 Over sixty years ago,
a young North Carolina man launched his
career in the music business by accepting
a job as stock boy for Decca Records in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With determination,
talent and a desire for warmer weather,
Eddie Ray moved on to California where he
would find his way from the stock room to
the board room, becoming the first
African-American executive to head a
major recording company. Throughout his
career, he held numerous prestigious and
influential positions with companies such
as MGM Records, Capitol Records (Tower
Record Division), CO-Burt Television
Productions (Record/Music Division),
Imperial Records and Central Record Sales
Company (Independent Record Distributor),
Cream/Hi Records (Memphis Division), as
well as his own Eddie Ray Music
Enterprises, which founded and operated,
The Tennessee College of Recording Arts
& Sciences, a vocational school
specializing in commercial music business
education. His noted expertise and
reputation within the entertainment
industry led President Ronald Reagan to
appoint him as Commissioner of the US
Copyright Royalty Tribunal in Washington,
DC, a position that he held for
approximately eight years.
 Despite not being a musician
himself, Eddie Ray had his finger on the
pulse of the industry and across a
variety of genres. His ability to
recognize talent early on and the skill
to surround them with the right support
team from arrangers to songwriters,
played a key role in the success of
artists like Fats Domino, Rick Nelson,
Donny & Marie Osmond, Pink Floyd,
Hank Williams, Jr and Slim Whitman, just
to mention a few. He also co-wrote the
monster hit, “Hearts Of Stone”
which reached #1 in the pop, R&B and
country charts by the Fontaine Sisters,
The Charms and Red Foley respectively and
has been recorded by over thirty other
artists including Elvis Presley. His
writing abilities also shine in his four
published poetry books and his
autobiography, Against All Odds. But
little did he know that this remarkable
musical journey would lead him back to
his home state of North Carolina to
become not only an inductee of the North
Carolina Music Hall of Fame, but the
Operations Director/Vice Chair as well.
When Mike Curb, the founder and chairman
of Curb Records, combined his passions of
music and motorsports together and opened
the Curb Motorsports Museum for Music and
Motorsports in Kannapolis, North
Carolina, he began wondering why there
was not a North Carolina Music Hall of
Fame. So Mike called his longtime friend
and North Carolina native, Eddie Ray, who
had given him a start early on in his
musical career and after doing some
research, they realized that the North
Carolina Hall of Fame had been
incorporated in 1994 and had inductees
from 1999 and 2001, but with no physical
location, the organization had become
inactive. So in 2009, with the financial
backing of Mike Curb and the leadership
of Eddie Ray, the North Carolina Music
Hall of Fame found a home in Kannapolis,
North Carolina.
The renovated jailhouse now houses the
rich musical heritage of North Carolina
and features displays honoring over 60
inductees from all genres of music
including Country, Bluegrass, Folk, Jazz,
Pop, Gospel, R&B and Beach music.
Those treasured musical sons and
daughters of North Carolina include
Alicia Bridges, Andy Griffith, Anthony
Dean Griffey, Arthur Smith, Ben E. King,
Ben Folds, Bill Griffin, Billy
“Crash” Craddock, Billy Edd
Wheeler, Billy Scott, Billy Taylor,
Charlie Daniels, Clyde McPhatter, Clyde
Moody, Curly Seckler, Del Reeves, Doc
Watson, Don Gibson, Don Schlitz, Donna
Fargo, Dr. Billy Taylor, Earl Scruggs,
Eddie Ray, Fred Foster, George Clinton,
George Hamilton IV, Grady Tate, James
Taylor, J.E. Mainer, Jodeci, John
Coltrane, John D. Loudermilk, John P.
Kee, Johnny Bristol, Johnny Grant, Kate
Smith, Kay Kyser, Les Brown, Loonis
McGlohon, Lou Donaldson, Maceo Parker,
Max Roach, Maurice Williams, Michael
English, Nantucket, Nina Simone, Oliver,
Randy Travis, Rick Dees, Roberta Flack,
Ronnie Milsap, Shirley Caesar, Shirley
Reeves & Doris Jackson (original
members of The Shirelles), Stonewall
Jackson, The 5 Royales, The Catalinas,
The Chairmen of the Board, Thelonious
Monk, Tony Brown, Tori Amos, Victoria
Livengood, Wilbert Harrison and Willie
Weeks as well as honorary inductee, Mike
Curb.
The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame is
“honoring the past, shaping the
future” by inducting 7-9 new members
each year as well as continually
promoting North Carolina’s music
throughout the state and beyond. Although
in his 80s, Eddie Ray shows no signs of
slowing down - his enthusiasm for the
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame and
genuine love for music can be heard by
the excitement in his voice when he
speaks about North Carolina’s
musical past, present and future. With
supporters like Mike Curb, the man who
carved out the future for so many artists
is now preserving North Carolina’s
musical past with the respect and dignity
it so rightly deserves!
The museum is located at 109 W A St,
Kannapolis, North Carolina. For more
information and hours visit their
website.www.NorthCarolinaMusicHallOfFame.org
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