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Ray Parker Jr.

Official Website :	www.rayparkerjr.com
MySpace:	www.myspace.com/rayparkerjr
Wikipedia.org:	www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Parker_Jr

 

 

In a nutshell

Singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer Ray Parker Jr. had hits as "Raydio", "Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio" and "Ray Parker Jr." ; he wrote, co-wrote and/or produced hit songs for Rufus and Chaka Khan, Barry White, Deniece Williams, Cheryl Lynn, Diana Ross, New Edition, and many others ; but his most meaningful legacy may be in his lesser known role as "one of the greatest session guitarists in music history" as featured on Stevie Wonder’s "Talking Book" and Marvin Gaye’s "I Want You" albums to name just those two.

Biography

Born May 1, 1954, in Detroit, MI, Parker started out as a teenaged session guitarist playing on sessions recorded for Holland-Dozier-Holland's "Hot Wax" and "Invictus Records" whose roster listed Freda Payne, Honey Cone, Chairman of the Board, 100 Proof Aged in Soul, Laura Lee, and 8th Wonder. He'd also play behind the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Spinners, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and other Motown acts when they appeared at the Twenty Grand Club. In 1972, Wonder called Parker to ask him to play behind him on a tour that he was doing with the Rolling Stones. Parker thought it was a crank call and hung up the phone. Wonder called back and convinced Parker that he was the real deal by singing "Superstition" to him.

Later, Parker played on Wonder's albums "Talking Book" (1972) and "Innervisions" (1973). Moving from Detroit to Los Angeles, Parker got into session work playing on sides by Leon Haywood, Barry White, arranger Gene Page, and working with Motown producer Clarence Paul on Ronnie McNeir's 1976 Motown debut "Love's Comin' Down" and he appeared in the picnic scene in the Bill Cosby/Sidney Poitier comedy classic "Uptown Saturday Night". During that period Parker co-wrote hit songs for Rufus and Chaka Khan (the number one "You Got The Love" from fall 1974) and Barry White ("You See The Trouble With Me" from Spring 1976), and also collaborated on Marvin Gaye’s "I Want You" album.

Deciding to become a recording artist, Parker got a deal with "Arista Records" in 1977. Not confident on his singing ability, he put together a band that included vocalist Arnell Carmichael, bassist/singer Jerry Knight (who later had his own hits with the songs "Overnight Sensation" (as solo artist) and "Breakin’ – There’s No Stopping Us" (as half of "Ollie & Jerry") and co-produced hits by the Jets), guitarist Charles Fearing, Larry Tolbert, and Darren Carmichael. However, on record, Parker played most, if not all of the instruments. Though after racking up hits, Arnell et al. were paid a retainer so they'd be available if Raydio had a hit record and needed to tour.

His first self-titled album "Raydio", went gold, peaking at number eight R&B in spring 1978. The LP included the gold, number five R&B hit single "Jack and Jill" (lead vocal by Jerry Knight), "Is This a Love Thing," and the charting single "Honey I'm Rich." The hits continued with the gold, number four "Rock On" album (the single "You Can't Change That" was number three R&B, number nine pop in the spring of 1979). Under the name "Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio" the success continued with the gold, number six R&B "Two Places at the Same Time" album from spring 1980 ("Two Places at the Same Time" was number six R&B in spring 1980) and the number one gold album "A Woman Needs Love" from 1981 ("A Woman Needs Love [Just Like You Do]" - the first song Parker sung all the way through without trading vocals - held the number one R&B spot for two weeks and went number four pop in spring 1981). Then, as Ray Parker, Jr., "The Other Woman" album held the number one R&B and number 11 pop spot in spring 1982 ("The Other Woman" was number two R&B for four weeks), followed in 1983 by the "Woman Out Of Control" album which produced the hits "Woman Out Of Control" and "Still Can’t Get Over Loving You".
One of Parker's biggest hits and best loved songs, "Ghostbusters" was initially submitted for the background score of the Dan Aykroyd/Harold Ramis/Bill Murray/Ernie Hudson comedy. Director Ivan Reitman thought that the song should be released as a single. The "Ghostbusters" music video is one of the funniest and star-studded videos ever made. "Ghostbusters" parked at the number one R&B spot for two weeks and the number one pop for three weeks on Billboard's charts in summer 1984, and was included on Parker’s "Chartbusters" compilation album which also included the follow-up single titled "Jamie". Parker’s final album on Arista was the 1985 "Girls Are More Fun" featuring the hit single of the same name.

During his 8 years at Arista Parker also wrote and produced hits for New Edition ("Mr. Telephone Man" -- Parker originally recorded this with Jr. Tucker for his 1983 self-titled Geffen album), Randy Hall ("I've Been Watching You [Jamie's Girl]" & "Gentleman"), Cheryl Lynn ("Shake It Up Tonight" from the album "In the Night"), Deniece Williams (the 1979 ARC/Columbia LP "When Love Comes Calling"), Brick (the 1981 Bang LP "Summer Heat"), and Diana Ross ("Upfront" from her 1983 RCA LP "Ross").

Parker left Arista for Geffen ("After Dark" - released in 1987 - featured the hit single "I Don’t Think That Man Should Sleep Alone") then MCA ("I Love You Like You Are" – released in 1991) before returning to Arista because of his relationship with Arista president Clive Davis.

The illness of Parker’s parents and taking time for his kids took him out of the music business for a few years in the 90s, but a couple of years ago he began doing guitar session work again, recording and/or touring with friends like Stevie Wonder, Smokie Robinson, Boz Scaggs, Solomon Burke, Cheryl Lynn, Rufus, Deniece Williams, Aaron Neville, The Crusaders, etc.

In 2006 Parker released his first new album in over a decade : the independent, largely acoustic, critically acclaimed album "I’m Free", featuring the smooth jazz hit single "Mismaloya Beach".

(source : All Music Guide, written by Ed Hogan / edited by Quentin Geerinckx)