Ray Griff
country singer, songwriter, producter | 1940 - 2016
BornApril 22, 1940 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
DiedMarch 8, 2016, British Columbia, Canada
Biographyby Geoff Pevere
Ray Griff first dented the music charts in the early 1960s, as the author of hits for such American country crooners as Johnny Horton, Jim Reeves and Faron Young. Although a prodigious songwriter, his first hit as a singer was a country reworking of the Clarence Carter soul standard “Patches.” He followed that with eight top 40 country hits between 1975 and 1979. As a producer, Griff has recorded over 700 songs, including “Canadian Pacific” for George Hamilton IV and “Who’s Gonna Play this Old Piano” for Jerry Lee Lewis. In 2008, Griff became the first country songwriter to receive the SOCAN Lifetime Achievement Award.
IN DEPTH
Ray Griff’s life is the kind of life that countless country songs could have been written about. And a solid argument for the case that, once upon a time, anyway, no North American music, save the blues, was as deeply rooted in real pain, hope, determination and the need to be heard as country. Raised poor by a single mother who relocated the family to Calgary when the boy was twelve, Griff was only 17 and musically self-taught when he became Johnny Horton’s opening act on a Western Canadian tour. He was a boy with a guitar, a bunch of self-penned songs, and a vocal stammer that made singing a lot easier than talking. Horton continued to champion the young Canadian and recorded one of Griff’s songs, “Mister Moonlight,” on his bestselling Battle of New Orleans album. After failing to interest the CBC in a show—Griff was told there wasn’t room for two Canadian country singers, and Tommy Hunter was already the anointed token—he made his way to Nashville at the beckoning of an admiring Jim Reeves.
The author of more than 2,000 songs, Griff wrote and/or produced music for some of the loftiest members of the country pantheon—Dolly Parton and Mel Tillis, among them.
Unfortunately, Griff arrived just before the country legend was killed in a plane crash, leaving the Canadian penniless, virtually homeless and without a mentor in the music capital. The determined Griff persisted, impressing such key players as Chet Atkins with his way around an inspirational, radio-friendly ballad, eventually settling into successful stretches with Capitol Records and RCA. Griff charted consistently, both with his own recordings (“Don’t Lead Me On,” “That Weepin’ Willow Tree”) and work for others, including “Baby” for Wilma Burgess and George Hamilton IV’s “Canadian Pacific.” The author of more than 2,000 songs, Griff wrote and/or produced music for some of the loftiest members of the country pantheon—Dolly Parton and Mel Tillis, among them—before settling again in Calgary in the 1970s and largely playing the nightclub circuit. Like the best country songwriters of his era, Griff had a way with an evocative and simple image, the way an object could summon a world of pain and loss. He accordingly mined the hard stuff of his own life and his songs told of things that aren’t there any more, or of the futility of trying to outrun memory. “Canadian Pacific,” perhaps Griff’s most widely re-recorded song, perfectly sums up a style, a sensibility, a psyche: “Canadian Pacific, carry me 3,000 miles/Through the valleys and forests/To the sunshine of her smile/Cross the plains and the rugged mountains/Keep this wandering boy from harm/Canadian Pacific, take me to my baby’s arms.”
Ray Griff first dented the music charts in the early 1960s, as the author of hits for such American country crooners as Johnny Horton, Jim Reeves and Faron Young. Although a prodigious songwriter, his first hit as a singer was a country reworking of the Clarence Carter soul standard “Patches.” He followed that with eight top 40 country hits between 1975 and 1979. As a producer, Griff has recorded over 700 songs, including “Canadian Pacific” for George Hamilton IV and “Who’s Gonna Play this Old Piano” for Jerry Lee Lewis. In 2008, Griff became the first country songwriter to receive the SOCAN Lifetime Achievement Award.
IN DEPTH
Ray Griff’s life is the kind of life that countless country songs could have been written about. And a solid argument for the case that, once upon a time, anyway, no North American music, save the blues, was as deeply rooted in real pain, hope, determination and the need to be heard as country. Raised poor by a single mother who relocated the family to Calgary when the boy was twelve, Griff was only 17 and musically self-taught when he became Johnny Horton’s opening act on a Western Canadian tour. He was a boy with a guitar, a bunch of self-penned songs, and a vocal stammer that made singing a lot easier than talking. Horton continued to champion the young Canadian and recorded one of Griff’s songs, “Mister Moonlight,” on his bestselling Battle of New Orleans album. After failing to interest the CBC in a show—Griff was told there wasn’t room for two Canadian country singers, and Tommy Hunter was already the anointed token—he made his way to Nashville at the beckoning of an admiring Jim Reeves.
The author of more than 2,000 songs, Griff wrote and/or produced music for some of the loftiest members of the country pantheon—Dolly Parton and Mel Tillis, among them.
Unfortunately, Griff arrived just before the country legend was killed in a plane crash, leaving the Canadian penniless, virtually homeless and without a mentor in the music capital. The determined Griff persisted, impressing such key players as Chet Atkins with his way around an inspirational, radio-friendly ballad, eventually settling into successful stretches with Capitol Records and RCA. Griff charted consistently, both with his own recordings (“Don’t Lead Me On,” “That Weepin’ Willow Tree”) and work for others, including “Baby” for Wilma Burgess and George Hamilton IV’s “Canadian Pacific.” The author of more than 2,000 songs, Griff wrote and/or produced music for some of the loftiest members of the country pantheon—Dolly Parton and Mel Tillis, among them—before settling again in Calgary in the 1970s and largely playing the nightclub circuit. Like the best country songwriters of his era, Griff had a way with an evocative and simple image, the way an object could summon a world of pain and loss. He accordingly mined the hard stuff of his own life and his songs told of things that aren’t there any more, or of the futility of trying to outrun memory. “Canadian Pacific,” perhaps Griff’s most widely re-recorded song, perfectly sums up a style, a sensibility, a psyche: “Canadian Pacific, carry me 3,000 miles/Through the valleys and forests/To the sunshine of her smile/Cross the plains and the rugged mountains/Keep this wandering boy from harm/Canadian Pacific, take me to my baby’s arms.”
Contemporary Country Singer-Songwriter | born 1961
