{"id":1318054,"date":"2020-02-04T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T15:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1817279"},"modified":"2020-02-04T08:00:34","modified_gmt":"2020-02-04T15:00:34","slug":"with-two-vinyl-reissues-susan-raye-reflects-on-70s-country-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/music-news\/with-two-vinyl-reissues-susan-raye-reflects-on-70s-country-career\/","title":{"rendered":"With Two Vinyl Reissues, Susan Raye Reflects on \u201970s Country Career"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:ao:image:cmt.com:688010?width=1200&amp;height=675&amp;.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"byline\"> by <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/author\/shelburnec\/\" title=\"Posts by Craig Shelburne\" rel=\"author\">Craig Shelburne<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"date\"><br \/>\n14m ago<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span> <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s only natural that a song called \u201cL.A. International Airport\u201d would find international appeal. That\u2019s what happened to country singer Susan Raye in 1971, when the upbeat breakup tune crossed over to the pop chart \u2013 and even to New Zealand and Australia, where it became a gold record.<\/p>\n<p>Raye sustained a steady commercial presence throughout the early 1970s while signed to Capitol Records and recording in Bakersfield, California. Her singing partner Buck Owens managed her career back then, introducing her to the mainstream through radio-friendly duets, live performances, and <em>Hee Haw<\/em> appearances. <\/p>\n<p>Along with many charting duets, Raye\u2019s own Top 10 hits include \u201cPitty, Pitty, Patter\u201d and \u201c(I\u2019ve Got A) Happy Heart.\u201d After leaving the music business in the mid-\u201880s, she earned a counseling degree and raised a large family with her husband, Buckaroos drummer Jerry Wiggins, who died in 2018.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rh0RSzPdjUQ?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rh0RSzPdjUQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p>Earlier this year, Craft Recordings reissued two retrospectives \u2014 <em>The Very Best of Buck Owens &amp; Susan Raye<\/em> and Susan Raye\u2019s <em>16 Greatest Hits<\/em> \u2014 on vinyl for the first time ever. CMT.com caught up with Raye by phone from her home in Santa Barbara, California, shortly after a bundle of new albums arrived at her door.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CMT: When you opened your package and saw those vinyl records, what went through your mind?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Raye: Well, it takes you back! I remember my first record album. It wasn\u2019t so much hearing it on the radio, because when you\u2019re making them, you hear them over and over and over. It was when I saw my first album cover with me on it. As a young teenager, I bought other people\u2019s albums with their picture on it, and it was like, \u201cWow, this is really me! And this is like going back in time!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>I had read you were singing in Eugene, Oregon, and Buck and his manager, Jack, came in and heard you. Is that what happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s close. I was born in Eugene, but they found me in Portland. I wasn\u2019t even 21 at the time. They came and sang at a nightclub but I wasn\u2019t allowed to go into the nightclub because I wasn\u2019t performing. So I stayed in the restaurant area, and then Buck\u2019s manager, Jack McFadden, came through the door and somebody said, \u201cOh, do you know Susan Raye?\u201d Of course, he didn\u2019t \u2014 I was just a local singer. But he talked to me a while, and then to my amazement, he asked me to get up and sing with the Buckaroos.<\/p>\n<p>I thought, \u201cWhy would he do that? He doesn\u2019t even know if I can sing.\u201d I sang a couple of songs, and as I walked back off the stage, I heard Buck say to Jack, \u201cGet her information. I want her to come down to Bakersfield.\u201d So I flew down to Bakersfield.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S80VyBNz9Dw?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S80VyBNz9Dw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p>I think a couple of years passed before I moved down there and went to work for them. They would be doing a concert \u2013 usually it was Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, British Columbia, on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday \u2013 and they would call me and say, \u201cWould you like to join us on that tour?\u201d And I said, \u201cWell, sure!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then later on my own, I was going down to sing in Las Vegas for a week or two. And the last night I was there, I got a phone call from Jack saying, \u201cWould you mind driving through Bakersfield on your way back to Oregon? Buck and I want to talk to you.\u201d So I did, and they asked me if I would move to Bakersfield and become part of the Buck Owens All American Show.<\/p>\n<p>At first I told them no. I grew up in Oregon and everything I know is there. It was like you have \u201cBuck Owens and so-and-so, and so-and so, and many others.\u201d And I didn\u2019t want to move down there to become a \u201cmany other\u201d! [laughs] Or just to be the token girl singer because it rounds out the show. They both said, \u201cNo, that\u2019s not what we have in mind. We see something that is unique and different in you, and we want you to be a main part of the show.<\/p>\n<p>Buck said, \u201cI will manage you and Jack will book you.\u201d I thought, \u201cWell, whatever, we\u2019ll see how it goes. And if it doesn\u2019t work, I can always go back to Oregon.\u201d And it worked! So I never went back to Oregon.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5vMPInM7EMo?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5vMPInM7EMo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>You mentioned the phrase \u201cgirl singer.\u201d Did you get tagged with that?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh yeah. And they would always introduce you as \u201cPretty Miss Susan Raye!\u201d or Pretty Miss Whoever. [laughs] I don\u2019t know what they did if they had a homely, ugly singer. But you had to be pretty and you had to be a girl, so you could give them something else during the show. I remember back when I was releasing records, they would never think of playing two female records back-to-back. Never! Because you break up the guys with a girl now and then. \u2026 I guess they thought that [women] were just window dressing. But now Carrie Underwood and people like that can hold a candle to anybody.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The material on <em>16 Greatest Hits<\/em> holds up pretty well. How were songs pitched to you back then? How did songs make their way to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>They didn\u2019t. Buck Owens was my manager and Buck Owens told me every song that I was supposed to sing. Because I didn\u2019t know anything. I was only 24 and moved down from a little town in Oregon. I knew nothing about recording or any of that, so Buck got me on Capitol Records. Of course, first we did a duet together because that was a good way to introduce me to people, and so I did my first single with Buck, and then I was on <em>Hee Haw<\/em> all summer. <\/p>\n<p>And that fall, my first record came out, which was a very good break for me. A lot of new records come out from people you have no clue who they are. You may not even get listened to. But with me, they said, \u201cOh, that\u2019s the new record from that gal who sang on <em>Hee Haw<\/em> every week.\u201d So at least the DJs were willing to listen to me. It made it a lot easier for me, to be honest.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vCx-GuoXqaI?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vCx-GuoXqaI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>I found it interesting that after you left Buck\u2019s organization, you went to college and joined the running team. Was it track or cross country?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Both actually. I decided at 40 that I didn\u2019t want to be an old entertainer who sings in crummier and crummier places for less and less money, to hang on for the last hurrah. I thought, life is too short and there are too many other things that I could also love doing. So I decided to go to college and become a counselor, and I got my Master\u2019s in psychology and sociology, and became a marriage, family, and child counselor. <\/p>\n<p>While I was in college, I decided to run because I had school, and I had work, and six kids and a large house and 10 acres and was busy. So I thought, I\u2019ll never exercise if I don\u2019t take a class at school that will give me exercise. So I started in a running class and the coach asked me, why didn\u2019t I run for track or cross country? And I thought, \u201cBecause I\u2019m 40 years old! What do you think?\u201d <\/p>\n<p>But then I got to thinking about it, and I thought, \u201cWell, if they think I can, maybe I can!\u201d So I did! I had never done sports in my life and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had knee replacement surgery about nine or ten years ago, then after that I started running the L.A. Marathon, and I\u2019ve done it for the last seven years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8nd6IT7DLRg?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8nd6IT7DLRg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>With this music coming out on vinyl, a new generation of vinyl collectors may be discovering you for the first time through these releases. What do you hope that they hear in these recordings?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Just the fact that somebody young is interested in listening to it is nice. People say, \u201cSo-and-so loves your music\u201d and I say, \u201cReally? I didn\u2019t know there was anybody left who would even know who I was?\u201d [laughs] It\u2019s very humbling to me that someone would even know who I am, and I hadn\u2019t even thought about the fact that people might be hearing me who didn\u2019t even know who I was.<\/p>\n<p>Whenever I performed, I always hoped that the people I worked for, and the people who came to see me, would see that I was easy to work with, that I would do whatever they needed, like interviews or whatever, and that I loved to talk with the people afterwards. \u2026 I\u2019m a people person and I enjoy being around friends and family. That\u2019s what I loved about singing. I don\u2019t think so much about the impact about my music, but the impact of interacting with people.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/1817279\/with-two-vinyl-reissues-susan-raye-reflects-on-70s-country-career\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: CMT News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Craig Shelburne 14m ago It\u2019s only natural that a song called \u201cL.A. International Airport\u201d would find international appeal. That\u2019s what happened to country singer Susan Raye in 1971, when the upbeat breakup tune crossed over to the pop chart \u2013 and even to New Zealand and Australia, where it became a gold record. Raye [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1318054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 03:19:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318054\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}