Rasie Michael Bailey (February 14, 1939 – August 4, 2021), better known as Razzy Bailey, was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer, songwriter and musician. In the early 1980s, he scored 5 No. 1s on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' country music charts.

Early life

Bailey was born in Five Points, Alabama, United States, and raised on a farm in La Fayette, Alabama. Bailey got his first experience of musical performance as a member of his high school's

Future Farmers of America The National FFA Organization or FFA is an American nonprofit career and technical student organization, which offers middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. Future Farmers of Virginia (FFV) was founded in ...

string band. After graduation, he married and had children immediately and had little time to pursue his career, but he spent many years playing occasional gigs at honkytonks in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and Alabama and developing his songwriting.

Early releases

In 1966, Bailey took his material to Bill Lowery at

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, who arranged for him to record "9,999,999 Tears" backed by a studio band featuring

Billy Joe Royal Billy Joe Royal (April 3, 1942 – October 6, 2015) was an American country soul singer. His most successful record was " Down in the Boondocks" in 1965. Life and career Born in Valdosta, Georgia, to Clarence and Mary Sue Smith Royal, and ra ...

Joe South Joe South (born Joseph Alfred Souter; February 28, 1940 – September 5, 2012) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Best known for his songwriting, South won the Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Song of the Year, ...

, and Freddy Weller. The song failed to hit the charts at that time, but Bailey was encouraged, forming the pop trio Daily Bread which released a pair of albums on small labels. Another group, The Aquarians, followed in 1972; in 1974, Bailey recorded the album ''I Hate Hate'' simply as "Razzy." It sold over half a million copies before being picked up by

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

Career at RCA

In 1976, Dickey Lee recorded "9,999,999 Tears", and it became a country and pop hit in 1976, and in 1977, Lee repeated this with another Bailey tune, "Peanut Butter," which also went into the charts. As his songwriting talents became known, Bailey signed with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

and, in 1978, began releasing singles of his own songs. His first hit as a singer-songwriter, "What Time Do You Have To Be Back in Heaven?", was on the charts for over four months. Bailey charted a total of seven No. 1 singles on ''Billboard'''s "Country" charts and another eight Top 10 in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His sound combines R&B influences with country; his version of

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded more than 50 songs that made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the '' ...

's " In the Midnight Hour" was a country hit. His last country No. 1 hit was with " She Left Love All Over Me" in 1982. Bailey had three double sided number 1's in succession on the Country chart, a feat never accomplished by any other artist. He also operated Razzy's Hit House, his recording studio where he helped other artists with their projects.

Personal life

Bailey died in August 2021, at the age of 82.'80s Hitmaker Razzy Bailey Dies at Age 82
''Wideopencountry.com''

Discography

Albums

Singles

*^A"I Hate Hate" peaked at No. 67 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 50 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Top Singles chart in Canada. *^B

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to "Midnight Hauler."

Music videos

References

External links

Razzy Bailey's home website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Razzy 1939 births 2021 deaths People from Chambers County, Alabama People from LaFayette, Alabama American country singer-songwriters RCA Records artists Country musicians from Alabama Singer-songwriters from Alabama