Al Rinker

Al Rinker was a musician who began his career as a teen performing with Bing Crosby in the early 1920s in Spokane, Washington in various musical groups. In 1925 the pair moved on to Los Angeles, eventually forming the Rhythm Boys trio with singersongwriterpianist Harry Barris. Barris wrote the songs Mississippi Mud, I Surrender, Dear, and Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams among others. The singing group worked with Paul Whitemans Big Band for three years. They went out on their own for a year until Crosby effectively dissolved the group to go solo.

Rinker was born in Tekoa, Washington his mother, Josephine, was an enrolled member of the Coeur dAlene Tribe and a devout Roman Catholic. It was a musical family his father, Charles, played fiddle and called square dances and his mother played piano every evening after supper. His brother was the lyricist Charles Rinker who worked frequently with composer Gene de Paul. Rinker married Elizabeth Neuberger on October 25, 1938.

Source: Wikipedia