Ray Sawyer

Ray "Eye Patch" Sawyer (born February 1, 1937, Chickasaw, Alabama, United States) is a singer best known as a vocalist with the 1970s rock band, Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show.[1] Though primarily a backing vocalist & occasionist percussionist on congas or maracas, he sang lead on the song "The Cover of Rolling Stone", the band's best-known song, and was a recognisable presence in the band due to the eyepatch & cowboy hat he wore.

Personal life

Sawyer lost his right eye in a 1967 automobile accident. He said the following about his life around the time of his accident: "I must have played all the clubs from Houston to Charleston until I decided I was going insane from too much beans and music, and I gave it up. I saw a John Wayne movie and proceeded to Portland, Oregon, to be a logger complete with plaid shirt, caulk boots, and pike pole. On the way my car slipped on the road and the accident left me with the eye patch I now wear. When I recovered I ran straight back to the beans and music and vowed, Here I'll stay."[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Fuqua, C. S. (2011-09-15). Alabama Musicians: Musical Heritage from the Heart of Dixie. The History Press. pp. 164–. ISBN 9781609491574. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
  2. ↑ ”Ray Sawyer”, The Encyclopedia of Folk, Country and Western Music, St. Martin's Press New York, 1984

External links