Like many singers before and since, Ray initially patterned his singing on the lines of a performer he greatly admired --- the legendary Jimmie Rodgers. It was inevitable though, that his own style would emerge, and that it would be this particular style of performing that would lift him to the top of his new-found profession. Before Hollywood beckoned, Ray would perform in such places as New York's Stork Club, at world championship rodeos, and after only three years of making the decision to become a professional singer, was already well-known as a radio performer and recording artist. When called to Hollywood he was to play bit parts in movies with headliners like Bill 'Hopalong Cassidy' Boyd, Gene Autry and Tex Ritter, but the parts were slow in coming, and once more Ray headed for New York. However, his movie work had not gone unnoticed, and in 1937 he was contracted, along with his Six-Bar Cowboys, to star in a musical short for RKO Radio Pictures. If the first proved successful, others would follow. And they did. Between 1937 and 1942 eighteen were released, and every one a grand piece of entertainment. Each would be introduced by the El Capitan Yodel, while in between songs and instrumental solos, a light and usually amusing story would unfold. It is my sincere belief that the passing years have not diminished the entertainment value of any of these short features, and that if screened on TV today, they'd certainly prove superior than the majority of current series s