Perhaps it was substandard studio technology. There's something sinister-sounding about many of these recordings. Producer Hutch Davies fashioned some zany arrangements to couch Ray's unique voice, abetted by several original tunes composed by cult soul figure Rudy Clark. His performances are commanding and unusual. Ray had a great voice-smoky, expressive, and more than a little indebted to another Ray (Charles). The UK reissue label Charly Records issued a compilation LP, Itty Bitty Pieces, in 1983, which contains most of the singles, selected Caprice LP tracks, and three unissued pieces which are superb and more "normal" soul/R&B performances. I truly believe this represents everything James Ray recorded, barring unissued material that may have been destroyed or abandoned once the record label perished. The banjos get a little more, shall we say, aggressiveon this 45 version. a 1962 single that couples the non-LP track "Always" (the Irving Berlin standard done up in gospel style, complete with an unusually tasteful and restrained choir) and George Harrison's fave, "Got My Mind Set on You." I believe that this is a wholly different take of the song from the album track. How could I forget the '63 dance floor filler "Do the Monkey," a songwriting collaboration of Bobby Darin and Rudy Clark? Well, I did.Īs well, I was unaware of his first single, from 1959, as "Little Jimmy Ray," which consists of the moody minor-keyed "You Need to Fall in Love," coupled with the more traditionally soulful "Make Her Mine." These two tracks were released on the spell-check-maddening Galliant Records and are rare as all heck.Īnd there's more. HERE is a smaller mp3 file of all 27 songs (the top link is for FLAC versions-see below.) The formerly missing tracks: JR's version of the standard "(I'm Afraid) The Masquerade is Over," which shared a single with the far superior "One By One," escaped my notice 'til now. Just imagine! It took a few years to track these tracks down in good sound quality, and as summer 2018 rears its ugly head, I have the pleasure of sealing the deal on James Ray. After this post first went live in December 2013, some kind folks stepped forward and let me know that I was shy several tracks. He died in '64, as this skeletal Wikipedia article relates. Seeing that the various Otis Blackwell and "5" Royales posts, here, have proved popular, here's some more R&B, albeit of a more eccentric species.Ĭontained HEREIN(Box.com download) are 21 tracks that I once thought comprised the recorded output of James Ray, elfin soul singer, between 19. While you're at it, Do the Monkey! (finalized 6/18) The Complete James Ray: 27 Tracks If You Gotta Make A Fool of Somebody (in Itty Bitty Pieces), then Put Me in Your Diary-and Welcome to the Floor.
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