Little Ray (2)

Ramon Jimenez was born in 1950 & raised in the farm worker community of Delano, California. He grew up influenced by the music of Little Richard, Fats Domino and Elvis Presley. He became part of the Rhythm Kings act in Delano and they billed him as "Little Elvis". At age eleven Ed Cobb of the Four Preps took Little Ray to Lew Bedell's Dore Records where he recorded "There Is Something On Your Mind" and "My Rainbow which were released in 1961 (Dore 590). "There is Something On Your Mind" is a cover of the Big Jay McNeely classic. Ray moved to Los Angeles where he attended Salesian and Gafield High Schools. He recorded "Shake, Shout And Soul" (recorded at the Santa Monica Civc) and "Soul Stomp" with backing by the Premiers (of "Farmer John" fame) for Tony Hilder's Impact label (Impact 26) in 1962. Ray would hook-up with members of Thee Midniters at a car club meeting and later record "Loreta" and "My Girl" (Impact 30) in 1962. "My Girl" is Little Ray's answer to Mary Wells "My Guy". Ray's career with Thee Midniters would only last six months. He did, however, sing with them again in 1964. In 1965 Little Ray put together his own band called The Progressions. In the early 1970's Ray teamed up with Willie G to form a group called God's Children and recorded "Hey, Does Somebody Care" for the Uni label (Uni 55295) in 1971. The song became the theme song for the televison series, "Matt Lincoln" Ray had his own recording studio in East Los Angeles called Santuary Studios in 2012