Raymond Louis Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Raymond Louis Kennedy (born November 26, 1946 in Philadelphia, PA) is a singer, songwriter, musician and record producer based in Los Angeles, California. His works span multiple genres including R&B, pop, rock, jazz, fusion, acid rock, country and many others. He is particularly notable as being the co-writer of one of the Beach Boys' major hits of their mid-career, "Sail On, Sailor
", as well as being the co-writer of the two major hits with which The Babys
are associated, "Everytime I Think of You
" and "Isn't It Time
".
in 1960. Dick Clark eventually offered to pay Ray to pantomime playing saxophone with groups such as The Platters
, The Drifters
, Chubby Checker
, Little Richard
, and many more.
In 1965 Ray recorded his first single as vocalist with then-unknown Kenny Gamble, "Number 5 Gemini" on Guyden Records. That year Ray also auditioned for and received a gig playing tenor sax with Gerry Mulligan
, one of the top baritone jazz saxophonists in the world. That led to Kennedy leaving his home in New Jersey, playing various jazz clubs and making his way south.
With drummer Jay David, Kennedy eventually left the tour to play various gigs with Dizzy Gillespie
, J. J. Johnson, Buddy Rich
and the Gene Krupa
Jazz Group, until he decided in 1962 that the lifestyle of a jazz musician was simply not for him.
Ray went to Paducah, Kentucky
to play a few gigs with Brenda Lee
, then one-nighters with Little Richard, Fats Domino
, Jerry Lee Lewis
, Wilson Pickett
, and many others. Encouraged by friend Otis Redding
, Kennedy shifted his focus back to singing and moved to New York in 1963. He was signed by Ahmet Ertegun
to Atlantic Records
, recording "Jon and Ray" and touring with Jon Misland. In 1966 he formed another band called "Group Therapy" and recorded two albums before deciding to move to Los Angeles with them in 1968.
Kennedy worked with many talented musicians for his first solo album, "Raymond Louis Kennedy" released in 1970. That year he befriended Dave Mason
of Traffic
, and toured with him in support of Mason's solo album, "Alone Together," also collaborating on a song "Seasons" that ended up on a future Mason solo album, "Let It Flow." During this period, Kennedy also co-wrote the Beach Boys hit, "Sail On, Sailor
".
He was featured on the soundtrack to the Brian DePalma cult sensation Phantom of the Paradise
. Kennedy sang "Life at Last". In the movie, the song was lip-synched by Gerrit Graham
as the character Beef, who performed the song as a Frankenstein
-type transvestite constructed by the members of The Undeads while they themselves performed "Somebody Super Like You (the Beef Construction song)".
Kennedy spent the next several decades writing, recording and touring with and for musicians including Sly and the Family Stone, Brian Wilson
, Dave Mason, Jeff Beck
, Barry Goldberg
, Maurice White
, Aerosmith
, Michael Schenker
, Engelbert Humperdinck
, Wayne Newton
, Tanya Tucker
, Bill Champlin
, Willie Nelson
, Mick Fleetwood
and many others.
Sail on, Sailor
"Sail On, Sailor" was the final song recorded for the 1973 Beach Boys album Holland. The song was written by Brian Wilson, Ray Kennedy, Tandyn Almer, Jack Rieley, and Van Dyke Parks.-Background:...
", as well as being the co-writer of the two major hits with which The Babys
The Babys
The Babys were a British rock/pop group best known for their songs "Isn't It Time," and "Every Time I Think of You." Both songs were composed by Jack Conrad and Ray Kennedy, and reached #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the late 1970s...
are associated, "Everytime I Think of You
Everytime I Think of You
"Every Time I Think of You" is a the title of a song written by Jack Conrad and Ray Kennedy which was a Top 20 hit single for the Babys in 1979....
" and "Isn't It Time
Isn't it Time
"Isn't it Time" is a song that was performed by the English group The Babys in 1977 and was released on their album Broken Heart. It was not written by members of the group but by a bass guitarist Jack Conrad along with Ray Kennedy and was presented to the public as a song with a distinctive piano...
".
Biography
Kennedy began playing saxophone at age nine; he sang in a cappella groups in New Jersey and Philadelphia before becoming a dancing regular on American BandstandAmerican Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
in 1960. Dick Clark eventually offered to pay Ray to pantomime playing saxophone with groups such as The Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, The Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
, Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
, Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, and many more.
In 1965 Ray recorded his first single as vocalist with then-unknown Kenny Gamble, "Number 5 Gemini" on Guyden Records. That year Ray also auditioned for and received a gig playing tenor sax with Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
, one of the top baritone jazz saxophonists in the world. That led to Kennedy leaving his home in New Jersey, playing various jazz clubs and making his way south.
With drummer Jay David, Kennedy eventually left the tour to play various gigs with Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, J. J. Johnson, Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
and the Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
Jazz Group, until he decided in 1962 that the lifestyle of a jazz musician was simply not for him.
Ray went to Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,...
to play a few gigs with Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
, then one-nighters with Little Richard, Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
, and many others. Encouraged by friend Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, Kennedy shifted his focus back to singing and moved to New York in 1963. He was signed by Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum...
to Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, recording "Jon and Ray" and touring with Jon Misland. In 1966 he formed another band called "Group Therapy" and recorded two albums before deciding to move to Los Angeles with them in 1968.
Kennedy worked with many talented musicians for his first solo album, "Raymond Louis Kennedy" released in 1970. That year he befriended Dave Mason
Dave Mason
David Thomas "Dave" Mason is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic...
of Traffic
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
, and toured with him in support of Mason's solo album, "Alone Together," also collaborating on a song "Seasons" that ended up on a future Mason solo album, "Let It Flow." During this period, Kennedy also co-wrote the Beach Boys hit, "Sail On, Sailor
Sail on, Sailor
"Sail On, Sailor" was the final song recorded for the 1973 Beach Boys album Holland. The song was written by Brian Wilson, Ray Kennedy, Tandyn Almer, Jack Rieley, and Van Dyke Parks.-Background:...
".
He was featured on the soundtrack to the Brian DePalma cult sensation Phantom of the Paradise
Phantom of the Paradise
Phantom of the Paradise is a 1974 musical film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The story is a loosely adapted mixture of The Phantom of the Opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Faust and also briefly references Frankenstein and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari...
. Kennedy sang "Life at Last". In the movie, the song was lip-synched by Gerrit Graham
Gerrit Graham
Gerrit Graham is an American actor and songwriter. He's appeared in such films as Used Cars, TerrorVision, National Lampoon's Class Reunion, and Greetings, where he worked with Brian DePalma for the first time...
as the character Beef, who performed the song as a Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
-type transvestite constructed by the members of The Undeads while they themselves performed "Somebody Super Like You (the Beef Construction song)".
Kennedy spent the next several decades writing, recording and touring with and for musicians including Sly and the Family Stone, Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
, Dave Mason, Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, Barry Goldberg
Barry Goldberg
Barry Goldberg is a blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter and record producer.-Career:As a teenager in Chicago, Goldberg sat in with Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Howlin' Wolf. He played keyboards in the band supporting Bob Dylan during his 1965 'electrified' appearance at the Newport Folk Festival...
, Maurice White
Maurice White
Maurice White is a Grammy Award–winning American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger. He is the older brother of Verdine White and Fred White and the leader and founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire...
, Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker is a German rock guitarist, best known for his tenure in UFO, in addition to his solo band. He first rose to fame as a founding member of the Scorpions, then achieved fame in the mid 1970s as the lead guitar player for UFO. Since leaving UFO in 1978, he has been leading the...
, Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)
Engelbert Humperdinck is a British pop singer, best known for his hits including "Release Me " and "After the Lovin'" as well as "The Last Waltz" .-Early life:...
, Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
, Tanya Tucker
Tanya Tucker
Tanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...
, Bill Champlin
Bill Champlin
William Bradford "Bill" Champlin is an American singer, guitarist, keyboard player, arranger, producer, and songwriter. His performance work is principally associated with the bands Chicago and the Sons of Champlin...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Mick Fleetwood
Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells "Mick" Fleetwood is a British musician and actor best known for his role as the drummer and namesake of the blues/rock and roll band Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of John McVie, was the inspiration for the name of the originally Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac...
and many others.
Albums
| Year | Title | Artist/Band | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Jon and Ray | Jon and Ray | Atlantic Records (unreleased) |
| 1968 | People Get Ready For Group Therapy | Group Therapy | RCA Victor |
| 1969 | 37 Minutes of Group Therapy (aka You’re in Need of Group Therapy) | Group Therapy | Phillips Records |
| 1970 | Raymond Louis Kennedy | Ray Kennedy | Cream Records |
| 1976 | KGB | KGB | MCA |
| 1976 | Motion | KGB | MCA |
| 1980 | Ray Kennedy | Ray Kennedy | ARC CBS |
Singles/Contributed Tracks
| Year | Song Title | Artist/Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Number 5 Gemini | Ray Kennedy |
| 1970 | Sail On, Sailor Sail on, Sailor "Sail On, Sailor" was the final song recorded for the 1973 Beach Boys album Holland. The song was written by Brian Wilson, Ray Kennedy, Tandyn Almer, Jack Rieley, and Van Dyke Parks.-Background:... |
Beach Boys Holland |
| 1973 | Why Should I Care | Beck Bogert & Appice Beck Bogert & Appice |
| 1974 | Life At Last | Soundtrack to Phantom of the Paradise |
| 1977 | Seasons | Dave Mason Let It Flow |
| 1978 | Isn't It Time Isn't it Time "Isn't it Time" is a song that was performed by the English group The Babys in 1977 and was released on their album Broken Heart. It was not written by members of the group but by a bass guitarist Jack Conrad along with Ray Kennedy and was presented to the public as a song with a distinctive piano... |
The Babys The Babys The Babys were a British rock/pop group best known for their songs "Isn't It Time," and "Every Time I Think of You." Both songs were composed by Jack Conrad and Ray Kennedy, and reached #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the late 1970s... Broken Heart Broken Heart (album) Broken Heart is The Babys second album. The album produced The Babys first big hit "Isn't it Time", which reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977... |
| 1978 | Everytime I Think of You Everytime I Think of You "Every Time I Think of You" is a the title of a song written by Jack Conrad and Ray Kennedy which was a Top 20 hit single for the Babys in 1979.... |
The Babys The Babys The Babys were a British rock/pop group best known for their songs "Isn't It Time," and "Every Time I Think of You." Both songs were composed by Jack Conrad and Ray Kennedy, and reached #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the late 1970s... Head First Head First (The Babys album) Head First is the title of the third album by the Babys. The tracks intended for the album were completed for a September 1978 release; this was canceled due to the dissatisfaction of group members John Waite, Tony Brock and Walter Stocker, who found the intended album overly bubblegum, reflecting... |
| 1980 | Starlight | Ray Kennedy |
| 1980 | Just for the Moment | Ray Kennedy |
| 1981 | Tonight, Tonight | Bill Champlin Bill Champlin William Bradford "Bill" Champlin is an American singer, guitarist, keyboard player, arranger, producer, and songwriter. His performance work is principally associated with the bands Chicago and the Sons of Champlin... Runaway Runaway (Bill Champlin album) Runaway is an album by Bill Champlin, released on Elektra Records in 1981. It is notable as containing "Tonight Tonight", Champlin's major hit as a solo artist, as well as "Sara", which also achieved a degree of chart success.-History:... |
| 1983 | Badman | Soundtrack to Uncommon Valor Uncommon Valor Uncommon Valor is a 1983 action/war film written by Joe Gayton and directed by Ted Kotcheff, about a Marine officer who puts together a team to try to rescue his son, who he believes is among those still held in Laos after the Vietnam War... |
| 1983 | Brothers in the Night | Soundtrack to Uncommon Valor Uncommon Valor Uncommon Valor is a 1983 action/war film written by Joe Gayton and directed by Ted Kotcheff, about a Marine officer who puts together a team to try to rescue his son, who he believes is among those still held in Laos after the Vietnam War... |
| 1995 | These Strange Times | Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood... Time Time (Fleetwood Mac album) Time is the 16th studio album by British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1995. This album featured a unique line-up for the band featuring the addition of former Traffic guitarist Dave Mason and country vocalist Bekka Bramlett, daughter of Delaney and Bonnie, to the line-up... |
| 2006 | Sail on Sailor | Soundtrack to The Departed The Departed The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film, fashioned as a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan... |
External links
- http://www.raymondlouiskennedy.com/about.html
- http://www.raymondlouiskennedy.com/music.html
- http://www.fendermusicfoundation.org/news/index.cfm?sec=news&newsID=6
- http://www.discogs.com/Group-Therapy-People-Get-Ready-For-Group-Therapy/release/1447635
- http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/guyden.htm