Dick Merrick

Vocalist Dick Merrick sang with a handful of bands in the 1940s but never broke through to the top. He continued singing into the early 1960s but finally called it quits in 1962. He spent the remainder of his life working in the hospitality industry.

A Philadelphia native and the son of an Italian immigrant father, Merrick got his first break in front of the microphone at age 16 when the band he played in needed a singer. By mid-1941, he was with Jerry Wald’s orchestra, where he remained until November 1942 when he left for the McFarland Twins. He was back with Wald in May 1943, this time staying for three years and recording several songs.

In early 1946, rumors romantically linked Merrick, once described in a review as “balding” and “muscular,” with fellow Wald vocalist Kay Allen. The pair married in December of that year.^[1] Both had left Wald by that time, with Merrick joining Bobby Byrne in April 1946. By October he was part of George Paxton’s band. Paxton reorganized in May 1947, with Merrick initially remaining as vocalist, but he soon left, finding work with Wald again, joining the clarinetist in Texas during a road trip.

Merrick’s reunion with Wald did not go well. The two men had a falling out in June. According to Merrick, Wald “blew his top” when the singer gave notice that he was leaving the band over differences in vocal interpretations. “Jerry wanted intimate Tormé stuff and I’m an Eberly type,” said Merrick. While Merrick was on the bandstand in Galveston, Texas, singing one of his numbers, Wald accused him of fooling around excessively and ordered him off the stage and out of the building. Merrick denied the accusation and went back to the dressing room. When Wald found him there, he exploded and, in Merrick’s words, “jumped on me, tore my shirt and sent me home … with a half week’s pay and no carfare.”

Wald denied that the incident in the dressing room had taken place. Both men claimed that the “boys in the band” had seen everything and would back them up. “Dick Merrick caused dissension in the band, kibitzed around on the stand and made nothing but trouble,” said Wald, who contended that Merrick had been upset since the time of his arrival and was anxious to go home to his wife. Merrick filed charges against Wald with the American Guild of Variety Artists, the vocalists’ union, seeking $88 for transportation from Galveston back to New York.^[2] Paxton, in the meantime, had scrapped his reorganized band and put together another new outfit, with Merrick slated to return. When the incident in Galveston occurred, Merrick had two days left on his notice with Wald before he would rejoin Paxton. He remained with Paxton until 1949, when the leader disbanded for good.^[3]

Post-Band Career

Merrick and Allen had a son in September 1948. After Paxton disbanded, the couple settled in Philadelphia, where they appeared on local television. In early 1950, they recorded together on the Admiral label. In August of that year, Merrick signed with Capitol Records as a solo artist, and in 1954 he sang for the BBS label. He recorded more than 50 songs in his career but never quite managed a big hit, a fact he lamented in a 1981 interview. “I always wanted a hit record. I came close but never could get it,” he said. “Just that one.”

Merrick continued singing throughout the 1950s, ending up on the nightclub circuit. He quit show business in 1962 and moved to Florida, where his father lived, taking a position as Director of Activities at the Carillon Hotel in Miami Beach, which involved singing and hosting in the hotel’s Tambourine Room. In 1969, he became social director at the Versailles Hotel, remaining there into the 1980s. Dick Merrick passed away in 1995 at the age of 75.

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