Edward Ray Sharpe (born February 8, 1938) is an American
R&B and rockabilly singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Many of his
recordings, including his best-known, "Linda Lu", are sometimes
classed as rockabilly – he was described by one record producer as "the
greatest white-sounding black dude ever".
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Sharpe grew up influenced by
country as well as blues music. He learned guitar, influenced by Chuck Berry
records, and in 1956 formed his owntrio, Ray Sharpe and the Blues Whalers, with Raydell Reese (piano) and Cornelius Bell (drums), and they became popular playing rock and roll in Fort Worth clubs. His recording career started in Phoenix, Arizona in April 1958, when Lee Hazlewood produced his single, "That's the Way I Feel" / "Oh, My Baby's Gone".
It was Sharpe's second session (May 18, 1959) that would
give him his only hit. A rocked up version of "Red Sails In the
Sunset" was thought to have the best chance of becoming a hit. The
reverse, "Linda Lu", was an afterthought and very nearly not recorded
at all.
"Red Sails In the Sunset" was issued on Jamie and received
favourable responses from the trade press and jocks, but didn't start selling
in sufficient quantities to indicate that a hit record was forthcoming.
Suddenly, a DJ in Los Angeles started to play "Linda Lu" and things
began to happen, especially after Dick Clark included the song on his playlist
for American Bandstand and made Sharpe part of his first rock and roll package.
Ray played the Hollywood Bowl on a bill which included
LaVern Baker, Duane Eddy (who apparently does not play on "Linda Lu", as has often
been alleged), Jack Scott, Santo and Johnny, the Coasters and Rusty York. This
was followed by a string of dates with his own band. "Linda Lu"
peaked at # 46 pop (# 11 R&B) in Billboard and had a 13 week run in the Top
100. Once "Linda Lu" had started to sell, Jamie withdrew the original
A-side and replaced it with "Monkey's Uncle", a great Chuck Berry-
styled rocker, which was wasted this way and should have been the follow-up
single. The reason was that "Red Sails In the Sunset" was not owned
by Sill and Hazlewood's publishing company and it made no sense to them to pay
another publisher for what was now a flip side.
Several one-off record deals followed in the 1960s, with
labels like Gregmark, Garex, United Artists and Monument, but "Linda
Lu" would remain his sole chart entry. The results of an interesting 1962
session in New Orleans (with session men like Harold Battiste, Roy Montrell and
Melvin Lastie) remained unissued until 1995. In 1966, Ray recorded an Atco
single with a still unknown Jimi Hendrix on guitar, produced by King Curtis.
There were very few releases in the 1970s and 1980s, but
Sharpe never left the music business. Like many other artists from the 1950s,
he was rediscovered by rockabilly enthusiasts in Europe and brought over to
perform there. In the end record sales and chart appearances have not made a
lot of difference to Ray Sharpe. He is a masterful guitarist, above average
singer and a seasoned entertainer with a repertoire of material so wide
(R&B, country, funk, pop, soul, blues and rock 'n' roll) that he can
satisfy the needs of the most demanding audience.
Subsequent single releases on a variety of record labels,
including Hazlewood's own Trey label, were less successful. These included
recordings made in 1966 with King Curtis, which featured Jimi Hendrix on
guitar. However, Sharpe's songs have been recorded by acts ranging from Roy
Head and the Traits to Neil Young and J. B. Hutto, and he has continued to
release records, as well as performing regularly in the Fort Worth area. (Info
edited from Wikipedia & Black cat Rockabilly)
