Susan Raye
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Susan Raye | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Born | October 8, 1944 | |
| Origin | Eugene, Oregon | |
| Genre(s) | country music | |
| Occupation(s) | country singer | |
| Years active | 1969-1986 | |
| Label(s) | Capitol Records, United Artists Records | |
| Associated acts |
Buck Owens, Lynn Anderson, Loretta Lynn, Donna Fargo, Jody Miller | |
Susan Raye (born October 8, 1944 in Eugene, Oregon) was one of the leading female country music vocalists of the 1970's.
Raye began her career in the late 1960's singing in local Oregon venues and in regular appearances on the Portland country music television program Hoedown. Discovered by country superstar Buck Owens while making a local appearance, Owens signed Raye in 1969 to be part of his road show and nationally syndicated television series. Raye moved to California to be closer to Buck Owens Enterprises and also joined him as an original cast member of the new CBS country variety series Hee Haw. Raye's success was instantaneous; she began regularly hitting the top ten as a soloist in 1970 with the song "Willy Jones", and her duet recordings with Owens, including "The Great White Horse" (1970) (featured in movie, "Dear Franke"), "Looking Back to See" (1972), and "Love is Strange" (1975) were also hugely popular. Her 1971 release "L.A. International Airport" was an international pop hit. She also came close to topping the country charts with her followups "Pitty Pitty Patter" (1971) and "I've Got a Happy Heart" (1971) and eventually racked up 19 top 40 country hits on the Billboard charts.
By the end of 1971, Raye was firmly established as one of country music's most popular female vocalists. Raye continued to score big in the country field with hits like "My Heart Has A Mind of its Own" (1972), "Cheating Game" (1973), and "Stop the World and Let Me Off" (1974) and was nominated by the Academy of Country Music three times as Top Female Vocalist. During this period she also married Owens' drummer, Jerry Wiggins. They have been married for over 30 years and are the parents of six children.
The Owens/Raye team collapsed in 1975 with the death of Owens' band member and right-hand man, Don Rich, which caused Owens to retire from touring. Raye signed with the United Artists label in 1976 but her modest success there led her to decide to retreat from the music industry in 1978 and concentrate on raising her family. She made a small comeback in 1985, recording two albums and several nationally charting singles. During this period she also returned to college and earned a degree in psychology. She continued her studies rather than build on her chart return and became a successful Christian psychologist. Raye made a very rare public appearance August 6, 2003 when she was a guest of honor at the 75th anniversary of the Los Angeles Airport where she took to the stage and performed her now classic hit of the same name [1] .
