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American singer and pianist (1927–1990)

John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and blues influenced music, and his animated stage personality. Tony Bennett called Ray the "father of rock and roll", and historians have noted him as a pioneering figure in the development of the genre. Born and raised in Dallas, Oregon, Ray, who was partially deaf, began singing professionally at age 15 on Portland radio stations. He gained a local following singing at small, predominantly African American nightclubs in Detroit, where he was discovered in 1949 and subsequently signed to Okeh Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. He rose quickly from obscurity in the United States with the release of his debut album Johnnie Ray (1952), as well as with a 78 rpm single, both of whose sides reached the Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 chart, "Cry" and "The Little White Cloud That Cried". In 1954, Ray made his first film, There's No Business Like Show Business as part of an ensemble cast that included Ethel Merman and Marilyn Monroe. His career in the music business in his native United States began to decline in 1957, and his American record label dropped him in 1960. He never regained a strong following there and rarely appeared on American television after 1973. His fanbases in the United Kingdom and Australia, however, remained strong until his death in 1990 of complications from liver failure. After the United States entered World War II, the family moved to Portland, Oregon, where Ray attended Franklin High School. At age 13, Ray became deaf in his left ear following a mishap that occurred during a Boy Scout ritual called a "blanket toss". In later years, Ray performed wearing a hearing aid. Surgery performed in 1958 left him almost completely deaf in both ears, although hearing aids helped his condition. Ray credited his deafness as pivotal to his career and performance style, saying, "My need for sincerity traces back to when I was a child and lost my hearing. I became withdrawn. I had an emotional need to develop a relationship to other people." sharing billing with Jane Powell, then a local young singer. While performing at the Flame, Ray attracted the attention of song plugger Bernie Lang, who saw him perform with local DJ Robin Seymour of WKMH. Lang went to New York to sell the singer to Danny Kessler of the Okeh Records label. Kessler came over from New York, and he, Lang, and Seymour went to the Flame. According to Seymour, Kessler's reaction was, "Well, I don't know. This kid looks well on the stand, but he will never go on records." It was Seymour and Lowell Worley of the local office of Columbia Records who persuaded Kessler to have a test record made of Ray. Worley arranged for a record to be cut at United Sound Studios in Detroit. Seymour told reporter Dick Osgood that there was a verbal agreement that he would be cut in on the three way deal in the management of Ray. However, the deal mysteriously evaporated, and so did Seymour's friendship with Kessler. Ray's first record for the race label Okeh, the self penned R&B number "Whiskey and Gin", was a minor hit in 1951. When executives at Okeh's parent Columbia Records realized that the Caucasian Ray had developed a fan base of Caucasian listeners, he was moved over to the Columbia label. In 1952, he dominated the American popular music charts with the double sided hit single of "Cry" and "The Little White Cloud That Cried". Selling over two million copies of the 78 rpm single, Ray's delivery struck a chord with teenagers and he quickly became a teen idol. The live television broadcast of Toast of the Town on January 6, 1952, included the first of his several appearances on the widely seen program that officially changed its title in 1955 to The Ed Sullivan Show. Ray's performing style included theatrics later associated with rock and roll, including tearing at his hair, falling to the floor, and crying on stage. One source states that Ray "opened the way for Elvis and the overt sexual energy of rock and roll [and] is credited by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Elton John as being a formative influence on their artistic styles". As well, Ray's manager said that Elvis Presley often watched Johnnie's concerts. 20th Century Fox executives included him in the ensemble cast of the film There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) alongside Ethel Merman as his mother, Dan Dailey as his father, Donald O'Connor as his brother, Mitzi Gaynor as his sister, and Marilyn Monroe as his sister in law. His second and final film role was a cameo as a police officer in Rogue's Gallery, which was intended for release to cinemas in 1968 but was withdrawn. It wasn't seen publicly until NBC telecast it in 1972, and it never was distributed to theaters. In the 1980s when Ray was asked why he never had made another widely seen film after There's No Business Like Show Business, he replied, "I was never asked."

Ray had a close relationship with journalist and television game show panelist Dorothy Kilgallen. They became acquainted soon after his sudden rise to stardom in the United States. They remained close as his American career declined. Two months before Kilgallen's death in 1965, her newspaper column plugged Ray's engagements at the Latin Quarter in New York and the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. He began his gig at the Latin Quarter immediately after an eight month vacation in Spain, during which he and new manager Bill Franklin had extricated themselves from contracts with Bernie Lang, who had managed Ray from 1951 to 1963. Denmark and Sweden were among the countries where Ray and Garland performed together; they played in Stockholm on March 19. In the early 1970s, Ray's American career revived to a limited extent, as he had not released a record album or single in over a decade. He made network television appearances on The Andy Williams Show in 1970, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson three times during 1972 and 1973. His personal manager, Bill Franklin, resigned in 1976 and cut off contact with the singer a few years later. His American revival turned out to be short lived, as his career had already begun to decline as the 1980s approached. In 1981 Ray hired Alan Eichler as his manager and resumed performing with an instrumental trio rather than with the large orchestras to which he and his audiences had been accustomed for the first 25 years of his career. When Ray and the trio performed at a New York club called Marty's on Third Avenue and East 73rd Street in 1981, The New York Times stated, "The fact that Mr. Ray, in the years since his first blush of success, has been seen and heard so infrequently in the United States is somewhat ironic because it was his rhythm and blues style of singing that help[ed] lay the groundwork for the rock and roll that turned Mr. Ray's entertainment world around. Recently, Ringo Starr of the Beatles pointed out that the three singers that the Beatles listened to in their fledgling days were Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Johnnie Ray." in Billy Idol's "Don't Need a Gun" video, and is name checked in the lyrics of the song. During this time period, Ray was generally playing small venues in the United States such as Citrus College in Los Angeles County, California. He performed there in 1987 "with a big band group," according to a Los Angeles Times profile of him during that year. and the Vine St. Bar and Grill in Hollywood, where his show was broadcast live by KKJZ ("K Jazz") radio. In February 1987, a high school gym in Alexandria, Louisiana was the venue for a Big Band Gala of Stars that included short sets by Ray, Barbara McNair,

While Ray's popularity continued to wane in the United States throughout the 1980s, Australian, English and Scottish promoters booked him for large venues as late as 1989, his last year of performing.

Ray was significantly influenced by gospel music and numerous African American singers, specifically Billie Holiday, Little Miss Cornshucks and LaVern Baker, as well as Judy Garland and Kay Starr.

Year Title Chart Positions US CB USR&B UK 1951 "Cry" (w/ Four Lads) 1 — 1 — "The Little White Cloud That Cried" (w/ Four Lads) 2 — 6 — 1952 "Please, Mr. Sun" (w/ Four Lads) 6 — — — "Here Am I Broken Hearted" (w/ Four Lads) 8 — — — "What's the Use?" (w/ Four Lads) 13 — — — "Walkin' My Baby Back Home" 4 6 — 12 "All of Me" 12 — — — "A Sinner Am I" (w/ Four Lads) 20 — — — "Love Me (Baby Can't You Love Me)" 25 — — — "Faith Can Move Mountains" — 20 — 7 "Gee, But I'm Lonesome" — 37 — — "A Full Time Job" (w/ Doris Day) 20 21 — 11 "Ma Says, Pa Says" (w/ Doris Day) 23 28 — 12 1953 "I'm Gonna Walk and Talk With My Lord" (w/ Four Lads) 24 — — — "Somebody Stole My Gal" 8 24 — 6 "Candy Lips" (w/ Doris Day) 17 18 — — "Let's Walk That a Way" (w/ Doris Day) — 31 — 4 "With These Hands" (w/ Four Lads) 29 — — — "All I Do Is Dream of You" 27 — — — "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" 29 — — — 1954 "You'd Be Surprised" 25 — — — "Such a Night" 19 18 — 1 "Hey There" 27 — — 5 "Hernando's Hideaway" 14 20 — 11 "To Ev'ry Girl To Ev'ry Boy" 26 40 — — 1955 "As Time Goes By" — 35 — — "If You Believe" — — — 7 "Paths of Paradise" — 42 — 20 "Song of the Dreamer" — 10 — 10 "Johnnie's Comin' Home" 100 — — — 1956 "Who's Sorry Now" — — — 17 "Ain't Misbehavin'" — — — 17 "Just Walkin' in the Rain" 2 3 — 1 1957 "You Don't Owe Me a Thing" 10 10 — 12 "Look Homeward, Angel" 36 42 — 7 "Yes Tonight Josephine" 12 24 — 1 "Build Your Love (On a Strong Foundation)" 58 31 — 17 "Up Above My Head" (w/ Frankie Laine) — — — 25 "Good Evening Friends" (w/ Frankie Laine) — — — flip 1958 "Up Until Now" 81 87 — — 1959 "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" 75 76 — 26 "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that territory