Re: WHO WAS WHITEY MCPHERSON 1937-8

As a follow-up and addition to my query last week I provide the following information about "Whitey MCPHERSON":

A.) from THE ROOTS N' BLUES RETROSPECTIVE 1925-1950 (Columbia / Legacy 1992) by Pete Welding and Lawrence Cohn; p. 33

"The Rhythm Wreckers were distinguished by the presence of Whitey MCPHERSON, their vocalist, who was 14-15 years old at the time of the recording [27 March 1937, Los Angeles, CA]. Most of the recordings made by this group (along with MCPHERSON) were blues tunes, the one included in this collection [BLUE YODEL #2 {MY LOVIN' GAL LUCILLE} LA1292-1, Vocalion 3566] a Jimmie Rodgers composition. MCPHERSON had an one year contract with Vocalion, April 21, 1937 to April 21, 1938. He was to be paid $200 for 16 selections plus a royalty. At roughly the same time as this recording, MCPHERSON also appeared in a movie with singer Gene Austin."

B.) from WHITE COUNTRY BLUES (1926-1938): A LIGHTER SHADE OF BLUE (Columbia / Legacy) 1993 by Charles K. Wolfe; p. 27

"In several of his later blues sides Jimmie Rodgers used a small jazz band for back-up, and this lesson was not lost on western swing musicians as they embraced Rodgers' repertoire and much of his style. In 1937 and 1938, Art Satherly recorded a series of sessions by a now-obscure group called The Rhythm Wreckers. The sessions were held in Los Angeles and featured a thin voiced singer named Whitey MCPHERSON, who sounded as much like Emmett Miller as Jimmie Rodgers. Most of the sessions featured older numbers, including a healthy share of Rodgers. "Never No Mo' Blues" [27 March 1937, Los Angeles, CA; LA1290-1, Vocalion 3523], despite it's parodistic quality, is among the most appealing of these."

C.) from MUGGSY SPANIER; THE LONESOME ROAD (Jazzology Press 1995) by Bert Whyatt; p. 35

"[Ben] Pollack was also making records for Vocalion which issued them as the Rhythm Wreckers. These were of a deliberately 'corny' nature and Spanier was not proud of his part in them: 'I made those records...it was Ben Pollack's band. The singer was a hillbilly from Texas. Pretty bad! I never even heard the records but remember making them."[from Muggsy Spanier letter to David Sessions]

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"Whitey" MCPHERSON sang on the following Rhythm Wreckers selections:

(27 March 1937 Los Angeles, CA)
Never No Mo' Blues [LA1290-1 / Vocalion 3523]
St. Louis Blues [LA1291-1 / Vocalion 3566]
Blue Yodel No.2 [LA1292-1 / Vocalion 3566]

(9 June 1937 Los Angeles, CA)
Red Headed Music Maker [LA1346 / Vocalion 3670]
Blue Yodel No.1 [LA1347-2 / Vocalion 3642]

(17 June 1937 Los Angeles, CA)
Blue Yodel No.3 [LA1349-1 / Vocalion 3670]
Desert Blues [LA1350-1 / Vocalion 3642]

"Whitey" also released four 78 rpm recordings (8 sides) as "Whitey MCPHERSON accompanied by the Rhythm Wreckers"