Ray Sawyer
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Ray "Eye Patch" Sawyer (born February 1, 1937, Chickasaw, Alabama, United States) is a singer best known as a vocalist with the 1970s rock band, Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show.
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[edit] Early life
As a youth, Sawyer idolized Hank Williams, and at 14 he was playing with a local country band, eventually leading the house band at Al Cottrill's club in Mobile. In 1959 he signed with Sandy Records. Ray Sawyer, the spirited, eye-patched lead singer of the group Dr. Hook, whose soulful and sometimes comic vocals fronted the band's breakthrough to the “Cover Of The Rolling Stone” and international superstar status in the early 70's and 80's. Ray has been touring the United States, Canada and Countries Overseas, since the break-up of Dr. Hook in 1984, with a new band and a new twist to his familiar sound. Ray‘s current style is harder-edged and more soulful then his previous country-rock and pop efforts, and through future releases will show the humor is still there. Born and raised in Alabama , Ray got his first job as a professional musician at age 14 playing drums with a local band. His style was indelibly marked by blending the black and white Southern music that kept Alabama dance halls and clubs hopping. When Ray grew up playing music in Mobile, "you play either Country or Rhythm & Blues, though down there they are just about the same thing. It's two races talking about their lives", Ray explains. Developing a style that extracted honesty and emotion-the best traits of both Country & R&B, Ray sings with an intensity and sense of conviction that truly moves an audience.
Ray's trademark eye patch was acquired following a 1967 auto accident that left him without his right eye and kept him laid back for two years. When he was back on his feet, Ray set out for Los Angeles in 1968, working his way back East to New York where the nucleus of Dr. Hook was formed in time to record the score to a Dustin Hoffman film "Who is Harry Kellerman (and why is he saying those terrible things about me)". Accumulating 60 Gold & Platinum Records worldwide with Dr. Hook, He has gained the confidence of a seasoned entertainer, Ray still to this day travels the world with his band. His son Cayce has been touring with him since he was 13, playing percussion and singing background vocals in the show. Now he is the drummer for the band. Ray had the Honor of being Inducted into the “Alabama Music Hall Of Fame” in April 2005.
[edit] Music career
Sawyer's first hit single was "Rockin' Satellite", released in 1960, followed by "I'm Gonna Leave" (Sandy, 1037). In 1965, he played in the Chocolate Papers with several musicians who later became members of Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show.
[edit] Personal life
Sawyer lost his right eye in a 1967 automobile accident that left him with his signature eyepatch. He said the following about his life around the time of his accident:
I must have played all the clubs from Houston to Charleston until I decided I was going insane from too much beans and music, and I gave it up. I saw a John Wayne movie and proceeded to Portland, Oregon, to be a logger complete with plaid shirt, Colk boots, and Pike pole. On the way my car slipped on the road and the accident left me with the eye patch I now wear. When I recovered I ran straight back to the beans and music and vowed, Here I'll stay.
— Ray Sawyer, from The Encyclopedia of Folk, Country and Western Music, St. Martin's Press New York, 1984
