Johnnie Ray

Ray, c. 1952.

John Alvin "Johnnie" Ray (10 January 1927 – 24 February 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist.

Quotes

• I just felt like God picked me up in his arms [and said], 'Johnnie Ray, I love you', and kissed me. I'm very humble and grateful for this elevation to the big time. But we all have to come down, and it won't leave me with a complex if I do. I know this thing might go over like a lead balloon, but I can always go back to that movie extra deal.
  • On his success as a singer, The Chicago Tribune (16 March 1952)

• I was walking down by the river. I lay down under a tree. I was broke. I felt pretty low. Then I looked up at the sky—all blue except for one little, white, fleecy cloud. The words came to me for the song—quicker than it's taking me to tell it to you. I got up—and I had new hope. That was the turning point in my life.
  • On writing "The Little White Cloud That Cried", The Chicago Tribune (16 March 1952)

• It's not a handicap, because when you go to bed, I take [the hearing aid] off, and the phones ring, the maids vacuum, people knock on doors, and I don't hear any of that.
  • On his partial deafness, interview with Hugh Downs (1977)

• Americans are the most over-entertained people on the face of the earth.
  • Interview with Dennis Hunt in Las Vegas, c. 1982

• I've got no talent. Still sing flat as a table. I'm a sort of human spaniel. People come to see what I'm like. I make them feel, I exhaust them, I destroy them.
  • On his audience, quoted in Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock