Pioneering Black broadcaster and promoter is immortalized

Larry McKinney, a legendary Black broadcaster and music promoter who paved the way for many of today’s broadcasters of color and radio personalities, was honored in a way that is befitting to the man with the golden voice whose mellifluous vocal tones are still recognizable to Jazz Fest fans of all ages.

The pioneering disc jockey and cultural historian who knew many of the Crescent City’s musical greats and helped to launch many of their careers, was honored Saturday with a statue on the French Quarter’s famed Bourbon Street.

The affable, charismatic legend who introduced New Orleans music to the world was immortalized Saturday with the unveiling of his statue in the New Orleans Musical Legends Park in the 300 block of Bourbon Street. His statue can be found among a virtual that includes Fats Domino, Al Hirt, Allen Toussaint, Pete Fountain, Louis Prima, Ronnie Kole, Irma Thomas and Chris Owens.

McKINLEY

McKinley, who passed away in 2013 at the age of 85. is the first non-musician to be honored with the bust in the park, organizers told WWL News.

According to Wikipedia, McKinley was born on December 13, 1927, in Chicago, Illinois. He spent his early years in the Chicago area and went on to study at Roosevelt University. While studying there in September 1954, he received an internship with the radio station WMRY-FM in New Orleans. He decided to settle there permanently after he covered a speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., after which he reportedly said “I can’t go back — I feel like I’m being a part of history here.”

In 1959 McKinley’s success in hosting the radio station WMRY-FM led to a close friendship with a local businessman named Joe Banashak. Together the two each invested $650 to establish a record label called Minit Records. The name reportedly came to Banashak when he drove by a restaurant called “Meal a Minit” McKinley, who was also promoting local artists, eventually signed eventual New Orleans music legend Allen Toussaint as the producer for the label. The production efforts of Toussaint earned the label a #1 spot on the national pop and R&B charts through music great Ernie K-Doe’s 1961 hit “Mother-In-Law.” McKinley went on to briefly own one-third of the record label Instant Records but dropped out for reasons that are not entirely clear.

After leaving the record label business for good McKinley went back to radio, hosting the popular local radio show “The Frank and Larry Show.” McKinley also went on to join the governing board of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, Inc, the proprietor of what is commonly referred to as the Jazz Fest, a New Orleans-based annual music festival. He left the governing board in order to record the voice-overs for the festival. His distinctive voice, often described as a baritone, became a mainstay of the festival and is still used today. McKinley also presided over the annual festival gala as the master of ceremonies.

For his work in the music industry McKinley won several award over the years. In 1989 McKinley was inducted into the AFTRA Hall of Fame for his work in the radio industry. In 2005 Offbeat magazine awarded McKinley their “Best of the Beat Music Business Award” for his contributions to the music business industry. Five years later McKinley was inducted into the prestigious Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

WWL reported that McKinley also promoted concerts by national acts including James Brown, Sam Cookie and The Jackson 5.

This article originally published in the December 12, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.