Ray Ruff
Real Name: | Marvin Ray Ruffin |
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Profile: | Ray Ruff, a pivotal figure in the north Texas music scene, filled a number of different roles in the music industry over his lifetime. He was born in Amarillo, Texas on March 24, 1938. In 1956, Ray was playing semi-pro baseball for Amarillo against the team from Lubbock, and met one of the opposing team members, a 20-year-old Buddy Holly. They became fast friends and Buddy invited him to see Elvis Presley in Lubbock. Buddy decided to go pro with his rock band The Crickets, and Ray tagged along for fun with Buddy to radio disc jockey Bob Montgomery’s studio at KDAV radio. Buddy introduced him to the record producer Norman Petty in 1957, and soon Ray was trailing along with the band going to Petty’s recording studio sessions in Clovis, New Mexico. Ray decided this was the life for him, and went on the road with Buddy and The Crickets that year, as a roadie and musical assistant with Waylon Jennings. After Buddy Holly's death, Ray formed his own rock & roll band, The Checkmates (5), and began recording songs Ray and others were writing as tribute songs to Buddy. Ray would sing them in a Buddy Holly style, wearing a spare pair of the “Wonder glasses” Buddy had given him. Ray recorded about a dozen songs from 1959 to 1964 in various places, on various labels, around the great state of Texas, until deciding he wanted to be a record producer like his friend Norman Petty, and get paid for it.
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Sites: | oakrecordsmusic.com |
In Groups: | The Checkmates (5) |
Variations: | Viewing All | Ray Ruff |
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