Will Bradley

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Wilbur Schwichtenberg (July 12, 1912 – July 15, 1989) was an American trombonist and bandleader who performed under the name Will Bradley. He was known for swing and sweet dance music, as well as boogie woogie songs, many of which were written by Don Raye.

Born in Newton, New Jersey, he and drummer Ray McKinley formed a big band in 1939 which became well known for boogie-woogie, particularly its hit record, "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar," with Freddie Slack on piano.^[1] This record, along with another big-band boogie woogie number, "Scrub Me Mamma With A Boogie Beat," and the original version of the classic, "Down the Road a Piece," were all three in the top 10 on the Billboard popular music charts at the same time, in late-1940. "Down the Road a Piece," was recorded with a pared-down trio called the "Will Bradley Trio," made of McKinley, Doc Goldberg, and Freddie Slack, with guest vocals by songwriter Don Raye, and would become a rock and roll standard recorded by Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Amos Milburn, Foghat, Little Feat, Bruce Springsteen, Manfred Mann, and even Willie Dixon, and many others. The song was written by Don Raye specifically for the trio, and included the lyrics:

"If you like to boogie woogie, I know the place"
"It's just an old piano and a knocked-out bass"
"The drummer man's a guy they call Eight Beat Mack" [a reference to drummer Ray McKinley]
"And you remember Doc and Ol' Beat Me Daddy Slack" [references to bass player Doc Goldberg and pianist Freddie Slack]

In 1942 McKinley left to form his own band and a few months after joined the United States Air Force, where he played in the Glenn Miller Air Force band. Bradley tried to maintain the band, but problems caused by the war forced it to close. Bradley became a studio musician, and played for many years in the Tonight Show band during the Johnny Carson era.