Ray Peterson obit from the Tennessean
deb...@comcast.net
By PETER COOPER
Staff Writer
Ray Peterson, whose resonant voice propelled his Tell Laura I Love Her
single to Top 10 status on the pop charts in 1960, died Tuesday morning
at his home in Smyrna. Billed as ''The Golden Voice of Rock 'n' Roll,''
he was 65 and had been suffering from cancer.
A native of Denton, Texas, Mr. Peterson began singing as a child. His
youth was marked by a prolonged struggle with polio, and he began
singing to entertain his fellow patients in a Texas hospital. His
interest in music lasted beyond his hospitalization, and at age 18 he
moved to Los Angeles and was signed to RCA Records.
''I was a high school freshman when I first heard Ray's version of the
Little Willie John Classic, Fever, in 1959,'' said Fred Vail, who would
go on to become the Beach Boys' concert promoter. ''I could tell right
away that he was no ordinary singer.''
Mr. Peterson's instantly identifiable vocals gave rise to his billing
as ''The Golden Voice of Rock 'n' Roll.'' In 1959, his version of The
Wonder of You reached the Top 30, and Elvis Presley would later hit the
pop charts with a cover version.
It was Tell Laura I Love Her that became Mr. Peterson's signature hit,
though: The song is among the prime examples of the ''teenage tragedy''
sub-genre that included Teen Angel and Leader of the Pack.
Tell Laura allowed Mr. Peterson to work bigger concert halls, and he
began performing quite often at the Dunes hotel in Las Vegas. When his
deal with RCA Records ended, Mr. Peterson formed Dunes Records and
worked with a then-little-known producer named Phil Spector on a
charting version of traditional folk song Corrina, Corrina.
Corrina, Corrina was Mr. Peterson's final major commercial success, but
even as the hits dried up, he remained a viable touring act. He opened
for the Beach Boys in several foreign countries, and was a supporting
act on the Boys' ''Summer Safari'' tour of 1964.
In the 1960s, Mr. Peterson also recorded for the MGM, Reprise and Uni
labels, and his move to the Nashville area brought with it a foray into
Music City styles called Peterson Country in 1971.
Survivors include wife, Claudia; children Sara Sorrell, Adam Peterson,
Timothy Lee Peterson, Leah Peterson, Melodia Peterson, Shawn Ordonez
and Timothy Ray Ordonez; brother David Peterson; sister Mari Jane
Beyer; and nine grandchildren.
A viewing will be from 4 to 8:30 this evening at Woodfin Funeral
Chapel, 1309 Woodfin Ct. in Murfreesboro. Funeral services will be at
10 a.m. tomorrow at Smyrna Assembly of God, 14119 Old Nashville
Highway.
James Neibaur
deb...@comcast.net at deb...@comcast.net wrote on 1/26/05 5:45 PM:
> Ray Peterson, singer of Tell Laura I Love Her dies in his Smyrna home
Is he the last of the "dead lover" singers? I know Mark Dinning (Teen
Angel) is gone, but is J. Frank Wilson alive?
King Daevid probably knows.
JN
cugina
jnei...@wi.rr.com wrote on 1/26/05 8:40 PM:
J. Frank Wilson died not long after his 1964 hit ("Last Kiss")...
cugina
lamogl...@yahoo.com wrote on 1/26/05 9:26 PM:
We still have the Angels with "Leader Of The Pack," another "dead lover"
song.... still good looking lead singer Peggy Santiglia is still around, but
now she's primarily a psychologist in Noo Joizey...
deb...@comcast.net
He wanted to give her everything
Flowers, presents and most of all, a wedding ring
He saw a sign for a stock car race
A thousand dollar prize it read
He couldn't get Laura on the phone
So to her mother Tommy said
Tell Laura I love her, tell Laura I need her
Tell Laura I may be late
I've something to do, that cannot wait
He drove his car to the racing grounds
He was the youngest driver there
The crowed roared as they started the race
'Round the track they drove at a deadly pace
No one knows what happened that day
How his car overturned in flames
But as they pulled him from the twisted wreck
With his dying breath, they heard him say
Tell Laura I love her, tell Laura I need her
Tell Laura not to cry
My love for her will never die
And in the chapel where Laura prays
For Tommy who passed away
It was just for Laura he lived and died
Alone in the chapel she can hear him cry
Tell Laura I love her, tell Laura I need her
Tell Laura not to cry
My love for her will never die
Tell Laura I love her.....
Bill Schenley
> > > know Mark Dinning (Teen Angel) is gone, but
> > > is J. Frank Wilson alive?
> > J. Frank Wilson died not long after his 1964 hit
> > ("Last Kiss") ...
Wilson died in October of 1991... after a lifetime of Alcoholism ...
Well, that ... and his eight wives. He was 49.
> We still have the Angels with "Leader Of The Pack,"
> another "dead lover" song.... still good looking lead
> singer Peggy Santiglia is still around, but now she's
> primarily a psychologist in Noo Joizey...
Dickie Lee ("Patches" and "Laurie") is still alive ... as are the
Everly Brothers ("Ebony Eyes"), Johnny Preston ("Running Bear"), Jody
Reynolds ("Endless Sleep"), Bobbie Gentry ("Ode To Billy Joe"), Bobby
Goldsboro ("Honey"), Bo Donaldson ("Billy Don't Be A Hero"), R. Dean
Taylor ("Indiana Wants Me") and Lynn Ripley aka: Twinkle ("Terry").
Bill Schenley
> with a then-little-known producer named Phil
> Spector on a charting version of traditional folk
> song Corrina, Corrina.
Far from the traditional interpretation of "Corrina, Corrina," Ray
Peterson's version is still one of my favorites ...
deb...@comcast.net
who can be heard singing background of the record!
James Neibaur
stra...@ma.rr.com wrote on 1/27/05 1:29 AM:
> Dickie Lee ("Patches" and "Laurie") is still alive ... as are the
> Everly Brothers ("Ebony Eyes"), Johnny Preston ("Running Bear"), Jody
> Reynolds ("Endless Sleep"), Bobbie Gentry ("Ode To Billy Joe"), Bobby
> Goldsboro ("Honey"), Bo Donaldson ("Billy Don't Be A Hero"), R. Dean
> Taylor ("Indiana Wants Me") and Lynn Ripley aka: Twinkle ("Terry").
I don't know that I would put Ebony Eyes, Running Bear, or Indiana Wants Me
in the Teen Death category with the likes of Tell Laura I Love Her and Teen
Angel. The others are great examples, but I don't remember the song Terry.
How about "I Want My Baby Back." That was one of the weirder ones.
JN
cugina
deb...@comcast.net at deb...@comcast.net wrote on 1/27/05 2:03 AM:
> "Running Bear", Johnny Preston's hit, was written by the Big Bopper,
> who can be heard singing background of the record!
>
Grunting anyway...I understand the other grunter with the Big Bopper was
George Jones.
Bill Schenley
> > ... as are the Everly Brothers ("Ebony Eyes"),
> > Johnny Preston ("Running Bear"), Jody
> > Reynolds ("Endless Sleep"), Bobbie Gentry
> > ("Ode To Billy Joe"), Bobby Goldsboro
> > ("Honey"), Bo Donaldson ("Billy Don't Be A
> > Hero"), R. Dean Taylor ("Indiana Wants Me")
> > and Lynn Ripley aka: Twinkle ("Terry").
> I don't know that I would put Ebony Eyes,
Huh? It's not like she missed her flight ...
> Running Bear,
They drowned ... Oh. I forgot. They wuz just Injuns ...
> or Indiana Wants Me
He was just trying to get back to his girl ... when those murderin'
police done kilt him ...
> in the Teen Death category with the likes of Tell Laura
> I Love Her and Teen Angel. The others are great examples,
> but I don't remember the song Terry.
"Terry" was a great song. Very similar to "Leader of the Pack"
("Terry" was written first) and banned by the BBC because it was a
teenage death song. Twinkle was just a teenager when she wrote and
recorded the song. Backed by this awful, punked out guitar:
Terry, Terry
He said to me he wanted to be near to me
He said he never wanted to be out of my sight
But it's too late to give this boy my love tonight
Please wait at the gate of heaven for me, Terry.
He said to me he wanted to be close by my side
We had a quarrel, I was untrue on the night he died
And it's too late to tell this boy how great was
Please wait at the gate of heaven for me, Terry.
He rode into the night, accelerated his motorbike
I cried to him in fright, don't do it, don't do it, don.t do it.
He said to me you are the one I want to be with
He said to me you are the one who my love I shall give
One day he'll know how hard I prayed for him to live
Please wait at the gate of heaven for me, Terry.
He rode into the night, accelerated his motorbike
I cried to him in fright, don't do it, don't do it, don.t do it.
He said to me you are the one I want to be with
He said to me you are the one who my love I shall give
One day he'll know how hard I prayed for him to live
Please wait at the gate of heaven for me, Terry.
Terry, Terry, Terry
Ripley (Twinkle) also wrote "Golden Lights" ... recorded by the Smiths
in the mid-1980s.
> How about "I Want My Baby Back." That was one
> of the weirder ones.
Creepy.
How about "Black Denim Trousers" by The Cheers or The Diamonds? ... Or
"The Water Was Red" by Johnny Cymbal?
Bill Schenley
> He wanted to give her everything
Somebody recorded an answer song to "TLILH" ... I think it was "Tell
Tommy I Miss Him."
Busgal
James Neibaur
Jbus...@hotmail.com wrote on 1/27/05 5:49 PM:
> Dickie also recorded Austin Roberts ROCKY
Yeah, I remember he did a cover of that. He had a long and varied career,
but is best known for his death songs.
JN
James Neibaur
stra...@ma.rr.com wrote on 1/27/05 11:57 AM:
>> How about "I Want My Baby Back." That was one
>> of the weirder ones.
>
> Creepy.
>
> How about "Black Denim Trousers" by The Cheers or The Diamonds? ... Or
> "The Water Was Red" by Johnny Cymbal?
How could we both forget Moody River by ol' white bucks?
JN
Terry Ellsworth
I never heard of this guy. Ever.
Terry Ellsworth
Bill Schenley
> white bucks?
Sheesh ... You're right ... And he also recorded "Corrina Corrina."
"Moody River" is maybe the only Pat Boone song I like ...
JR13157
>Is he the last of the "dead lover" singers? I know Mark Dinning (Teen Angel)
is gone, but is J. Frank Wilson alive?
Wilson died in 1991. An irony about the song is that the writer of "Last Kiss"
was killed in an auto wreck.
Walt.
Bill Schenley
> the writer of "Last Kiss" was killed in an auto wreck.
> Walt.
> http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/wilson_j_frank/bio.jhtml
"Last Kiss" was written by Wayne Cochran ... also known for "Going
Back To Miami" by The Blues Brothers ... and the last I heard he was a
born-again minister in Miami. Maybe you have him confused with Sonley
Roush ... who was J. Frank Wilson's manager. Roush was killed in an
auto accident in 1964.
David Samuel Barr
"Tell Tommy I Miss Him", Marilyn Michaels, RCA Victor 7771.
Charted 2 weeks in September 1960, peaked at #110.
David Samuel Barr
something, I've tried. Believe me, I have tried. But I just can't make
it without my baby. So I've decided I'm going to have her back one way
or another. Oh, baby, I dig you so much....Hot dang, pay dirt!"
(Jimmy Cross, Tollie 9039. Charted 3 weeks in February 1965, peaked at
only #92, but still regarded as a classic of dementia.)
James Neibaur
stra...@ma.rr.com wrote on 1/27/05 10:11 PM:
> "Moody River" is maybe the only Pat Boone song I like ...
Same here, although I am told some of his lesser known recordings are ok.
I hastily judge him by his putrid cover versions.
JN
James Neibaur
Ellsworth at terry...@aol.com wrote on 1/27/05 10:00 PM:
>> How could we both forget Moody River by ol' white bucks?
>>
>> JN
>
> I never heard of this guy. Ever.
"ol' white bucks" is what they used to call Pat Boone, Terry. I am sure
you've heard of him, and may very well regret it.
JN
Brad Ferguson
<dsb...@mindspring.com> wrote:
The difference is that "I Want My Baby Back" is *supposed* to be funny.
The others just ... are.
Bill Schenley
> > ... I think it was "Tell Tommy I Miss Him."
> "Tell Tommy I Miss Him", Marilyn Michaels, RCA
> Victor 7771. Charted 2 weeks in September 1960,
> peaked at #110.
Thanks, David. I knew if there was anyone on this NG knew who
recorded that song ... it would be you ...