Hillbilly-Music.com - Keeping Country Music History Alive
Hillbilly-Music Folio Display


Who Ray Crisp
What Ray Crisp, Played With Country Music Greats
When September 17, 2018
Where Gastonia, NC
 

Gastonia lost something of a star Sept. 17.

But most people who crossed Ray Crisp’s path wouldn’t have known it. The 83-year-old was never one to brag about his exploits — even when they involved traveling around the country playing music with country music legends.

Crisp, who died at home after declining health, lived a remarkable life. He was married to his wife, Mary Daphine Crisp, for 65 years, he was a father and a grandfather, and his fiddle is in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Crisp was the first fiddle player in a country music group to play at RKO Palace Theater on Broadway in New York City, in 1955. He played on the Grand Ole Opry and toured with big-name acts of the 1950s and ’60s like Kitty Wells, Johnny and Jack, Roy Acuff and Ray Price.

“Ray was a quiet person,” his wife Daphine said. “He didn’t brag. You would never know he ever played with any of these stars. We’ve got the pictures to prove it, but he never once bragged about where he’d been.”

The living room of the Crisp house is filled with memorabilia — mostly photos of Ray playing on stage with the who’s who of country music past or posing with musicians while on tour. Daphine said her late husband was a natural musician who “never took a lesson in his life.”

Flipping through a photo album in her home Friday, Daphine pointed out several autographed photos from musicians who shared a stage with her husband at one point or another. She even opened a few personal Christmas cards sent from famous musicians — including the legendary George Jones.

At her home on Friday, Daphine teared up as she listened to her late husband play fiddle and sing “I wish I Could Fall in Love” on an old record from Don Reno & His Tennessee Cut-Ups.

To Daphine, Crisp was always a star. That’s how she saw him the first time they met on Nov. 2, 1952, during a square dance in a Gastonia gym. Crisp was on stage playing fiddle, but Daphine doesn’t remember how it sounded.

“I really wasn’t paying that much attention to the fiddle,” Daphine said. “I just thought he was a cute little red-headed fella.”

Within a year, they were married, and Crisp was soon traveling to play music. Crisp had various gigs, including shows with WLOS-TV act Cousin Wilbur in Asheville. There, he caught the ears of Tennessee musicians Kitty Wells, her husband Johnnie Wright and his bandmate Jack Anglin. Crisp started playing on the Opry in 1954, and he would spend about 12 years performing in Nashville, Tenn., staying with Wells and Wright and coming back to Gastonia when he wasn’t working. The Crisps didn’t really like the way Nashville was set up, Daphine said, so she stayed here. As their family grew, Crisp decided he wanted to spend more time back in Gastonia, and he basically gave up professional music, Daphine said.

“He was starting to write a lot of music for himself but he stopped,” Daphine said. “He didn’t pursue it… His family meant more to him than the music.”

He was 38 when he retired, and a Gazette profile at the time called him “a retired star.”

Of course, Crisp still took out his fiddle every now and then, including when he played onstage with his sons and other local musicians during one of Gastonia’s old Fish Camp Jam festivals.

Though Crisp met his fair share of big-name acts, there was at least one time he was underwhelmed: When he met a young musician from Tupelo, Mississippi, by the name of Elvis Presley.

He called Daphine to say, “That boy will never make it.”

“Two or three years later, Ray said, ‘Boy, was I wrong,’” Daphine said.

Crisp’s name might not have been well-known around town, but he made an impression on more than a few superstars.

Bob Bigger, who was a country music DJ, met Crisp when the two worked at Burlington Industries Flint Mill in the 1970s. It was after Crisp, in the words of his wife, “closed his fiddle case.” Crisp was able to give Bigger anecdotes about touring, which Bigger was then able to turn into personal connections with guests he was interviewing — something he now says was transformative for his career.

“I would talk about an experience, and almost without fail, their faces would light up, and they would smile and say, ‘Well, how in the world did you hear about that?’ and I would say, Ray Crisp,” Bigger said. One time in 1975, Bigger says, Willie Nelson even recorded a personal message for Crisp while in the studio.

“He grabbed the microphone out of my hand and said, ‘Hey, Ray, if you’re there pal, come see me,’” Bigger said.

The Crisps attended Gastonia Church of Christ, and Daphine said their faith was — and continues to be — and important part of their story. Throughout her husband’s career as a musician, millworker, father and grandfather, Daphine said she’s had one constant feeling.

“I was proud of him,” she said. “I’ve always been proud of Ray.”

Other Articles of Interest:

(Note: Some news media sites require user registration to read articles and/or to send you 'targeted' email from advertisers.)

 
Contact Dashiell Coleman
Gastonia Gazette


Hillbilly-Music.com

Yes, Hillbilly Music. You may perhaps wonder why. You may even snicker. But trust us, soon your feet will start tappin' and before you know it, you'll be comin' back for more...Hillbilly Music.

Hillbilly-music.com ...
It's about the people, the music, the history.