STARDAY RECORDS 608

LUCKY WRAY with Link and Doug Wray

Jan 57   (BB rev = 6 Apr 57)

45-608-A - Teenage Cutie

(H Albert / C Davis / L Wray)   (Starrite BMI)

45-608-B - You're My Song

(B Baker / J Williams / L Wray / C Davis)   (Starrite BMI)

STARDAY RECORDS 608

Killer Rock-A-Billy and classy ballad from Lucky and Link. A side is fast, mean and moody with Lucky's understated vocals threatened by Link who threatens to steal the proceedings with a flick of his pick up switch. The ballad side is a dreamy affair with Link almost sounding like a steel guitar in parts. Sadly this was their last appearance on a Starday-Custom pressed disc (as far as we know anyways). Both Link and Lucky (to a lesser extent), went on to bigger and better things. I saw Link Wray quite a few years ago in the UK and my hearing still hasn't recovered!

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Label Shots: Neil Scott.

STARDAY RECORDS 575

STARDAY RECORDS 575

Washington, DC area

LUCKY WRAY

45-575-A - What-Cha Say Honey

(C Davis / J Drew / J Williams) (Action Music BMI)

45-575-B - Got Another Baby

(L Wray / Cindy Davis) (Starrite BMI)

Another great hillbilly offering (on the A side) and a chugging, almost threatening rocker on the B side. The B side is certainly a musical highlight in anybody's life. This is the second of 3 45's they had issued on Starday, leaving the best one 'til last (Starday 608).


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Label Shots courtesy of Neil Scott

STARDAY RECORDS 552

LUCKY WRAY

Apr 56 (BMI clearance on 26th May 56)

ST-2421 - It's Music She Says

(Cindy Davis / Larry Stone) (Starrite BMI)

ST-2422 - Sick And Tired

(Cindy Davis / Joe Drew) (Starrite BMI)
STARDAY RECORDS 552

Lucky, Doug and the more famous sibling, Link hailed from North Carolina, although by the early 50’s they were playing in and around Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia. (Lucky (real name Vern) took the name lucky because of his luck at gambling). The original band were called Lucky Wray and the Lazy Pine Wranglers, playing mainly Country / Western / Hillbilly music. They worked mainly at the Fernwood Farms Dance Hall in Virginia. By 1955, they had renamed themselves Lucky Wray and the Palomino Ranch hands and had relocated to Washington, DC, which included Shorty Horton on bass. The track above (and the other two singles) were cut at Ben Alderman’s studio. The A side on this disc bops along with Links’ guitar to the fore and an unknown steel guitarist - a hillbilly bopper that’s almost Rock-A-Billy. Flip is more mainstream hillbilly with Vern in fine vocal form and nice harmonies in the chorus. Both sides sport a Starday matrix which makes me wonder if Starday were considering placing this in their main series instead of pressing it up as a custom. (MC / Link Wray - Missing Links Vol 1 - (Norton CED 210) - notes by Billy Millar).


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Label Shots: Neil Scott