Ray Smith (October 30, 1934 – November 29, 1979) was an American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

musician.

Career

Smith recorded for

Vee-Jay Records Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

Tollie Records Tollie Records was a record label formed in February 1964, as a subsidiary label of Vee-Jay Records. It closed in May 1965. Background The label distributed two of the Beatles' singles in the United States before Capitol Records eventually to ...

Smash Records Smash Records was an American record label founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records. History Mercury Record Corporation president Irving Green announced the formation of the company’s new pop subsidiary label, Smash Records, in Ma ...

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

and

Boot Records Boot Records was a Canadian country, bluegrass, and contemporary folk label formed in 1971 in Toronto by Stompin' Tom Connors and his manager, Jury Krytiuk. Early years Originally started as a format for Connors' recordings, Boot shortly after b ...

during his career, and had a hit with the song "Rockin' Little Angel" in 1960 on

Judd Records Judd Records was started by Jud Phillips (died 1992), brother of Sun Records co-founder Sam Phillips. Early releases were mostly recorded in Nashville or Memphis, but carried an address of Memphis, New York City, and Florence, Alabama (Phillips' h ...

. "Rockin' Little Angel" took a portion of its melody from the 1844 song "

Buffalo Gals "Buffalo Gals" is a traditional American song, published as "Lubly Fan" in 1844 by the blackface minstrel John Hodges, who performed as "Cool White". Whilst the song is often attributed to John Hodges it is likely to have a history that pre-dat ...

Joel Whitburn Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in W ...

, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000 The record sold over one million copies, earning a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. It reached #22 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Smith often recorded material written by

Charlie Rich Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932July 25, 1995) was an American country singer. His eclectic style of music also blended influences from rockabilly, jazz, blues, soul, and gospel. In the later part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname t ...

, and was influenced by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

. Smith gave a concert at "Karregat" Hall in Eindhoven on April 21, 1979. It is recorded on an album called ''The Rocking Side'' and released by a Dutch label (Rockhouse, LP 7909).

Death

Smith committed suicide on November 29, 1979, at the age of 45. Smith's Judd and Sun singles and session material have been released on Germany's

Bear Family Records Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging primarily in country music but varying in everything from 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History T ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ray 1934 births 1979 deaths Vee-Jay Records artists Sun Records artists Charly Records artists Smash Records artists American rockabilly musicians American rock musicians American rock singers American male singer-songwriters American bandleaders Rock musicians from Kentucky 20th-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Kentucky Country musicians from Kentucky 20th-century American male singers 1979 suicides Suicides in Ontario Tollie Records artists