Abstract :
The American Johnnie Ray (1927–1990) is best known for his emotional rendition of Churchill Kohlman’s song ‘Cry’, a tune that Ray recorded with Mitch Miller in 1951. This song, along with Ray’s own composition, ‘The Little White Cloud That Cried’, earned Ray nicknames such as ‘The Nabob of Sob’ and ‘The Cry Guy’. Although wildly popular in the mid-1950s, Johnnie Ray was soon overshadowed by his contemporaries and has been virtually ignored by scholars. This essay situates Ray’s music and his hearing impairment in the material and mediated conditions of his life. In addition to interpreting Ray’s signature performances, the essay deals with Ray’s childhood musicality, his appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, the influence of televangelism on Ray, cinematic contexts for his life and art, and the hearing aid technology of the 1940s and 1950s.
