King Perry

b. Oliver King Perry, 1920, Gary, Indiana, USA. Starting with the violin, Perry learned a variety of instruments in his youth, including bass, trumpet, drums, piano and clarinet, before the alto saxophone after seeing Johnny Hodges with Duke Ellington’s Orchestra. Perry ended up in Los Angeles, in 1945, after a tour with his small band and stayed, recording for Melodisc Records in July of that year. They went on to have records released on Excelsior/United Artists (not the well-known label from recent years) - finding success on the R&B charts with his ‘Keep A Dollar In Your Pocket’, which was covered by Roy Milton. He also recorded for DeLuxe, Specialty Records (with whom he had his only other substantial hit, ‘Blue And Lonesome’), Dot Records, RPM, Lucky, Hollywood, Trilyte, Look and Unique through to the late 50s. He turned to selling real estate when work was scarce, but returned to music in 1967 and resumed his recording career on Accent in 1975. He continues to perform around the Bakersfield area and runs his own record company (Octive) and publishing company (Royal Attractions).