#Johnnie ray

[infinitemarilynmonroe]

Marilyn Monroe and Johnnie Ray on the set of There's No Business Like Show Business, 1954.

[leonardcohenofficial]

if that post about johnnie ray got you interested in learning more about the intersections of twentieth century culture / singing / gender / sexuality / masculinity / queerness may i recommend the following:

"roll-over-beethoven: johnnie ray in context," an article by cheryl herr originally published in the journal popular music (available on jstor, also here)

real men don't sing: crooning in american culture, a fantastic book by allison mccracken (available on jstor, also here)

vincent l. stephens's chapter on johnnie ray from his book rocking the closet: how little richard, johnnie ray, liberace, and johnny mathis queered pop music (the whole book is great; available on jstor, also here)

the discography of legendary jazz singer jimmy scott, as well as the chapter "jimmy scott and the question of black timbral masculinity" by nina sun eidsheim (available here)

the edited collection oh boy!: masculinities and popular music (available here)

[vintage-every-day]

John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990), known as Johnnie Ray, 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 would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.

[100gayicons]

GAY ICON JOHNNIE RAY

Music critics have cites Johnnie Ray as a major influence on modern popular music. Tony Bennett, a music icon himself, called Ray the "father of rock and roll". With his rhythm-based singing style and animated stage personality, Ray’s music had strong jazz and blues influences.

After signing with Colombia Records in 1951, Ray was assigned to their Olek Label. Okek featured R&B music with primarily African American performers. When Colombia discovered Ray was Caucasian, they move him to their main label (racism operated in mysterious ways). Ray’s 78rpm single “Cry” sold over two million copies and he quickly became a teen idol.

This led to an appearance on Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” TV show, and being cast in “There's No Business Like Show Business” (1954) along side Ethyl Merman and Marilyn Monroe.

Prior to being signed to Columbia, Ray was arrested in Detroit for soliciting an undercover cop for sex in the restroom of a burlesque theater. He pleaded guilty but since he was relatively unknown, newspapers did not report the story. But after his success, rumors about Ray being a homosexual began to spread.

Despite this, Ray married Marilyn Morrison, daughter of a nightclub the owner in 1952. The event was attended by then New York Mayor Vincent Impellitten and the ceremony made headlines New York Daily News.

According to friends, Morrison was aware of the rumors and said she "straighten it out." But the couple separated in 1953 and divorced in 1954.

During this time, Ray became friends with journalist and television game show panelist Dorothy Kilgallen. It’s been rumored that her youngest child, Kerry Kollmar, was fathered by Ray.

In 1959, Ray was arrested again for soliciting an undercover cop at a gay bar described as “a haven for musicians”. Ray was found not guilty at the trial.

Ray suffered from alcoholism most of his life, and he was arrested at least once for public intoxication. In 1960, he was hospitalized for tuberculosis and according to his biographer Jonny Whiteside, he quit drinking. But in 1969, after Ray returned to the United States from a European tour with Judy Garland, he began drinking heavily. In February 1990, Ray died from liver failure in Los Angeles.

[jimmythejiver]

Based on this post

Not a HH fan, but I am a long time Cab Calloway fan. Off the top of my head, favorite songs I like that aren't Minnie The Moocher are:

Reefer Man, Kicking The Gong Around, The Hi De Ho Man, Jumpin' Jive, Mama I Want To Make Rhythm, Hey Now Hey Now, his take on Sophie Tucker's One Of These Days and San Franciscan Fan

Not to be that hipster guy in the 00s-10s, but there was this aged hippy who crocheted rainbow clothes (hats, scarves, long robes even) and grew garlic and made jams and hocked his wares downtown to keep his rundown house's payments. Whenever my father who was one of his oldest friends would take me over his house, I'd buy his cd's piece by piece with my allowance. It started with buying off his 80's Japanese pressed David Bowie cd's and then Velvet Underground and when I wasn't that interested in pursuing more Stooges after awhile, I said one day: "You got anything like Cab Calloway, or Duke Ellington, any 20-50s jazz, swing, blues and vaudeville?" This was in early days of YouTube where I'd look up any footage of Cab that existed at the time. He was in Janet Jackson's Alright video, he was the highlight of The Blues Brothers and Tim Burton based Oogie Boogie on him because of Betty Boop cartoons, etc. I'd go on long deepdives on wikipedia and any music book I got my hands on at second hand stores reading about jazz and popular music of the era because I knew this was dismissed in popular memory because the baby boomers didn't care for anything they didn't personally remember or before the British Invasion.

I already went through this when I was obsessed with Johnnie Ray who I needed to know more because Billy Idol name dropped him and had him cameo in his video and it turns out the Brits sure have a longer memory on our music then we do pre-Elvis, ironically. So if you enjoy Beatles, Cream and Led Zeppelin, it wasn't enough to just hand me Robert Johnson, a Chess Records compilation and Sun Records and Elvis Presley highlights and say "welp that's all there was that isn't boring white guy crooners" and call it the end.

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #3: 1952

For our third poll evaluating the top hits of the 1950s, we're moving on to 1952. The Billboard year-end charts are still compiled in a top 30 list via the methods described in the previous poll (jukebox performance, record/sheet music retail sales, etc). With acts like Johnnie Ray, we are starting to see a glimpse into the major genre shifts that are to come in mainstream music. But it will be a few years until we see that change take hold. At this time, it was much more common to see composers and instrumentals featured on the charts.

More information about this blog here

[incorrectdead50squartet]

FOREVER PRIDE

We talked about the first member of my favorite bi couple, Frankie! Now, let's talk about Jinx!

First, I want to talk about Jinx specifically in the original production. Jinx does actually say love, however, he immediately goes "oh" after that, with a clearly sad tone. Even after that, he says that he always wanted to tell somebody that he loves them. There's a clear lack of words that are used to imply his love's gender, which is something that many queer people experience. I think that he's bi because he truly meant anyone, because he can be in love with anyone.

Also, it's hard for me to talk about Jinx's bisexuality without mentioning Johnnie Ray.

For those of you who don't know who Johnnie Ray was, he was often called the "King of Tears". He sang the song "Cry", which Jinx sings in the musical. "Cry" is unmistakably his most well known song. However, he also sang "The Little White Cloud That Cried" and "Please, Mr. Sun".

Johnnie Ray was also bisexual, and was arrested multiple times for it. He wasn't open about his sexuality to the public, because he would have lost his reputation for it, although critics already didn't like him because he's effeminate. However, he put a lot of implicit messages about being LGBT, as well as being a GNC man, in his songs. The most noteworthy example is "A Sinner Am I". I highly reccomend listening to his other music, because he has some great songs.

"A love like this was never meant for man's imagination/And so I tell myself that I'm involved with mere infatuation"

As for "Cry" itself, that song was originally supposed to be sung by one women to another. However, Johnnie Ray completely changed the meaning of the song. Now, "Cry" is a lament of a man who can't express his emotions, unless through song, because it wasn't expected of him. Therefore, there's quite a bit of significance to Jinx singing the song. We know that he doesn't really talk much, and he's likely the most effeminate of the boys, so hearing him sing "Cry" is so impactful.

I’ve previously mentioned Frankie’s crush on Jinx, but Jinx’s crush on Frankie is so clear. There are some things Frankie can convince him on that not even Sparky can. When you watch the 1993 proshot, especially, you can tell how happy Frankie makes Jinx. Frankie is also the one who helps Jinx, and constantly makes him feel good.

Jinx’s character arc is gaining confidence, and he does. He realizes that he has been in love, and he realizes that his life was hard, but he deserves all of the good things that he got. There’s a reason why “Cry” is the fan favorite song, because he shows so much growth in that three minute song. Jinx is stronger than he thinks, and we get to see him learn about his strengths through an iconic song, made famous by a bi legend.

[judyfashion]

Mickey Deans, Judy Garland and best man Johnnie Ray at Chelsea Register Office, 15 March 1969

[sarcasmic-skies]

not enough people know abt & appreciate johnnie ray (AKA “mr. emotion”, “the prince of wails”, “the nabob of sob”, “the cry guy”, “the atomic ray”, etc.) it makes me unreasonably upset. do yourself a favor and give his 1951 breakthrough hit a listen right now:

[oldshowbiz]

Johnnie Ray banned 

[topoet]

QBoy Ray

The history of pop music by queer performers goes beyond Sylvester & came well before Pet Shop Boys. Some were out & some were forced out & some are neglected. This mp3 cd includes all that & more. Forced out of the closet is Johnnie Ray. He, an amazingly popular torch singer in the early 50’s, was the prime target for teen hysteria in the pre-Presley days. I have At The London Palladium (1954);…

[danu2203]

Johnny Ray - Cry

NOT GLAD TO BE GAY

JOHNNIE RAY

[mrrubbersuitman]

https://www.etsy.com/.../1958-johnnie-rays-greatest-hits... Johnnie Ray's Greatest Hit from 1958. VG Sleeve, NM Record. Available through the link for $20.00

[singeratlarge]

MONDAY MATINEE MUSIC VIDEO “Cry” by Davy Jones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc-wUPJ1LX4  …Johnnie Ray on a stage was like a punk rocker in a lounge singer's body. His style crossed Billie Holiday-jazz-vocalese with blues and pop standards, foreshadowing rock'n'roll and modern r'n'b. Ray’s “Cry,” a chartbuster in 1951, is an instruction on feeling your pain, letting it out, and finding the light “behind the cloudy skies.” Davy Jones was a big fan of Ray, and he remade “Cry” for his 2009 SHE album. He also wanted to produce a musical about Ray. Covering "Cry" was an obvious move. For me it's the star of SHE—a recording with that mystique that comes when lyrical intent, sounds, and raw feelings push into a timeless realm. The stunning orchestrations by Chris Andrews and Skip Kline blend perfectly with Davy's powerful vocal--arguably one of the strongest in his career. 

#davyjones #monkees #johnnieray #cry #loungesinger #popmusic #chrisandrews #skipkline #johnnyjblair #timgordon #emotions #popstandards #greatamericansongbook #pennsylvania #beaversprings

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 16th May

Two more unknowns for me, this week, though I see that at least one was used in the soundtrack for Wes Anderson's Asteroid City, which gives me some hopes of a sort of vintage gem, or at least something memorable enough to make a modern film soundtrack.

Freight Train - Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group ft Nancy Whisky (peaked at Number 5)

As I'm learning is typical for these skiffle groups, this is a very American-sounding song, interpreted by a bunch of fairly convincing non-Americans. Both Chas McDevitt and the amazingly-named Nancy Whisky are Glaswegians, it turns out, and were active in the Glasgow skiffle scene (!) when this song came out.

It's a cover of an American folk song that was written by Elizabeth Cotten, a black teenaged songwriter and blues musician from North Carolina, who apparently taught herself to play guitar left-handed on a right-handed guitar that she held upside down. Which is very cool, even if i's only tangentially related to this version of the track, which made it to Britain via Peggy Seeger, a folk artist who had Cotten as her nanny. Once Seeger brought it over, it was recorded and passed off as an original when Chas McDevitt recorded it - not cool! It doesn't sound like that was Chas' call, though, more the songwriters' decision. Either way, the Seeger family got Cotten her credit back eventually, but it was Chas' version of the song that was the big hit, and apparently influenced later bands like the Quarrymen?

I like the song. There's some whistling that floats up above the guitar line and some guitar strumming that sounds like a train rushing past, it's all very evocative. Nancy sings to us about her love, who's apparently run away on a train. She doesn't know where he is, just that he's on a freight train, freight train, goin so fast. And that's it, that's the core of the song. Like a lot of skiffle songs, the repeated chorus is pretty thin, and it's more about the sound of it all than the meaning.

Not that we don't get a bit of explanation. In fact, we get a fair bit of story, all about how our mystery man lost his reason, lost his life / He killed his friend in mortal strife. Which explains why he's on the run, since he's got no future, got not hope / Nothin' but the rope. It's grim, and I love it.

Plus, we get an even grimmer turn in the final verse, as Nancy tells us when he dies, just bury him please / Way down the end of old Chestnut Street / Poplars at his head and feet / And tell them he's gone to sleep. She's accepted that he's going to be caught and executed, it seems, and just wants a decent burial and legacy for him. There's a fatalism to it that's delicious, very moody, and all of it tied up in this rollicking tune that just doesn't let up.

Yes Tonight Josephine - Johnnie Ray (1)

Well, this is a cheeky little number! If the title didn't give it away, it's definitely a song about having sex. It's coy about it, sure, but how else am I supposed to interpret lines about how tonight's the time / I will squeeze and hold you tight, or instructions that Baby, when you hear me shout / Kiss me quick, knock me out. What's making you shout, there, Johnnie, huh? What could it possibly be?

So yeah, it's not explicit, but it's pretty on-the-nose, mixed in with some rather bombastic lyrics about how Johnnie's gonna pack each kiss with dynamite and such like. I like it plenty, and I think it's growing on me as I listen, but there's not much subtlety in it. Johnnie wants to have his way with Josephine, and he wants it tonight.

Thankfully, Johnnie's come up with a cunning plan to distract you from all the sauciness, and that plan hinges entirely on distracting you with his backing singers, who glory in a line that Spotify has transcribed as yip yip way bop de boom ditty boom ditty. Seriously. It's so silly, and it repeats throughout, with this daft little squeak on the yip yip bit, which in turn just makes me think of Aang in Avatar saying "yip yip" to make Appa fly. It's very distracting, very goofy, and very un-sexy.

I also think there are just a few too many lines that don't quite work. Nothing egregious, but Johnnie's resolve seems to crumble a bit in lines like the one about how I will get you by and by / If I don't I sure will try. "Oh, yeah, I'll definitely get you... or I'll try, at least, I guess". And what's with I'll be Jack and you'll be Jill / Love me 'til my heart grows still. Jack and Jill are a famous pair, sure, but is he suggesting they should go fetch a pail of water? That he'll fall and have an accident and she'll also fall down a hill? Is that why his heart's about to grow still? Is he anticipating hisown death in some sort of accudent? The lines leave me with more questions than they answer, and definitely spoil any romance that Johnnie was gunning for. Sorry, Johnnie!

Overall, pretty serviceable, though - a fast song can always get off with a little more than a slow song can, and this is just about quick enough that you can just tap your feet and ignore the dicey bits. It's cheeky, it's chipper and it's a little bit goofy. What's not to like?

Yeah, I didn't mind either of those songs, though you're not going to catch me putting either into my regular rotation. I have a real soft spot for murder ballads, though, and for songs about trains that sound like a train (niche, I know) so my favourite can only be one...

Favourite song of the bunch: Freight Train