Ray Noren ... who was or where is he?
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- Graham Griffith
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Ray Noren ... who was or where is he?
Okay fellas & gals ... here's a challenge!!!
Ray Noren is a bit of a mystery man. As I mentioned in the post on Zane Beck, he was Zane's first inspiration. Read the following email from Bill Dye:
"Greetings, Mr. Griffith. I'm Bill Dye from Kansas City, Missouri, USA. I read your posting about Ray Noren in the Zane Beck thread with great interest. The elusive Mr. Noren lived in Kansas City sometime back in the fifties, and I've been trying to get any info on him, and contact him if possible. In Winnie Winston's book, he mentioned that Zane added knee levers to Ray Noren's steel in 1952 here in K.C. I,ve played that steel myself!! It's a triple 8 Bigsby that Ray sold to Hal Clampett later, who made it non-pedal again. Mike Black, a frequent Steel Guitar Forum visitor, now owns it. A terrific non-pedaL steeler here in town named Frank Kay knew Ray back then. He said Noren had a trio- him, bass, and drums- and played straight jazz. According to Frank, Ray was a phenomenal player and VERY advanced for the time. Frank, who I occasionally play with, should know. After leaving Cowboy Copas's road band in 1951 or so, he had a western swing band that played around here until the late sixties. At various times he had Thumbs Carlille, Phil Spurbeck, and Curly Chalker in his band!! Anyhow, any information you could share on Ray Noren would be very much appreciated. Thanks, Bill Dye"
I emailed that Zane said Noren had become a jazz bass player in NYC and had quit playing steel because of an eye problem which would have been exacerbated had he continued to play steel guitar. Bill Dye emailed me as follows:
"Lee Jefriess (former Big Sandy and the Flyright Boys steeler) is a player with a strong interest in finding out more about Ray Noren as well. He asked Tom Morrell about Noren once, and Morrell also said he'd heard he was in NYC, and that he might have been working as a psychic!! Tom never heard Ray Noren play, but he had heard glowing reports of what a remarkable a player he was."
If you do a search on "Ray Noren" you get the reported death of a poker expert by the name of Ray Noren in 2002 ... extraordinary steel guitarist, psychic, poker expert ... could this be the same guy?
So, come on let us in on the secret ... what do you know?
Graham
Ray Noren is a bit of a mystery man. As I mentioned in the post on Zane Beck, he was Zane's first inspiration. Read the following email from Bill Dye:
"Greetings, Mr. Griffith. I'm Bill Dye from Kansas City, Missouri, USA. I read your posting about Ray Noren in the Zane Beck thread with great interest. The elusive Mr. Noren lived in Kansas City sometime back in the fifties, and I've been trying to get any info on him, and contact him if possible. In Winnie Winston's book, he mentioned that Zane added knee levers to Ray Noren's steel in 1952 here in K.C. I,ve played that steel myself!! It's a triple 8 Bigsby that Ray sold to Hal Clampett later, who made it non-pedal again. Mike Black, a frequent Steel Guitar Forum visitor, now owns it. A terrific non-pedaL steeler here in town named Frank Kay knew Ray back then. He said Noren had a trio- him, bass, and drums- and played straight jazz. According to Frank, Ray was a phenomenal player and VERY advanced for the time. Frank, who I occasionally play with, should know. After leaving Cowboy Copas's road band in 1951 or so, he had a western swing band that played around here until the late sixties. At various times he had Thumbs Carlille, Phil Spurbeck, and Curly Chalker in his band!! Anyhow, any information you could share on Ray Noren would be very much appreciated. Thanks, Bill Dye"
I emailed that Zane said Noren had become a jazz bass player in NYC and had quit playing steel because of an eye problem which would have been exacerbated had he continued to play steel guitar. Bill Dye emailed me as follows:
"Lee Jefriess (former Big Sandy and the Flyright Boys steeler) is a player with a strong interest in finding out more about Ray Noren as well. He asked Tom Morrell about Noren once, and Morrell also said he'd heard he was in NYC, and that he might have been working as a psychic!! Tom never heard Ray Noren play, but he had heard glowing reports of what a remarkable a player he was."
If you do a search on "Ray Noren" you get the reported death of a poker expert by the name of Ray Noren in 2002 ... extraordinary steel guitarist, psychic, poker expert ... could this be the same guy?
So, come on let us in on the secret ... what do you know?
Graham
- Randy Beavers
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I heard a tape Zane had of Ray. Zane and Ray shared an apartment in K.C. The tape was of a rehearsal with a female singer for a show they were getting ready for. Just Ray and the singer in the living room of the apartment. Ray sounded like Johnny Smith playing behind the singer, intros, turn arounds and all. It did not sound like a steel guitar.
Zane told me that the guitar players in town would give Ray their old flat wound strings to use when they changed strings. He would desgise his guitar to look like a keyboard by attatching a music stand to the front and hanging a towel across the front to hide the legs and knee pedals. Then he would go to the jazz clubs in town and set in with them. The club owners wouldn't know it was a steel guitar.
With his eyes going bad, and the frustration of not being accepted with a steel guitar in the jazz circle, he quit steel and started playing bass. The last Zane knew of him, Ray was in Chicago playing bass in a rock and roll band. I'd love to get my hands on that tape I heard.
Zane told me that the guitar players in town would give Ray their old flat wound strings to use when they changed strings. He would desgise his guitar to look like a keyboard by attatching a music stand to the front and hanging a towel across the front to hide the legs and knee pedals. Then he would go to the jazz clubs in town and set in with them. The club owners wouldn't know it was a steel guitar.
With his eyes going bad, and the frustration of not being accepted with a steel guitar in the jazz circle, he quit steel and started playing bass. The last Zane knew of him, Ray was in Chicago playing bass in a rock and roll band. I'd love to get my hands on that tape I heard.
- Graham Griffith
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- Graham Griffith
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Ray Noren is alive and well and living in New York (L.I.) and can be reached at RaymondNoren@optimum.net
I've been talking with Ray for the past few months and he is quite a guy! A really wonderful gentleman and his wife Trudi Mann is lovely, too. There are many myths out there about him which I've asked him about.
For one, he didn't quit playing steel because of an eye condition.
Anyway, I've been trying to put Ray's story together and it's been very interesting and challenging. One of the amazing things about Ray: as brilliant a musician as he was, he left music many years ago to pursue other things in life and he has accomplished a lot of other things in that time. Some of the music memories are a little hard to recall when you've been out of it for as long as he has. One of my favorites things that he says is, "Music is our drug of choice."
Thanks for telling me about Ray a few years back, Mike.
For one, he didn't quit playing steel because of an eye condition.
Anyway, I've been trying to put Ray's story together and it's been very interesting and challenging. One of the amazing things about Ray: as brilliant a musician as he was, he left music many years ago to pursue other things in life and he has accomplished a lot of other things in that time. Some of the music memories are a little hard to recall when you've been out of it for as long as he has. One of my favorites things that he says is, "Music is our drug of choice."
Thanks for telling me about Ray a few years back, Mike.
- Dave Zirbel
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- Dave Zirbel
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I reread the ad and I'm confused.
Or maybe he is selling it for the "previous" owner the he got it from..
Also the first post on this thread mentions a Bigsby with knee levers...
So if Ray wasn't the original owner, then it wound up in the hands of someone who owned it before Ray..?I'm trying to sell it for the original owner to help with his moving expenses.
Or maybe he is selling it for the "previous" owner the he got it from..
Also the first post on this thread mentions a Bigsby with knee levers...
Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps
Ray was the guitar's only owner until recently--he just sent this guitar to the current possessor of it. He is someone we all know well around here. He is selling with the intention of giving the money back to Ray, an act of kindness.
Ray and Zane came up with the idea of adding knee levers to this one. The Bigsby with pedals came later. Ray used to play this guitar with a little purple curtain draped in front so people couldn't see what he was doing--not that he was trying to fool them, they were just confused and used to think he was dancing.
Like I said, I've been compiling conversations with Ray in the hopes of telling his story. He is a very interesting and brilliant guy.
Ray and Zane came up with the idea of adding knee levers to this one. The Bigsby with pedals came later. Ray used to play this guitar with a little purple curtain draped in front so people couldn't see what he was doing--not that he was trying to fool them, they were just confused and used to think he was dancing.
Like I said, I've been compiling conversations with Ray in the hopes of telling his story. He is a very interesting and brilliant guy.
- Dave Zirbel
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Boy I would love to hear Ray's playing. Are there recordings available?
Last edited by Dave Zirbel on 13 Oct 2011 6:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps
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Nope. But somewhere there is a long lost tape of Ray as mentioned in the original post. Ray thinks he has a copy somewhere.Dave Zirbel wrote:
Boy I would love to hear Ray's playing. Are there recordings available?
He was in Red Foley's band with the Ozark Jubilee, replacing Bud Isaacs (also Curly was in the other band at the same time). As many OJ clips as I've watched, not one of them has Ray in it. He was in the band with Grady Martin and Fiddlin' Red Herron. He also did some sessions and I've been trying to figure out what they were, but no luck yet. Ray was a road musician mostly. I like to think of him as the Buddy Bolden of steel guitar!
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Ray (second from the right with mustache)circa 1957 with Dick Bills, Fiddlin' Red Herron to his left.
Last edited by Mike Neer on 15 Oct 2011 12:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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