Ray Tabano (a.k.a. Crazy Raymond) (born December 23, 1946) is an American musician, who was a founding member of

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

in 1970. Tabano was replaced by

Brad Whitford Bradley Ernest Whitford (born February 23, 1952)Putterford, Mark (1991) ''The Fall and Rise of Aerosmith'', Omnibus Press, Strong, Martin C. (2001) ''The Great Metal Discography'' (2nd edn.), MOJO Books, , p. 11-13 is an American musician who i ...

in 1971, at which time he concentrated on maintaining the band's office, hangout, and recording studio, " The Wherehouse". Tabano started the band's fan club and line of merchandise, designing and selling merchandise himself and writing the band's fan club newsletters. He was fired in 1979, by Aerosmith's managers Steve Leber and David Krebs.

Friendship with Steven Tyler

Tabano was a childhood friend of Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler in their hometown of

Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

, New York. They would eventually form into Steven's first band, The Strangeurs.

The Strangeurs

Originally called the Strangers, the Strangeurs added a "u" to their name to avoid confusion with another band called the Strangers. The band consisted of Ray Tabano on bass guitar, Steven Tyler on drums,

Green Mountain Boys The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic (which late ...

member Don Soloman on keyboards and vocals, Peter Stahl on Guitar, Alan Strohmayer on bass, and Barry Shapiro on drums. The Strangeurs played in the local area as a

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. Ne ...

. The band focused on

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hits and earned a steady wage as a party band around the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

area.

After Aerosmith

As of September 2009, Tabano was running a catering company in Yonkers, New York. In 2014, Tabano was featured on an episode of ''

Pawn Stars ''Pawn Stars'' is an American reality television series shown on History and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24 ...

'' where he sold two prototype Aerosmith tour T-shirts to

Rick Harrison Richard Kevin Harrison (born March 22, 1965) is an American businessman, reality television personality, and owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop which is featured on the History series ''Pawn Stars''. Harrison and his father, Richard Benjamin ...

. One was signed by the band; the other had both Tyler's and Tabano's names on the sizing tag. Tabano originally asked $3000 for both shirts, but after having them appraised for about $2400, Harrison bought them for $1100. In 2018, Tabano was featured on an episode of ''

American Pickers ''American Pickers'' is an American reality television series that premiered on January 18, 2010 on History, produced by A&E Television Networks in collaboration with Cineflix Media. In the series, the hosts travel across America in search of r ...

'' where he authenticated an

International Harvester Metro Van The International Metro Van, made by International Harvester, is a step van, also known as walk-in or multi-stop delivery truck. This vehicle type was one of the earlier, mass-produced forward control vehicles, once commonly used for milk or ...

as having been used by Aerosmith in the early days of the band's career. The van was purchased by the show's Mike Wolfe for $25,000, after which the van was restored on behalf of the band, who then bought it back.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabano, Ray 1946 births Living people Aerosmith members American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American rock guitarists American male guitarists People from the Bronx People from Yonkers, New York American people of Italian descent 20th-century American guitarists