To mark the decade since he passed, I played 3 songs written by Ray Whitley at Songwriters Open Mic this week. I did some research about Ray, searching online plus checking in by email with Chuck Mitchell, an old friend of his and a fellow performer at celebrated Southern folk music venues of the 1960s-1970s, such as The Bistro on West Peachtree Street in Atlanta. Ray Whitley was a Georgia native who started writing songs as a staff professional shortly after high school. At one time, Chuck regularly performed Ray’s song “Making Music Momma,” and I heard it often enough (in Detroit) to learn to play it myself, after a fashion, perhaps 40 years ago.
I remember from my teenage years a hit song by The Tams, the R&B group, called “What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am,” and the other day I found that Ray had written that one for them, and they had a Billboard and R&B chart hit with it in 1963. That’s a pretty good range of styles for the first two Ray Whitley songs I was aware of: a sweet and slow folk-pop ballad, and a doo-wop song that rocked not only for the Tams but later for Del Shannon.
By now my hunt for Ray’s songs was on in earnest. I saw numerous mentions of another of Ray’s hits, also done by The Tams, and others, called “Be Young, Be Foolish (But) Be Happy.” As wonderful as that song is, what grabbed my attention was one called “Think I Feel A Hitchhike Comin’ On.” With my history of transcontinental hitching in the US and Europe, I wanted to focus on learning that one. Larry Jon Wilson, another Georgian like Ray, has a version of it on Youtube, done with his impressive vocal and guitar prowess. It’s a country song that I feel has a lot in common with songs like Gentle on My Mind, with its wistful wanderlust and straightforward chord changes.
So those were the three Ray Whitley songs I put together that night: Making Music Momma, What Kind of Fool, and Hitchhike Comin’ On. Here’s the link to the video from the open mic: https://youtu.be/EdEh0lcEHMM
Here’s some sidebar material about Ray. First, he’s not the only songwriter named Ray Whitley. There was another Georgian named Ray Whitley, born in 1901, forty-plus years before “our” Ray Whitley, and he was a real-life cowboy who became a popular cowboy actor, and wrote cowboy songs, including one that Gene Autry really liked, the famous “Back in the Saddle Again.” That Ray has a fairly long wikipedia entry and other online stories, and there are several places online where the two songwriters are totally confused and cowboy Ray is mistakenly given credit for things like working with The Tams.
Next, The Bistro is an interesting aspect of the career successes of Ray Whitley. In the late 1960s and into the 1970s, The Bistro was a major stop on the singer-songwriter circuit, and it wasn’t uncommon for performers to be booked for a full week of shows. Ray was just the right age to join that bunch of singer-songwriters that played there and/or the Flick, down in Miami. At those places and others like them, the stages were graced by the likes of the young Jimmy Buffett, Jerry Jeff Walker, Kenny Rogers, Gamble Rogers, Guy Clark, Steve Martin, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Steve Goodman, and two guys I got to know pretty well in Michigan years later, Michael Smith, and of course, Chuck Mitchell. I have a picture of a poster advertising Ray at The Bistro.
Ray Whitley died at age 69 in 2013. Ray had fallen in alcoholism and suffered from depression, and his last address was a homeless shelter in Gainesville, Georgia. But his youthful energy was strong, his output was impressive, and many friends recall him with fondness. In my version of the Hitchhike Comin’ On song, I use the key change near the end which Larry Jon Wilson’s version has, and what I’ve done is use the key change as an opportunity to write a few new verses, just to show my admiration for this wonderful songwriter as I try to channel a little piece of the appealing charm of his songs, with their eager longing and dreamy yearning.
MAKING MUSIC MOMMA RAY WHITLEY
Hear the rain on the roof, tap-tapping loud and clear,
Don’t it sound soft and sweet, music to your ear.
It’s making music momma, making music momma,
Me and you, we make music too.
Take a bass and a drum, add a tambourine,
Take a bird, add spring, you can hear it sing.
It’s making music momma, making music momma,
Me and you, we make music too.
Just say you love me, bells ring, birds sing
and when I hold you, it feels so good, I knew it would.
Hear the wind through the cracks in the wall, sounding lonely in the night.
Hear the blue bird when it calls, everything’s all right.
It’s making music momma, making music momma,
Me and you, we make music too.
WHAT KIND OF FOOL DO YOU THINK I AM. RAY WHITLEY
What kind of fool what kind of fool
What kind of fool do you think I am
You think you can go seeing him
Darling, after we had made our plans
You said I’d be your number one man
What kind of fool do you think I am? What kind of fool, do you think I am ?
What kind of fool did you think I’d be
You said you really really loved me
Darling you run around all over town
You build me up then you let me down
What kind of fool do you think I am? What do you think I am??
I won’t be your second choice call
I’ve got to be your number one, Or I ain’t gonna love you at all
Darling you run around all over town
You build me up then you let me down…
I FEEL A HITCH-HIKE COMIN’ ON RAY WHITLEY
There’s a mountain over there I’ve got to climb
There’s a sea over there I’ve got to sail
Think Ill be goin’ away at the break of dawn
Think I feel a hitch-hike comin’ on.
Bummed around in this old town much too long
All the friends I thought I had are mostly gone
Think I’m gonna pack my bags at the break of dawn
Think I feel a hitch-hike comin’ on.
Thought I found the girl that I’ve been waiting for, right here in this town
Pretty girl with ribbons in her hair, the girl she let me down, way down
There’s a voice out there somewhere callin’ me
A few more places left I gotta be
Think I’m gonna pack my bags at the break of dawn
Think I feel a hitch-hike comin’ on.
Thought I found the girl that I’ve been waiting for, right here in this town
Pretty girl with ribbons in her hair, that girl she let me down, way down
There’s a voice out there somewhere callin’ me
A few more places left I gotta be
Think I’ll be on my way at the break of dawn
Think I feel a hitch-hike comin’ on.
(Song by Ray Whitley; additional words below by Jim Novak)
There’s a moon that’s risin’ on a meadow dim
There’s a sunset fallin’ ‘neath Lake Michigan
Think I’ll grab my backpack at the break of dawn
Think I feel a hitchhike comin’ on.
There’s some songs I this guitar I gotta play
There’s some changes and some shapes I’ve yet to learn
Think I’ll grab my backpack at the break of dawn
Think I feel a hitchhike comin’ on.
There’s a cabin by a lake that calls to me
There’s a city with a downtown gallery
Think I’ll grab my backpack at the break of dawn
Think I feel a hitchhike comin’ on.
Thought I found the girl that I’ve been waiting for, right here in this town
Pretty girl who helped me find my way, that girl she let me down, way down
All my friends are working jobs and digging in
Producing and connecting and a-gettin’ ahead
Think I’ll grab my backpack at the break of dawn
Think I feel a hitchhike comin’ on.
SONGWRITERS OPEN MIC started as a monthly event in Ann Arbor in 1996, and since 2020 has evolved into a weekly event on Zoom, involving songwriters from a couple dozen states and several countries. Songwriters receive an mp4 video of the songs and conversation. For INFO on participating in Songwriters Open Mic as a performer or audience member, write JimNovakMusic(at)gmail(dot)com
Archive of over 200 half-hour excerpts from Songwriters Open Mic:
https://www.youtube.com/@songwritersopenmicannarbor7761/videos
Link to the recording of Songwriters Open Mic with the 3 songs written by Ray Ripley (Making Music Momma, What Kind of Fool, and Hitchhike Comin’ On), performed by Jim Novak: https://youtu.be/EdEh0lcEHMM
