Post 91 - Ray Brown - Just Ray Brown LP

Ray Brown & The Whispers burst onto the charts in January 1965 with their debut single, a revival of Chubby Checker's "20 Miles".  It went to #1 in Sydney, and also fared well in Melbourne, reaching #26. By the end of 1965 Ray Brown & The Whispers ranked with Normie Rowe, The Aztecs and the Easybeats as one of the hottest acts in the country. Ray and the original Whispers split at the end of 1966, after a final tour in late '66 with their old mates Max Merritt & The Meteors and Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs (who also split after this tour). Ray put together a New Whispers in early 1967 with Dave Russell (ex-Ray Columbus & The Invaders) on guitar, Ronnie Peel ( ex-Missing Links) on bass and Steve Hardy on drums. With the departure of Russell, Brown took over on guitar and the band was renamed The Ray Brown Three, but both groups lasted only a short time. Seeking to extend his career, Ray headed overseas late '67 and he spent two years working in the U.S.A. which included the recording of a solo album Just Ray Brown for Capitol, produced by American composer arranger producer David Axelrod. Despite the name producer and large budget, it flopped, largely due to poor choices of material by the company. According to a contemporary interview from Go-Set, Ray declared that "Capitol spent $30,000 on it, put in a 30 piece orchestra and then wouldn't let me pick my own material." Here for you to download is that LP recorded in 1969 "Just Ray Brown" (ST-186).