Back In the Day, 1981

Ray Campi

The Rollin' Rock Singles Collection 1971 - 1978

(Rondelet Music & Records)

In 1971 California, Italian emigre Ronny Weiser was stunned to learn '50s Texas legend Ray lived mere blocks away. Ronny enticed Ray, who was by then a high school English teacher (and had been for some 24 years) , to abandon the chalkboard and return to music via Weiser's garage-located Rollin' Rock. Thus began a collaboration that endured for decades.

Ray's rollicking efforts bopped jauntily, always drawing on the unvarnished Country he'd grown up hearing in the Lone Star State. Though a gutbox-slinger in earlier years, at Rollin' Rock he grabbed hold of the double-bass that became his trademark.

Younger Rockabilly singers may have mastered de riguer affectations, but Ray's singing spoke of old-school honky-tonk seasoning that had been earned the hard way. His drawl, back-of-throat inflections, heartsore tenor, and jittery histrionics were characteristic of the genre's pioneer rank.

This 1981 compendium wax was issued in the UK. 

Recommended: "Eager Boy," "Dobroogie," "Tore Up," "If It's All the Same To You," "Pan American Boogie," "Sixteen Chicks," "A Lil' Bit Of Heartache," "Booze It!," "Wrong Wrong Wrong," "Rockin' At the Ritz," "Quit Your Triflin'," "Rattlin' Daddy"

Videos: "Pan American Boogie"  "A Lil' Bit Of Heartache"

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