At 5/2/2010 07:23 AM Sunday, you wrote: *********START OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE TEXT********* >Does anyone know the line of descendancy for Don McRae Wilhoite, Jr., born >March 16, 1909, in Washington, D.C., said to be a Germanna descendant? He >took a professional name of Don Raye and became a well-regarded composer of >boogie-woogie and jazz. Best known songs would be "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" >and the lyrics to "This Is My Country," but what really impressed my husband >was co-writing "Ballad of Thunder Road" with Robert Mitchum. He wrote a lot >of music for 40s movies like "Reveille with Beverly." All the big bands Frank >Sinatra sang his music and even Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones covered >"Down the Road a Piece." Billie Holliday sang "You Don't Know What Love Is." > >Virginia Nuta **********END OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE TEXT*********** Hi Virginia, I've wondered about his ancestry too. I found his "bio" on the Internet, but it gives no clues about his parents, other than that his father was Don McRae Wilhoite, Sr. I don't see any replies to your query, and hope that someone will see my reply and give us a clue. BTW, for the rest of you, you can see his bio at: http://songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/bio/C99 Don Raye was born Donald MacRae Wilhoite, Jr. in Washington, D. C. on March 16, 1909. After graduating from New York University, Raye began his career appearing in vaudeville shows, touring extensively throughout the United States and Europe. In 1935, he organized a nightclub act in New York and began writing his own material for the show. Under contract with film studios, Raye moved to Hollywood in 1940, however, in 1941, he joined the US Army and served during World War II. After the War, Raye returned to songwriting and produced a catalog of hit standards. Throughout his career, Raye worked with several collaborators, most notably, Gene De Paul. Other collaborators included Hughie Prince, Pat Johnston, Harry James, Freddie Slack, Artie Shaw, Charles Shavers and Benny Carter. The Raye catalog includes "Rhythm in My Nursery Rhymes", "Why Begin Again?", "He's My Guy", "Cow Cow Boogie", "Mister Five By Five", "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet", "Star Eyes", "I'll Remember April", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "Irresistible You", "Music Makers", "The House of Blue Lights", "Pig Foot Pete", "A Song Was Born", "Your Red Wagon", "They Were Doing the Mambo", "Down the Road a Piece", "Scrub Me Mama With a Boogie Beat", "Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar", "Rhumboogie", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", "This Is My Country", "Traveling Down a Lonely Road", "Domino", "Too Little Time", "Ballad of Thunder Road", "I'm Looking Out the Window", "I Know What God Is" and "Gentle Is My Love". Don Raye died in 1985. ======================================================= An even more in-depth bio can be viewed here: http://www.answers.com/topic/don-raye-1 ======================================================= If anyone can help with Don's ancestry, PLEASE post here! Sarge My Germanna Database at Rootsweb: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=germanna My Germanna Website at Rootsweb: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry/~george/index.html