Ray Drew
Tom Thompson
On Wednesday night I went to see Kevin May (Roomful of Blues for awhile)
and the Deaconaires at a club in Wichita, KS. The band was tight and
Kevins sax was right on. Then, from the smoky shadows, up comes Ray
Drew to sit in with the band. He proceeded to lay it down, and thats
what I'm talkin about......This man has the most awesome blues voice,
like sandy butter in a well......it was a happening in my book. Thing
is, I don't know much about Ray Drew, and would like more information if
anybody has it. Help?!
Thanks,
Tom Thompson
http://www.kingace.com
Swb...@aol.com
story, Blue Star is no longer in business. You can check our calendar every
month on the website to get his gigs.
Patti
southwestblues.com
"Ya should be gettin' it every month"
Ray Drew- All the Blues There Is
The Blues can be defined in a lot of ways, but most fans and musicians
alike will agree that it is an intensely personal music. "Sweet Little Angel"
or "Little Red Rooster" or "Down Home Blues" have been recorded and performed
by countless bluesmen, but each version is interpreted according to the
artist. It's that individual style that marks the truly creative blues
singer, instrumentalist or band.
Ray Drew is a creative blues artist that brands each tune with his own
personal touch. His perseverance, experience, and highly developed sense of
craftsmanship make him a treasure to Oklahoma City and a very well respected
regional and national artist.
In addition to performing, he's the owner of Ray Drew's Blue Star
Restaurant, one of the top blues attractions in the state. It was at the Blue
Star that I interviewed Ray and we talked about a lot of places we had in
common.
Ray was born in 1935 in Bunceton, Missouri, a tiny little town in Cooper
County not far from Columbia. It was there that he began singing; around the
house and a little at church. Ray's stepfather was in the Army and was
transferred to Albuquerque, New Mexico, when Ray was about 8 years old. As
Ray tells it, "We didn't just say, well, we'll move to New Mexico, it was
chose for us!" Ray still speaks fondly of Albuquerque and enjoys visiting
whenever he can.
By age 10, it was obvious that Ray had considerable vocal talent. He
started soloing at churches in the area and began to travel throughout the
Southwest. "I was with Rev. Tebaugh, and we went all over; New Mexico, Texas,
Kansas, Oklahoma, even Nebraska." Ray usually soloed and was with and around
a great number of gospel groups. "I never sang no blues, then, it was all
gospel. Oh, you know, you heard it around and the rhythm and blues, too, but
just never sang it in public back then."
Moving back to Missouri in the late 50's, Ray began to sing pop music in
local clubs. "I still wasn't singing no blues, even then. We did the songs
that were on the radio, rock n' roll stuff." Ray was doing some considerable
driving, though. "Everybody lived so far apart. Guys I played with might be
50 miles away and we'd all have to drive to rehearse or get to a job."
It was due to the driving that Ray moved to Quincy, Illinois in 1965.
"Yeah, I was singing with Johnny Phillips and the Houserockers and they were
based in Quincy. They got a lot of jobs, so I just moved up there. I was in
Quincy from 1965 to about 1970." It was at this point that I could ask Ray
some detailed questions, as I lived in Quincy myself. I distinctly remember
the Houserockers, though Ray wasn't with them when I saw them.
"It was when I was with Johnny Phillips that people first started
encouraging me to sing the blues. Just something in my voice, I guess, that
feeling," Ray said. I asked if he ever heard of a band called Freddie Tieken
and the Rockers. "Oh sure, I remember them. Sometimes they'd play a dance one
night and we'd play the same hall the next night. They'd play for the white
kids and then we'd play for the black people."
That seemingly offhand remark is an insight to that mindset of the early
'60s. Quincy, Illinois would never admit to being a racist town, but all
towns were racist back then. Schools were integrated and there was no busing,
but adults were segregated by geography and social contact. White kids were
discouraged from having black friends and the black people just tried to get
by.
There was one place, though, that everyone had a good time. It was called
Turner Hall, and I've not seen any place like it before or since. It was a
three-story building, with the first story being slightly below street level.
The second story was halfway above street level, kind of a mezzanine affair,
and the top story was above that. The top floor was used for union meetings.
The middle floor was used for dancing and drinking and the bottom floor
offered 12 lanes of bowling four nights a week. Like I said, I've never seen
anything quite like it. Oh, by the way, dancing and bowling never happened on
the same night.
Because Quincy is between St. Louis and Chicago, there were an awful lot of
bands that played there because they could pick up a few extra bucks along
the road. Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, James Brown, B.B.King, and Ike and Tina
Turner all played there almost on a schedule. Hell, I thought Ike and Tina
were a local act. I saw Howlin' Wolf there and Bobby Blue Bland and Jimmy
Reed. Those were the blues acts; on the next night you would probably see Six
Fat Dutchmen or some other ambassador of the Polka contingent.
I asked Ray if he remembered Turner Hall. "Oh, Lord, yes. We would play
there to open for a lot of guys. That's where I first met Bobby Blue Bland.
Really that's where I met a lot of people. Famous people would play there and
it was great."
As we talked about those times and places, Ray still talked about being a
vocalist, not a guitar player. I was curious as to when he took up the
guitar. "I started playing guitar in the '70s. People had talked about my
singing and I started doing some blues and I just took up the guitar 'cause
it went along with it. That's when B.B. was real big, so I started playing
the guitar. That guitar I play now I bought back in the '70s. It's a Gibson
335 Lucille model."
His vocal and guitar talents served him well throughout the '70s and '80s.
Ray played with Bobby Blue Bland off and on for 11 years and played with or
for just about everyone you can think of. Ray explained, "Well, some of these
guys come to town to play some place and they don't bring a band. They get
the word out and hire local guys. The local guys know the people and they
know the places. They'll know the songs already, so it's not bad."
We talked about various musicians and how they were to work with. The rock
bands are known for asking for odd things in their contracts, like champagne
or health foods. Blues artists usually don't go for that, with one notable
exception. I asked Ray if he ever worked with Lightnin' Hopkins. "You know, I
did play with him one night, just backing him up. Lightnin' didn't just get
paid in money, you know. You also had to make sure he got a quart of gin!"
Playing with so many different people with so many different styles has
helped Ray develop a style that is unique but flexible. Being exposed to
gospel, pop, swing and blues has resulted in rock steady rhythm, original
melody lines on guitar and truly original vocals. His style isn't easily
categorized as "Chicago Blues" or "Texas Blues," it's a lot of things.
There's a little Charles Brown in the timing of the vocals. There's some
T-Bone Walker in the placement and statement of the guitar solos. It's a
comfortable style.
We'd talked for a couple of hours about people and places and I finally got
around to asking Ray how he managed to settle in Oklahoma City. "I was living
in Amarillo and Doc Blue hired me to play in his band, the Doc Blue Revue."
Doc Blue is a local dentist and real estate developer that owns his own
club, his own band and his own unique personality. He's been a fixture in
Oklahoma City for years and has helped the blues become very popular in OKC.
He's helped the Oklahoma Blues Society in its first years and he's helped a
whole lot of players.
Ray went on, "Doc helped me quite a bit. It was good working with him and
from there I got my own place, the Blue Star Restaurant. He even got us a gig
in Canada one time. It was great! The people were real nice and we got paid
real well."
Last year, Ray released his first full-length CD, Too Much Lovin'. It's
received modest success, showing up on the play lists of quite a few radio
stations and good reviews in the music press.
Ray plays most nights at the Blue Star, but also works festivals and club
dates. He always works hard, whether he's in front of a thousand people or
twenty people. He's finally achieved some measure of respect and popularity
in the world of music and he is proud of his place in his town, in his music
and in the world of the blues.
- Bullfrog Willard McGee