories of You", "I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You", and "Bless You (For Being An Angel)" all reach the top of the U.S Pop charts in 1939. It was around this time that The Ink Spots signed an additional five-year recording contract with Decca.

1940s From 1940 to 1949 Bill Kenny was featured lead singer on 40 of 45 Ink Spots recordings that reached the top of the U.S Pop charts. During the 1940s Kenny was featured in two major motion pictures: The Great American Broadcast (1941) and the Abbott and Costello film Pardon My Sarong (1942). In 1944 Ella Fitzgerald joined The Ink Spots at Decca studios where she and Kenny were to be featured on a song entitled "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall". That song reached #1 on the U.S Pop charts and #1 on the R&B charts. The flip side of that recording "I'm Making Believe" reached #1 on the U.S Pop charts and #2 on the R&B charts. In February 1945 Fitzgerald teamed up with The Ink Spots and was featured again with Kenny on a recording of "I'm Beginning To See The Light" and "That's The Way It Is". "I'm Beginning To See The Light" reached #5 on the U.S Pop charts. That same year, The Ink Spots manager Moe Gale, began trying to advertise the quartet as "The Ink Spots (Featuring Bill Kenny)" due to Kenny's increasing leadership role. In 1948 The Ink Spots featuring Bill Kenny appeared on the first-ever Ed Sullivan Television show. In 1949 Bill Kenny made his first solo recordings "Echoes" and "Land of Love" without The Ink Spots on Decca records. Although these were Kenny solo recordings, Decca decided to label them as "The Ink Spots". Kenny's recording of "Echoes" reached #24 on the U.S Pop charts.

1950s In 1950, Ella Fitzgerald teamed up once again with Bill Kenny & The Ink Spots and recorded "Little Small Town Girl" and "I Still Feel The Same About You". Both were duos with Fitzgerald and Kenny. Their previous collaborations were more like solo features than duets and didn't include as much harmonizing as these two recordings. In 1950, Kenny's solo recording of "If" reached #23 on the U.S Pop charts but, like his solo recordings from 1949 were labeled "The Ink Spots". In 1951 Bill Kenny recorded two more solo recordings "I'm Lucky I Have You" and "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" which featured cornetist Bobby Hackett. These were also solo recordings labeled as "The Ink Spots". This happened once more in October 1951 with Bill Kenny solo recordings "And Then I Prayed" and "Honest And Truly" on which he performs the "talking bass" part made famous by Orville "Hoppy" Jones. The last Ink Spots studio recordings were of the gospel composition "Somebody Bigger Than You And I" and the Blues number "Do Something For Me" both recorded in February 1951. In 1952 Charlie Fuqua, Baritone singer, Guitarist, and original member since 1934, decided to leave Bill Kenny to form his own Ink Spots group. It was decided by the court ruling that Fuqua would have to name his group "The 'New' Ink Spots". However, after a short time he dropped the "New", and thus two groups were using the name "The Ink Spots". This resulted in great conflict and confusion. However, Bill Kenny kept performing with The Ink Spots and started billing them as "Bill Kenny & His Ink Spots". A few live recordings and "radio checks" of Bill Kenny's Ink Spots from 1952/1953 survive today. After being with The Ink Spots for 18 years, Bill Kenny decided to leave the group for good in 1954, resulting in The Ink Spots disbanding.

Solo career In 1951, Kenny started upon a solo career that would last until his death in 1978. From 1951 to 1952 all Decca recordings labeled "The Ink Spots" featured only the voice of Bill Kenny, therefore, making all Ink Spots recordings from '51 to '52 Bill Kenny solo recordings. From 1952 to 1953 Bill Kenny recorded 33 solos for Decca, some labeled as "The Ink Spots" and some as "Bill Kenny" or "Bill Kenny of The Ink Spots". Later on, Kenny recorded 14 sides for RCA's Vik label, four for the TEL label, two for the Warwick label, two for the AUB label, and two for RCA. These recordings featured arrangements by such prominent arrangers as Sy Oliver, Marty Gold, Leonard Joy, Morty Craft, Charles Shirley, and Leroy Kirkland.

Solo albums