On this day (March 11) in 2021, Ray Campi, sometimes called the King of Rockabilly, died peacefully in his Los Angeles, California, home at the age of 86. Born in 1934, Campi’s music career began in the late 1940s. Initially finding little success, he left his native New York for California, where he became a high school English teacher. Then, he was coaxed out of retirement in the early 1970s. Before long, he was touring Europe and drawing massive crowds who were hungry for high-energy throwback tunes.
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Campi was born in New York but grew up in Texas. There, he learned to love country music from the likes of Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, the Maddox Brothers and Rose, and other early greats. By the end of the 1940s, Campi had taken on the mokiker Rambling Ray and was singing on Austin-based radio stations, according to Vintage Rock. He also auditioned for The Louisiana Hayride and Capitol Records, but was turned away.
Campi didn’t let the rejection stop him. He continued to write songs and record demos. At the same time, he knew he needed a backup plan. As a result, he enrolled at the University of Texas, where he earned a BA in drama.
Campi Kept At It
It seemed that his hard work was going to pay off in the late 1950s. He recorded “Catapillar” and “Play It Cool” for TNT Records. However, the two-sided single didn’t become a hit. It did, however, sell well enough to earn him more studio time. He cut “It Ain’t Me” for Dot Records. Campi even performed the song on American Bandstand. However, that wasn’t enough to launch his career.
He recorded a handful of singles for small labels in the following years. Notably, he cut “Ballad of Donna and Peggy Sue,” which is thought to be the first tribute to Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.
Eventually, he relocated to the San Fernando Valley and took a teaching job at a local junior high in the early 1960s.
Ray Campi Meets Ronny Weiser
In 1971, Ronny Weiser, owner of Rollin’ Rock Records and a fan of Ray Campi’s early output, tracked him down in California. Weiser looked Campi up in the phone book and approached him about revitalizing his career.
Previously, Campi played guitar and sang. His later career saw him playing double bass with abandon. He was known for standing on the side of the massive stringed instrument while playing. Sometimes, he would wield the bass like a great ax or pick it up and play it like a comically large guitar. Fans who enjoyed watching these antics have Weiser to thank for this. He bought Campi his first double bass and helped him learn to play. “Pan American Boogie” was the first of his songs to feature him on his new instrument of choice.
He played in the United Kingdom for the first time in 1977. There, he found enthusiastic crowds. As a result, he returned time and again. Eventually, he toured all of Europe and found an ever-growing number of gigs in California. Additionally, Campi recorded with rockabilly acts from around the world. He did all this while still teaching junior high English for many years.
Ray Campi never had major hit songs, and he’s not a household name. However, those who experienced his frantic energy live or on his records largely agree that he more than earned the title of King of Rockabilly.
Featured Image by Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images
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