Ray Sharpe
Ray Sharpe (born February 8, 1938 in Fort Worth , Texas ) is an American rock 'n' roll musician. Sharpe is considered by experts as the only "black rockabilly", as his style contained many elements of rockabilly. His biggest hit was Linda Lu .
Career
Ray Sharpe was born in Texas and was influenced by country music and the blues alike. Sharpe is said to have also planned in his youth to form a duo with rockabilly musician Ronnie Dawson that they called The Oreo Crookies . However, they realized that their fellow men (because of the racial segregation that was still prevalent in the USA at the time) disapproved of this, so they dropped their plan again.
Sharpe began his musical career in 1958 in Phoenix , Arizona . The local music scene ran mainly through producer Lee Hazlewood , who released Sharpe's first single That's the Way I Feel / Oh, My Baby's Gone on his Jamie label. Sharpe's second record, Linda Lu / Monkey's Uncle , became his biggest hit and entered the national charts at number 48 in 1959. Written by Sharpe and again produced by Hazlewood, the two guitarists Duane Eddy and Al Casey could be heard on the recordings. Linda Lu was covered in the following years by artists and bands such as The Rolling Stones , the Flying Burrito Brothers and Tom Jones .
Sharpe's subsequent singles, however, were less successful. He recorded for a number of labels and in 1966 also played pieces with Jimi Hendrix . He still performs in the Fort Worth, Texas area to this day.
Discography
- 1995: Linda Lou ( Bear Family Records )
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sharpe, Ray |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rock 'n' roll musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 8, 1938 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fort Worth , Texas |