David McEnery

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American singer-songwriter

title: "David McEnery" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1914-births", "2002-deaths", "singers-from-san-antonio", "20th-century-american-male-composers", "20th-century-american-composers", "american-country-guitarists", "american-country-singer-songwriters", "american-folk-guitarists", "american-male-guitarists", "american-folk-singers", "american-male-singer-songwriters", "singer-songwriters-from-texas", "mexican-radio-presenters", "american-yodelers", "20th-century-american-singer-songwriters", "20th-century-american-guitarists", "guitarists-from-texas", "country-musicians-from-texas", "20th-century-american-male-singers", "united-states-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii"] description: "American singer-songwriter" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_McEnery" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American singer-songwriter ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

FieldValue
nameDavid McEnery
imageDavid_McEnery.jpg
birth_nameDavid Largus McEnery
aliasRed River Dave
birth_date
birth_placeSan Antonio, Texas, U.S.
death_date
death_placeSan Antonio, Texas, U.S.
instrumentVocals, guitar
genreWestern music
occupationMusician, songwriter
years_active1937–2002
label
::

| name = David McEnery | image = David_McEnery.jpg | caption = | image_size = | birth_name = David Largus McEnery | alias = Red River Dave | birth_date = | birth_place = San Antonio, Texas, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = San Antonio, Texas, U.S. | instrument = Vocals, guitar | genre = Western music | occupation = Musician, songwriter | years_active = 1937–2002 | label =

David Largus McEnery (December 15, 1914 – January 15, 2002), often referred to professionally as Red River Dave, was an American musician, writer of topical songs, and painter. His two best-known songs are "Amelia Earhart's Last Flight" (a memorial tribute to the pilot following her disappearance) and "Ballad of Francis Powers" (his own lyrics set to the music of the World War II song "There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere").

Biography

McEnery was born in December 1914 in San Antonio, Texas. He got the nickname "Red River Dave" because he enjoyed singing "Red River Valley" at Brackenridge High School in his hometown.

McEnery first appeared on radio at age 18, in 1932, for KABC in San Antonio. In 1936, he became "cattle whip and lariat champion" at a state competition. That same year, he broadcast a live singing performance from the Goodyear Blimp over CBS AM radio station WQAM in Miami.

McEnery's career really took off with his topical song "Amelia Earhart's Last Flight", broadcast in a pioneer television broadcast from the 1939 New York World's Fair, where his band entertained at the Swift Premium exhibit. He worked for radio station WOR (AM) in New York City.{{cite book |title= The Encyclopedia of Country Music: the ultimate guide to the music |last=Kingsbury |first= Paul|year= 2004|publisher=Oxford University Press |location= New York |pages=432 }} He was a radio personality in border radio for station XERF. From the 1940s, McEnery had a daily radio show for several years at station WOAI (AM) in his home town of San Antonio, where he set up a booking office for himself and his band.

During World War II, McEnery was briefly in the United States Army, from March through June 1943. Records indicate he was discharged for medical reasons after being admitted to hospital at Camp Croft, South Carolina.

McEnery was featured in several full-length westerns and short subjects as a singing cowboy including the Columbia Pictures feature Swing in the Saddle (1944), and the Universal Pictures featurettes Hidden Valley Days and Echo Ranch (both 1948). He also starred in 14 soundies, three-minute musical films shown in coin-operated "movie jukeboxes", and was the company's most prolific cowboy entertainer.

In 1947, columnist Lester Ketner of Boxoffice magazine asked McEnery about possibly running for political office, to which McEnery replied, "I'm gonna run for sheriff, just to keep outta jail."

McEnery became a disc jockey for WOAI in 1953, and also appeared on WOAI-TV. In November 1953, he bought a recording studio, Marathon Recording Company, in San Antonio.Variety, "Red River Dave Buys San Anton' Disk Outfit", Nov. 4, 1953, p. 45.

In the latter part of his life, McEnery became a well-known painter of Texas landscapes and Western Americana themes, and was often known to paint the backs of his used guitars. He died in San Antonio in January 2002.

Publications

Songs

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Songs_of_the_West.jpg" caption="Album cover for ''Songs of the West'' by Red River Dave"] ::

McEnery was a prolific songwriter; his songs include the below. He also had songs that were recorded by Hank Snow and Tex Ritter.

References

References

  1. Whitburn, Joel. (1997). "Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles". Record Research Inc.
  2. "Free Family Tree, Genealogy, Family History, and DNA Testing".
  3. ''Variety Radio Directory'', 1940 edition, p. 992.
  4. Wadey, Paul. (January 21, 2002). "Red River Dave McEnery". [[The Independent]].
  5. "Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File". [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs]].
  6. "WWII Army Enlistment Records". [[National Archives and Records Administration]].
  7. "WWII Hospital Admission Card Files". [[National Archives and Records Administration]].
  8. [[Scott MacGillivray]] and [[Ted Okuda]],''The Soundies Book'', iUniverse, 2007, p. 220.
  9. (April 5, 1947). "Waco".
  10. (January 17, 2002). "Folk singer David McEnery, 87". [[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]].
  11. "Lyrics".
  12. "CONELRAD | ATOMIC PLATTERS: by".
  13. "Hillbillies in Hell: Country Music's Tormented Testament - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits".
  14. III, Harris M. Lentz. (April 9, 2003). "Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2002: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture". McFarland.
  15. Russell, Tony. (March 21, 2002). "Red River Dave". [[The Guardian]].
  16. Gallagher, Peter B.. (December 24, 1984). ["Red River Dave tries to keep America humming"](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19841224&id=TwkOAAAAIBAJ&pg=2491,166557 }}{{Dead link). [[St. Petersburg Times]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1914-births2002-deathssingers-from-san-antonio20th-century-american-male-composers20th-century-american-composersamerican-country-guitaristsamerican-country-singer-songwritersamerican-folk-guitaristsamerican-male-guitaristsamerican-folk-singersamerican-male-singer-songwriterssinger-songwriters-from-texasmexican-radio-presentersamerican-yodelers20th-century-american-singer-songwriters20th-century-american-guitaristsguitarists-from-texascountry-musicians-from-texas20th-century-american-male-singersunited-states-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii