Born 82 Years Ago Today in Oregon, the Sunny-Voiced Buck Owens Protegee With a String of Top 10 Country Hits in the 1970s

On this day (October 8) in 1944, country singer Susan Raye was born in Eugene, Oregon. She got her start in the early 1970s with a string of hit duets alongside mentor Buck Owens. Later proving she could succeed without the Bakersfield sound pioneer, Raye also scored seven top 10 singles during that decade, including the 1971 international crossover hit “L.A. International Airport”. Today, we’re taking a look at her life and career in honor of Raye’s 82nd birthday.

How Buck Owens Gave Susan Raye Her Start in Music

Suan Raye first began singing with a rock group in high school. After the band called it quits, she found work on country radio and as a disc jockey, eventually becoming the host of a Portland TV program called Hoedown.

She also received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in education school counseling from California State University, Bakersfield.

While performing at a local nightclub, Raye caught the attention of Jack McFadden, Buck Owens’ manager. Highly impressed with her vocal skills, McFadden persuaded the “Act Naturally” crooner to fly Raye to his home in Bakersfield, California.

Clearly, Owens saw whatever McFadden had seen, because he immediately offered her a slot on his upcoming tour.

Raye began singing with Owens in 1968, cutting her first record, “Maybe If I Close My Eyes (It’ll Go Away)”, the following year. In 1970, she scored her first top 30 hit with a cover of Jackie DeShannon’s pop smash “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”. Around this time, Raye also began a nine-year tenure as a featured performer on the popular country music variety show Hee Haw.

Also in 1970, she released two collaborative albums with Owens, We’re Gonna Get Together and The Great White Horse. The latter peaked at number 10 on the U.S. country albums chart.

Solo Country Career

Additionally, 1971 would prove to be Susan Raye’s solo breakthrough. She dropped three straight solo top 10 hits — “L.A. International Airport”, “Pitty, Pitty, Patter”, and “(I’ve Got A) Happy Heart”.

While not her highest-charting country single, “L.A. International Airport” made waves across the globe, reaching number two in Australia and number one in New Zealand. It also outsold Lynn Anderson’s signature 1970 hit “Rose Garden” in the land Down Under.

A five-time Academy of Country Music Awards nominee, Raye’s final solo country top 10 hit came in 1975 “Whatcha Gonna Do With a Dog Like That”. The same year, she and Owens landed another top 20 hit with “Love is Strange”. However, Owens severed ties with Capitol Records in 1976, closing down his Bakersfield studio.

Where is She Now?

After releasing one final album with United Artists Records, Susan Raye turned her back on the music business in the late 1970s. She cited her family and faith as her reasons.

“When I was about 40, I decided that I needed to do something else,” she said in 2020. “My logic said are they going to want to pay for a ticket to see Susan Raye at 40, or will they go see Faith Hill, who was much younger? I didn’t want to end up singing in crummier places for less and less money and hang on for the last hurrah. I just looked for something else I loved doing and changed careers.”

Raye received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, along with a master’s degree in counseling, from California State University, Bakersfield. She spent the rest of her working life as a counselor.

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Raye married Owens’ drummer, Jerry Wiggins, in 1972. They remained together until his death in 2018.

Featured image by CBS via Getty Images