Ted McKown was born in Arvin, California, on November 23, 1933, to Harry and Nola McKown. He had two older sisters, Mable and Jessie. The family soon moved to Inglewood, California. During Ted’s youth there, he formed a lifelong bond with his friends in the barrio, where his interest in music was manifested in his‬‬ profound attraction to the guitar. He began by listening to romantic Latin American music. He didn’t actually own a guitar, however, until after his army service during the Korean War. After his discharge, he enrolled in the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and was eventually able to eke out a living by teaching both classical and flamenco guitar and by playing in lounges. Teaching from home, he became so popular that at times he had sixty or seventy students a week. He was also engaged as an accompanist, primarily through the Blanca Luz Flamenco Ensemble in Buena Park, California. In 1969, he began traveling to Europe as an enhancement of his love for music, art, languages, and cultures. It was during this time that he traveled throughout southern Spain making the acquaintance of many important figures in the world of Flamenco music and recording several informal performances by Diego del Gastor, Donn Pohren, and other well-known guitarists and singers of the time. These recordings provide an invaluable window into Flamenco music as they were made in informal settings for the delectation of aficionados.

Biography by Walter Clark, Professor of Music at the University of California, Riverside