Ray Singleton
| Ray Singleton | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Raynoma Mayberry |
| Also known as | Miss Ray Raynoma Liles Raynoma Gordy Raynoma Gordy Singleton |
| Born |
March 8, 1937 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died |
November 11, 2016 (aged 79) Woodland Hills, California, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, Disco |
| Occupation(s) |
Songwriter Producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 1958–2016 |
| Labels | Motown, Shrine, Scepter |
| Associated acts | Apollo, Rayber Voices, Rockwell, Sherrick |
Raynoma "Ray" Mayberry Liles Gordy Singleton (March 8, 1937 – November 11, 2016) was an American R&B producer, songwriter, and vocalist perhaps best known for her association with ex-husband, Berry Gordy during the early days of Motown when she was often known as Miss Ray.
Raynoma Mayberry was born on March 8, 1937, in Detroit, Michigan. She was her mother Lucille’s eighth child, but her first by her marriage to Ashby Mayberry. Although her father worked as a janitor for Cadillac, he did well enough to purchase a house on Detroit’s Blaine Street in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood.
In the mid 1950s, Raynoma met and married Charles Liles, an aspiring musician. They had one son, Cliff Liles, born in December 1955. Burdened by financial pressures, the marriage soon folded.
In 1958, Raynoma and her younger sister, Alice, auditioned as a duo for a young songwriter named Berry Gordy. Sensing that Gordy was not excited about their singing, Raynoma told him that she could also write and arrange music. Before long, she was doing just that, becoming a vital part of his budding operation.
Later, Gordy had her put together a backup vocal group, which was composed of singers who had been hanging around the studio. Gordy, who loved contractions, decided to call the group the Rayber Voices after their given names, Raynoma and Berry. In addition to Ray, the singers in the group were Brian Holland, Robert Bateman, Sonny Sanders and later, Gwendolyn Murray and Louvain Demps. Together, Ray and Berry also formed a music producing and publishing firm, Rayber Music Writing Company.
Tired of the paltry royalty checks that he was receiving, Gordy was encouraged by Ray and Smokey Robinson to start his own record company. Ray located a two-story house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard as the headquarters for the new enterprise. Gordy placed her in charge of the company's publishing operations (now known as Jobete) with the assistance of her brother, Mike Ossman, and Janie Bradford, the company's first receptionist.
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