Herbert Kenny, Last Of Original `Ink Spots'

BALTIMORE - Herbert Cornelius Kenny, whose rich bass voice blended into the distinctive harmonic sounds of the Ink Spots during the 1940s and early 1950s, died of cancer Saturday at his home in Columbia, Md. He was 77.

Mr. Kenny, the surviving member of the original Ink Spots, grew up in West Baltimore before he set out on his musical career with the group in 1944.

His brother Bill sang tenor lead for the group, and they produced numerous hit songs on the Decca label, the most memorable being "If I Didn't Care."

The Ink Spots performed nationally and internationally with the likes of Count Basie, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway and Dinah Washington.

The Ink Spots also were considered pioneers and role models for groups that followed such as the Platters, Penguins, Drifters and Temptations.

"The Ink Spots were an important chapter in modern American music," said Steve Cochran, former program director of a Baltimore oldies radio station. "They defined what a vocal group could be, substituting beautiful voices for instruments."

Mr. Kenny was born in Philadelphia, but moved with his family to Baltimore when he was 5 years old.

He joined the Ink Spots as a replacement for Orville "Hoppy" Jones, who died on stage in 1944. Besides his brother, the other members of the group were Charlie Fuqua and Billy Bowen.

The Ink Spots sang "A Kiss and a Rose," "The Gypsy," and "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall."

At the height of their popularity, they played all the major clubs and theaters in the U.S. and Europe. The group disbanded in 1951, although other singers calling themselves the Ink Spots still occasionally appear around the country.

Besides his daughter, Daphne Jackson, who lives in Milburn, N.J., survivors include his wife, Minnie McNeal Kenny of Columbia; a son, Paul Morris of Baltimore; and seven grandchildren.