Ray Harris (September 7, 1927 – November 13, 2003)

'. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. November 27, 2003. was an American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

musician and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

. He formed a band with Wayne Powers, and wrote the songs "Come On, Little Mama" and "Greenback Dollar, Watch and Chain". He eventually recorded these at

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

with

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...

. He also produced artists at

Hi Records Hi Records is an American soul music and rockabilly label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch (formerly producers for Sun Records), and three silent partn ...

. Like others such as

Sonny Burgess Albert Austin "Sonny" Burgess (May 28, 1929 – August 18, 2017) was an American rockabilly guitarist and singer. Biography Burgess was born on a farm near Newport, Arkansas to Albert and Esta Burgess. He graduated from Newport High School in ...

Hayden Thompson Hayden Thompson (born March 5, 1938) is an American singer, songwriter, and rockabilly musician. He is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Thompson was born in Booneville, Mississippi, United States. At high school Thompson formed the So ...

Billy Lee Riley Billy Lee Riley (October 5, 1933 – August 2, 2009) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. His most memorable recordings include "Rock With Me Baby", "Flyin' Saucers Rock and Roll"Variously spelled as "...Rock & Roll ...

and Warren Smith, chart success largely eluded him. Born in

Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo () is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. With an estimated population of 38,300, Tupelo is the sixth-largest city in Mississippi and is considered a commercial, industrial, and cultural hub of North M ...

, Harris died in November 2003 in

Mooreville, Mississippi Mooreville, sometimes misspelled as Mooresville, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 650. Mooreville is part of the Tupelo Microp ...

, at the age of 76.

References

External links

Rockabilly Hall of Fame Profile
Sun Records artists 1927 births 2003 deaths People from Tupelo, Mississippi {{US-music-bio-stub