From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu Jan 10, 2002  1:16 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Johnnie Ray
 
JOHNNIE RAY (By Dave Penny)

Born John Alvin Ray, 10 January 1927, Hopewell, Oregon
Died 24 February 1990, Los Angeles, California.

Vocalist/pianist/composer/actor. Taught to play piano by the local
church organist, he tragically lost 50% of his hearing following a
childish prank at a Boy Scout Jamboree in 1940 and this led him to
over-enunciate while singing. After an abortive trip to Hollywood in
an attempt to break into showbusiness, Ray inexplicably moved to
Detroit around 1950 and astonishingly landed a job at the all-black
Flame Show Bar, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Lavern Baker,
Maurice King and Todd Rhodes. His first recordings, on US Columbia's
OKeh subsidiary, were backed by Maurice King's band, and were very
r&b influenced, but he hit paydirt with pop numbers such as "Cry" and
"Little White Cloud That Cried" which both hit in 1952 and set the style
for the rest of his career. The legacy of those titles was a slew of
ridiculous nicknames such as "The Nabob Of Sob" and "The Prince
Of Wails".
As usual, Bear Family have done the business with two 5CD box sets.
For more information and an award-winning site, try
http://www.johnnieray.com/entrance.html
Biography: Jonny Whiteside, Cry : The Johnnie Ray Story. New York :
Barricade Books, 1994.