Ray Whitley

Raymond Otis Whitley (December 5, 1901 – February 21, 1979), also known as Ray Whitley, was a Country and Western singer, radio and Hollywood movie star.

Career

inging and live performance

Whitley was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He began his singing career in New York City in 1930. He had traveled to New York where he became a construction worker on the Empire State Building and the George Washington Bridge. He formed "The Range Ramblers" and began to broadcast on WMCA. He then traveled with the World Championship Rodeo Organisation, renaming his band "The Six Bar Cowboys". Whitley was skilled in the use of the bullwhip, and could remove a cigarette from a man's lips with a single stroke, using either hand. [http://www.b-westerns.com/whitley.htm B-Westerns: Ray Whitley] ]

Whitley recorded for several record labels, including Okeh, Apollo Records and Decca.

Development of the Gibson SJ-200

In 1937, Ray Whitley had worked with Gibson on the production of the famous Gibson SJ-200 acoustic guitar, which was initially known as the "Super Jumbo". Whitley used his own time and money to design a guitar which he took to Gibson. He explained the features and merits of the instrument, suggesting that by presenting them to other stars of the day, would result in really putting the Gibson name on the musical instrument map. As a result, Whitley was the first performer to own a Gibson SJ-200. The first SJ-200, custom built by Gibson for Whitley, is on display in the Country Music Hall of Fame. The SJ-200 has since become an American icon and has been played by hundreds of different guitarists over the years. [http://www.usd.edu/smm/PluckedStrings/Guitars/Gibson/5991/WhitleyGuitar.html Plucked Strings - Whitley Guitar] ]

Motion pictures

In 1938, Whitley was signed to RKO Pictures and made 54 movies, alongside other cowboy actors of the day including Gene Autry. In the late 1950s Whitley made appearances on the Roy Rogers TV specials, he also appeared in the feature film Giant starring James Dean.

Whitley wrote the original western tune "Back In the Saddle Again." The song was first heard in the western movie "Border G-Man" in which he played the part of "Luke Jones". Gene Autry heard it and bought the song for a reported $200, making it his theme song. Whitley and Autry changed the order of verse and chorus, and made a slight change in the melody into the present version that makes it one of the most recognized and recorded Western music tunes in history.

Death and legacy

Ray Whitley died on February 21, 1979, while en route to a fishing trip to Mexico with his son-in-law, Hal Bracken. Ray Whitley's original Gibson SJ-200 is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville Tennessee. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1981, and in 1996 Ray Whitley was inducted into the Western Music Association Hall of Fame.

ource

"The Guinness Who's Who Of Country Music". Guinness Publishing 1993. ISBN 0-85112-726-6

References