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Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar is a song written by Don Raye in 1940, following the American boogie-woogie tradition of syncopated piano music. It was first recorded by the Will Bradley orchestra, most notably with Freddie Slack on piano, who placed it in Billboard's top 10 in 1940. Versions of this song have been hits for the Andrews Sisters and Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen. The Andrews Sisters' later hit, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, which talks about a virtuoso trumpet player, closely resembles the basis of this song, which tells about a virtuoso popular piano player. That song was also written by Don Raye.
Critics may perceive that the song refers to a woman asking her "daddy" to beat her, but this simply is not the case; rather, he beats a piano with a boogie beat. The title was taken from a phrase commonly used in the hipster jargon by Raye's friend, Ray McKinley, while the latter was playing in the Jimmy Dorsey band, with Freddie Slack, who he called "Daddy Slack," on piano. McKinley, as lead singer and drummer, would kick certain uptempo songs off by telling Daddy Slack to beat him eight to the bar. For that reason, Don Raye gave partial songwriting credit to McKinley for the song, although it was filed under McKinley's wife's name, Eleanore Sheehy, since McKinley was under a songwriting contract with another publisher. The nickname "Daddy Slack" was also used in the 1941 recording of "Pig Foot Pete," with Don Raye singing in Slack's band.
