Edward Wiley Ray (born December 21, 1926), better known as Eddie Ray, is an American consultant and former Operation Director and Vice Chairman of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame Museum. He was also a record company executive, record producer, songwriter, author, and an inductee in the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. [1] He was also a United States Presidential Appointee under Ronald Reagan serving as Commissioner and Chairman of the Copyright Royalty Tribunal.
Ray was born on December 21, 1926 in Franklin, North Carolina, where he was also raised. He was the third youngest of eight children born to his father, Andrew Ray, owner of a janitorial service and his mother, Grace Ray, who was a homemaker.
Ray had to leave Franklin to attend high school at Laurinburg Institute in Laurinburg, North Carolina, because Franklin was segregated and did not have a high school for African American children.
After graduating from high school in 1944, Ray was accepted into an Army Reserve Specialized Training Program at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Upon becoming 18 years of age he was inducted into the regular Army and then applied for Army Officer Candidate School. However, he was unable to pass the vision test because of formations of cataracts on both his eyes. After only a few months in the regular Army, Ray was discharged from the Army and in early 1945 moved to Milwaukee, where he got his first job in the music industry as a stock boy at Decca Records Distributing Company.
In November 1945, Ray moved to Los Angeles and in early 1946 began working for Aladdin Records, a major, independent record company, as an assistant shipping clerk. Aladdin was owned by two brothers, Leo and Eddie Mesner both of whom became Ray's mentors in the music industry. Some of the major recording artists on Aladdin at that time included, Johnny Moore, The Three Blazers featuring Charles Brown, Amos Milburn, The Five Keys, Lester Young and Illinois Jacquet.
Ray was given opportunities to meet these artists and to attend their concerts and recordings session and began to learn in detail about the commercial music and recording business. During Ray's three years employment at Aladdin Records, he also earned an Associate Arts degree in Business Administration from Los Angeles City College.
After leaving Aladdin Records in early 1950, Ray joined Central Record Sales Company, a major independent wholesale record distributor in Los Angeles, California. Central Record Sales was the exclusive distributor for a majority of the major, national independent record companies for the Southern California area. [2] Initially Ray was responsible for Central's “in house sales” to Southern California's smaller retail stores and juke box operators. [3] He eventually became chief record “buyer” and radio promotion man for Central Record Sales.
While at Central Record Sales, Ray promoted and sold records for numerous rhythm and blues artists including Ruth Brown, The Drifters, B. B. King, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Joe Turner, Clyde McPhatter, Howlin' Wolf, Jesse Belvin, The Clovers, and other R&B recording stars of that era.
In 1954, while still at Central Record Sales, Ray and a musician/songwriter Rudy Jackson began writing songs together. [4] Their biggest hit, was a song entitled “Hearts of Stone”, performed by a local Los Angeles singing group, The Jewels.
Ray, Al Schlesinger and Larry Goldberg formed a record label, "R & B Records", and released “Hearts of Stone” in the Southern California area only and sold over 50,000 copies. The song later became a top national charted, Pop, R&B and Country hit by the Fontaine Sisters, [5] The Charms and Red Foley. Years later it became a national top charted record by the Bill Black Combo and John Fogerty [6] and The Blue Ridge Rangers. [7] “Hearts of Stone” has been recorded by over 32 major recording artists, including Elvis Presley [8] and is in the soundtracks of several movies including Goodfellas . "Hearts of Stone" is listed as one of Broadcast Music, Inc.'s Award Winning Songs. [9]
In February, 1955, Ray joined Imperial Records in Hollywood, California, a major, independent record company, as National Director of Promotion and Sales. During the nine years that Ray was with Imperial Records he was responsible for all the national promotion and sales for all Imperial/Minit recording artists, including, recording artists Fats Domino, [10] Ricky Nelson, Slim Whitman, Sandy Nelson, Johnny Rivers, Ernie Freeman, Irma Thomas, Aaron Neville, Ernie K-Doe, Smiley Lewis, Billy J. Kramer and many others.
In addition to Ray's responsibilities as director of national promotion and sales for Imperial, he also produced national chart hit single records by Sandy Nelson ( "Let There Be Drums"), Ernie Freeman ("Raunchy"), Irma Thomas ("Wish Someone Would Care" / "Time Is On My Side" / "Break Away") and several national charted albums by Sandy Nelson and Ernie Freeman.
In 1964, Ray joined Capitol Records, in Hollywood, California as Artists and Repertoire (A&R) Director of Tower Records, [11] [12] Capitol Records’ newly created, wholly owned subsidiary. Subsequently, Ray became Vice President of A&R for Capitol/Tower Records becoming the first African American executive of a major U.S. record company.
During Ray's five years as A&R chief for Capitol/Tower Records he acquired scores of successful selling EMI English and U.S. independently produced artists such as Freddie & The Dreamers, The Standells, Ian Whitcomb, The Arrows, the Sunrays, Harry Nilsson are some of the artists that had singles and/or albums that attained national chart positions during Ray's tenure there.
In addition, two of Ray's most important acquisitions for Capitol/Tower Records were American International Pictures (AIP) successful movie sound track albums, including The Wild Angels and several others, produced by independent producer, Mike Curb, and the acquisition of the EMI rock group Pink Floyd.
In July 1969 Ray joined Coburt Television Production in Beverly Hills, California as executive vice president of COBURT's newly created Record Music Division. [13] COBURT was an independent television production company owned by Pierre Cossette, a successful Hollywood entertainment agent and subsequently an exclusive television producer of the Grammy Awards telecast for thirty four years and Burt Sugarman, a successful Beverly Hills business and investment financier, who subsequently produced Midnight Special TV musical series.
Some of Ray's most important accomplishments while with Coburt were his establishment of BMI & ASCAP music publishing firms for the Coburt Music Division; the successful negotiation of a Coburt/MGM Records label distribution agreement; and his production of a Chevrolet merchandising album featuring Glen Campbell, Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach that sold over a million units.
In 1970, Ray left CoBurt Television Production and joined MGM Records in Hollywood, California as Senior Vice President of A&R Administration. [14] As head of A&R Administration at MGM, Ray was responsible for the administration of MGM's Recording studios in Hollywood, California and Nashville, Tennessee; MGM's Copyright Clearance & Licensing Departments; MGM Artist's recording contract fulfillment requirements; Musician Union negotiations; recording session schedules & musician payments; record release pre-preparation; and the preparations of multimillion-dollar recording budgets.
Some of the artists with whom Ray worked while at MGM were the Osmonds, Donnie & Marie, Lou Rawls, Sammy Davis, Jr., Hank Williams, Jr., Richie Havens, and The Sylvers.
MGM was sold to Polygram in 1973 but Ray was unwilling to move to the new MGM/Polydor/Polygram headquarters in New York City and negotiated his resignation from his MGM employment agreement.
In early 1974, Ray moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and became executive vice president and part owner of Sounds of Memphis Recording Studio and Record Production Company (SOM). [15] Before Ray joined the company SOM had produced a couple of national hit records, one of which was the iconic record “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham & Pharaohs that was distributed by MGM Records.
While at SOM, Ray terminated and negotiated new foreign music publishing and performance rights agreements for SOM's music publishing companies; terminated and negotiated new SOM artists distribution agreements; and expanded SOM's Recording Studio's custom service business. Some of the artists represented by Ray while at SOM were Solomon Burke, Jazz organist Jimmy Smith, the Ovations, Barbara and the Browns, hit songwriter/artist George Jackson and others.
Also, while still at SOM, Ray established his own company, Eddie Ray Music Enterprises, [16] that among its other activities, established a vocational commercial music school named, The Tennessee College of Recording Arts and Sciences. [17] Ray operated the school for two years and then assisted in incorporating the school's commercial music program curricula into a degree program offered by Memphis State University's (presently known as the University of Memphis) College of Fine Arts & Communications.
In 1976, Ray joined Cream/Hi Records as executive vice president and general manager. [18] Ray was also responsible for the management of Cream/HI Records’ music publishing company, East Memphis Music, a former Stax Record music publishing company. Hi Records was a successful R&B Independent record label. Some of HI Records artists were Hall of Fame and Grammy award artist & songwriter Al Green, Ann Peebles, Ace Cannon, and the Bill Black Combo.
Cream/Hi Records was well known for the numerous valuable music copyrights they owned which included songs such as “In The Midnight Hour”, “Knock On Wood”, “Green Onions”, “Hold On I’m Coming”, “Respect”, “Soul Man”, “Lets Stay Together” and many others.
In October, 1981, Ray was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, and confirmed by the US senate, to serve as a US Commissioner on the US Copyright Royalty Tribunal (CRT), for the unexpired term of a commissioner who resigned. [19] Then in September 1982, President Reagan nominated Ray for the second for a full term of seven years as a Commissioner on the CRT. [20]
The CRT's primary responsibilities was (1) to set the Statutory Rates for certain sections of the Compulsory Licensing provisions of the US Copyright Act; and (2) to conduct Distribution Hearings to distribute Statutory Royalty funds that were deposited directly to the US Copyright Office by copyright users to be distributed to the appropriate copyright owners. [21]
During Ray's tenure, the CRT conducted one Statutory Rate Hearing and raised the original rate set by Congress for Cable/Satellite companies that retransmitted broadcast signals into a distant market. The definition of “distant market” was thirty miles from the location where the broadcast signal originated. The CRT's Cable/Satellite rate final Determination cause a tremendous controversy among Cable/Satellite companies and several members of Congress who believed the rate was much too high. The Cable/ Satellite companies appealed the CRT's Determination to the Second Federal Circuit Court in Washington, DC [22] and the Court upheld the CRT's Determination in full. [23]
The CRT also conducted a Distribution Hearing each year during while Ray served as Commissioner at the CRT. During each of the Distribution Hearings, copyright owners were represented by copyright Claimants MPAA(for movies & TV Situation Comedies); Joints Sports (for NBA, Major League Baseball & NCAA ); Devotionals (TV Religious Programs); Music Performance Societies ( BMI, ASCAP, SESAC ); PBS; and NPR.
The CRT annually distributed approximately $200,000,000 in royalties. [24] In each of the Distribution Hearing's the CRT's final Determination were challenged by one or more of the copyright Claimants and appealed to the Second Federal Circuit Court in Washington, D.C. In each Distribution Hearing appeal, the Circuit Court upheld the CRT's determination. [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]
President Reagan appointed Marianne Mele Hall to be Commissioner at the CRT. Commissioner Hall attempted to get Congress to change the law to permit only attorneys to serve as commissioners on the CRT which would have directly affected Commissioner Ray and Commissioner Mario Aguero, a Cuban-American on the CRT. Ray and Aguero were the only minority members and the only non-attorneys on the CRT at the time. During Hall's campaign to have Congress change the law, she noted that she had co-authored a book entitled, “Foundations of Sand”. Later a reporter who had interviewed her secured the book and read it. The book contained disparaging remarks about African Americans, suggesting they were inferior to Caucasians quoting, “They insist on preserving their jungle freedoms, their women, their avoidance of personal responsibility, and their abhorrence of the work ethic”. [30] [31]
Several national articles about the controversy appeared in newspapers across the country including the Washington Post, New York Times, and LA Times. The controversy also raised additional scrutiny regarding Presidential appointees and their vetting process in Congress and the public.
Hall later tried to claim she only edited “Foundations of Sand” and was not a co-author. Despite her efforts to distance herself from the book, Hall's association to the book damaged her character and caused national embarrassment for the Reagan Administration which forced her to resign from the CRT. [32] [33] [34] [35] [36]
Commissioner Ray became Acting Chairman of the CRT after Commissioner Hall's resignation and appeared before Congress to respond to the issues that had been raised during the controversy. In addition, he oversaw changes to the CRT like the reduction of commissions from 7 to 5 which were voted on by Congress in response to the issues raised during the Hall controversy. [37]
On September 29, 1989, Commissioner Ray's term at the CRT expired and he did not seek another term.
From October 1989 through 2009 Ray was an independent commercial music consultant for various national record/music clients. During this period he also wrote and self-published books of poetry entitled Natural Expression, Straight From The Heart, Reflections On The Joys & Sorrows of The Heart, Thorns And Roses, and Up From The Mountains.
In January 2009, Ray became vice chairman of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame (NCMHOF) and operation director of its Hall of Fame Museum in Kannapolis, North Carolina. The NCMHOF is a non-profit organization and museum that was created to honor musicians, composers and artists with ties to North Carolina that have made significant impact in the music industry. Ray was instrumental in reopening the museum and moving it from its original home in Thomasville, North Carolina, to its present location in Kannapolis.
In October 2009, Ray was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame as a non-performing artist, originally from the State of North Carolina.
"Stardust" is a 1927 song composed by Hoagy Carmichael, with lyrics later added by Mitchell Parish. It has been recorded as an instrumental or vocal track over 1,500 times. Carmichael developed a taste for jazz while attending Indiana University. He formed his own band and played at local events in Indiana and Ohio. Following his graduation, Carmichael moved to Florida to work for a law firm. He left the law sector and returned to Indiana, after learning of the success of one of his compositions. In 1927, after leaving a local university hangout, Carmichael started to whistle a tune that he later developed further. When composing the song, he was inspired by the end of one of his love affairs, and on the suggestion of a university classmate, he decided on its title. The same year, Carmichael recorded an instrumental version of the song for Gennett Records.
OKeh Records is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Otto K. E. Heinemann but later changed to "OKeh". In 1965, OKeh became a subsidiary of Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music. OKeh has since become a jazz imprint, distributed by Sony Masterworks.
PRS for Music Limited is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertakes collective rights management for musical works on behalf of its 175,000 members. PRS for Music was formed in 1997 following the MCPS-PRS Alliance. In 2009, PRS and MCPS-PRS Alliance realigned their brands and became PRS for Music.
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers (AARM) which was formed in 1956. It oversees the collection, administration and distribution of music licences and royalties.
"Georgia on My Mind" is a 1930 song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell and first recorded that same year by Hoagy Carmichael at the RCA Victor Studios at 155 East 24th Street in New York City. However, the song has been most often associated with soul singer Ray Charles, who was a native of the U.S. state of Georgia and recorded it for his 1960 album The Genius Hits the Road.
"Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1952. It is regarded as one of country's most important standards. Williams was inspired to write the song while driving with his fiancée from Nashville, Tennessee, to Shreveport, Louisiana. After describing his first wife Audrey Sheppard as a "cheatin' heart", in minutes he dictated the lyrics to Billie Jean Jones. Produced by Fred Rose, Williams recorded the song at his last session at Castle Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 23.
Kim Weston is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms ", and with her duet with Marvin Gaye, "It Takes Two".
"You Are My Sunshine" is an American standard of old-time and country music and one of the official state songs of Louisiana. Its original writer is disputed. According to the performance rights organization BMI, by the year 2000 the song had been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages.
Arthur Smith was an American musician, composer, and record producer, as well as a radio and TV host. He produced radio and TV shows; The Arthur Smith Show was the first nationally syndicated country music show on television. After moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, Smith developed and ran the first commercial recording studio in the Southeast.
The music industry refers to the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, represent and supply music creators. Among the many individuals and organizations that operate in the industry are: the songwriters and composers who write songs and musical compositions; the singers, musicians, conductors, and bandleaders who perform the music; the record labels, music publishers, recording studios, music producers, audio engineers, retail and digital music stores, and performance rights organizations who create and sell recorded music and sheet music; and the booking agents, promoters, music venues, road crew, and audio engineers who help organize and sell concerts.
"Who's Sorry Now?" is a popular song with music written by Ted Snyder and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. It was published in 1923 as a waltz. Isham Jones had a hit recording in 1923 with the song arranged as a foxtrot. Later sheet music arrangements, such as the 1946 publication that was a tie-in to the film A Night in Casablanca, were published in 2
2 time. Other popular versions in 1923 were by Marion Harris, Original Memphis Five, Lewis James, and Irving Kaufman.
"The Very Thought of You" is a pop standard that was recorded and published in 1934 with music and lyrics by Ray Noble. The song was first recorded by Ray Noble and His Orchestra with Al Bowlly on vocals for HMV in England in April 1934. This record was then released in the United States by Victor, and it reached number one for five weeks on the pop music charts.
Clarence Alexander Avant was a prominent American music executive and film producer. Originating from Climax, North Carolina, Avant began his professional journey in the 1950s, managing Teddy P's Lounge in Newark, New Jersey. Under the guidance of Joe Glaser, a notable music manager of the era, Avant managed a diverse portfolio of artists, ranging from R&B talents like Little Willie John to jazz figures such as Jimmy Smith. In the 1960s, he founded Avant Garde Enterprises, marking a significant step in his contributions to the music sector.
A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellectual property of composers.
"Mona Lisa" is a popular song written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston for the Paramount Pictures film Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1949), in which it was performed by Sergio de Karlo and a recurrent accordion motif. The title and lyrics refer to the renaissance portrait Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1950.
Audio Fidelity Records, was a record company based in New York City, most active during the 1950s and 1960s. They are best known for having produced the first mass-produced American stereophonic long-playing record in November 1957. The Audio Fidelity label was acquired by 43 North Broadway, LLC, a global rights management company focused on acquiring iconic heritage entertainment-based intellectual property assets including master recordings, music copyrights and songwriter royalties.
"Tears" is a song written by lyricist Frank Capano and composer Billy Uhr, which was popularised by Rudy Vallée in 1930. It was later made famous in a version recorded by Ken Dodd, released as a 45 rpm single in 1965, which became a bestselling No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart.
Joseph M. Davis was an American music producer, publisher and promoter in jazz, rhythm and blues and pop music.
The Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel, known by the acronym ACUM, is a non-profit copyright collective which engages in collective rights management for authors, poets, lyricists, composers, arrangers, and music publishers in Israel. As a member of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), ACUM is affiliated with more than 100 similar rights organizations around the world, with which it engages in reciprocal royalty collection agreements. It also holds an annual prize ceremony which honors authors and musicians in many categories, including lifetime achievement.
A re-recording is a recording produced following a new performance of a work of music. This is most commonly, but not exclusively, by a popular artist or group. It differs from a reissue, which involves a second or subsequent release of a previously-recorded piece of music.
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