Ray Collins (November 19, 1936 – December 24, 2012) was an American musician.

Early life

Collins grew up in

Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population ...

singing in his school choir, the son of a local police officer. He quit high school to get married.

Career

Collins started his musical career singing

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...

backup vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

for various

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

groups in the Los Angeles area in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including Little Julian Herrera and the Tigers. In 1963 Collins co-wrote Memories of El Monte with Frank Zappa. In 1964, Collins, drummer

Jimmy Carl Black James Carl Inkanish, Jr. (February 1, 1938 – November 1, 2008), known professionally as Jimmy Carl Black, was a drummer and vocalist for The Mothers of Invention. Background and early career: 1960s–1990s Born in El Paso, Texas, Black was ...

, bassist Roy Estrada, saxophonist Dave Coronado, and guitarist Ray Hunt formed The Soul Giants. Hunt was eventually replaced by Zappa, and the group evolved into the Mothers of Invention. Ray was the lead vocalist on most songs for their early albums, including '' Freak Out!'', ''

Absolutely Free ''Absolutely Free'' is the second studio album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on May 26, 1967, by Verve Records. Much like their 1966 debut ''Freak Out!'', the album is a display of complex musical composition with pol ...

'', ''

Cruising with Ruben & the Jets ''Cruising with Ruben & the Jets'' is the fourth studio album by the Mothers of Invention, released under the alias Ruben and the Jets. Released on December 2, 1968 on Bizarre and Verve Records with distribution by MGM Records, it is a concept al ...

'' and '' Uncle Meat''. He additionally provided harmonica on ''Freak Out!''. In 1968 Ray quit The Mothers of Invention and was replaced by Lowell George, but continued to contribute to other Zappa projects through the mid-1970s.

Personal life

Collins had a daughter who died in a plane crash at a young age.

Death

Collins resided in

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. It is in the Pomona Valley, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 census it had a popu ...

ending up living in a van in someone's back yard in Claremont, until he died a pauper on December 24, 2012, aged 76.Morris, Christopher
"Rocker Ray Collins dies at 73"
'' Variety'', December 25, 2012.

References

External links

* American harmonica players American rock singers The Mothers of Invention members 1936 births 2012 deaths People from Pomona, California American male singers Songwriters from California Tambourine players {{US-music-bio-stub