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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. [1]
The biggest hit version was recorded by Ray and The Four Lads in 1951. The recording was released by Okeh Records as catalog number 6840. It was a number 2 hit on the Billboard chart that year and one side of one of the biggest two-sided hits, as the flip side, " Cry ," reached number 1 on the Billboard chart. [ 1 ]
Stan Freberg parodied Johnnie Ray's version of "Cry" entitled "Try" in 1952, in which he did an emotional "sobbing out of tune" performance with different lyrics. The lyrics include the title of the B-side song "The Little White Cloud That Cried", in the line "even little white clouds do it". Johnnie Ray was not initially pleased with this parody.
As Ray described it, "I make them feel, I exhaust them, I destroy them." [23] It was during this period that the fan hysteria, which began with Frank Sinatra during the Second World War, really began to take hold. Although often ignored by musical historians, Pop music played a significant role in the development of rock 'n' roll as well:
The song charted again in 1952 at No. 4 in a version recorded in February 1952 by Johnnie Ray, released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39750. Ray's version peaked at number 12 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1952.
Churchill Kohlman (January 28, 1906 – May 25, 1983) was an American songwriter who wrote Johnnie Ray's 1951 hit, "Cry" while working in a Pittsburgh dry cleaning factory as the night watchman. [1] [2] Royalties from "Cry" were the subject of a bitter legal dispute between Kohlman and Perry Alexander, owner of music publisher Mellow Music.
"Johnnie's Comin' Home" was a minor hit song for early rock and roll singer Johnnie Ray. The song was written by Tin Pan Alley songwriter Al Sherman and Wayne Shanklin , [ 1 ] and was released in 1954.
Johnnie Ray is the debut studio album by Johnnie Ray. The album was released as a 10-inch LP and 78 rpm and 45 rpm box set and was the first album in the history of recorded music to be released with no title. [1] The 78 rpm and 45 rpm box set of this same album simply listed "Johnnie Ray" on the spine.