{{Use American English|date=June 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Short description|American guitarist (1926–2022)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Ray Edenton | image = | caption = | birth_name = Ray Quarles Edenton | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date|1926|11|03}} | birth_place = Mineral, Virginia, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2022|9|21|1926|11|3}} | death_place = Goodlettsville, Tennessee, U.S. | instrument = Guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass, ukulele | genre = Country, rock and roll | occupation = Musician | years_active = 1949–1991 }} '''Ray Quarles Edenton''' (November 3, 1926 – September 21, 2022) was an American guitarist and country music session musician.<ref name=EncyclopediaOfCountryMusic-2012>{{cite book|last1=Kienzle|first1=Rich|editor1-last=Kingsbury|editor1-first=Paul|editor2-last=McCall|editor2-first=Michael|editor3-last=Rumble|editor3-first=John|title=The Encyclopedia of Country Music|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-539563-1|page=151|chapter=Ray Edenton|edition=2nd|oclc=778339718}}</ref>
== Early life == Ray Edenton was born into a musical family on November 3, 1926, and was raised near Mineral, Virginia.<ref name="Nyt" /> His first instrument was a banjo ukulele, and by the age of six, he was performing with his two brothers and cousins at local square dances.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ray Edenton|url=https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/ray-edenton|website=NAMM.org|access-date=January 21, 2018}}</ref><ref name="cmhof" />
After serving in the United States Army during World War II, Edenton and guitarist Joe Maphis joined the Korn Krackers, a band that was regularly featured on the Old Dominion Barn Dance show on WRVA, a radio station in Richmond, Virginia.<ref name=EncyclopediaOfCountryMusic-2012 /> In 1949, Edenton moved to Knoxville, Tennessee to work at radio station WNOX, but was sidelined by a 28-month hospital stay with tuberculosis. Edenton later moved to Nashville, where he began to play acoustic guitar on the Grand Ole Opry.<ref name="cmhof">{{cite web|last1=McCall|first1=Michael|title=Nashville Cats: Salute to Ray Edenton|url=https://countrymusichalloffame.org/nashville-cats/ray-edenton|website=Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum|access-date=January 21, 2018|archive-date=September 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926205917/https://countrymusichalloffame.org/nashville-cats/ray-edenton|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Career == Edenton is considered one of Nashville's most prolific studio musicians, having played on more than 12,000 recording sessions as a member of The Nashville A-Team.<ref name="salute">{{cite news|last1=Friskics-Warren|first1=Bill|title=Country Music Hall of Fame Salutes 'Nashville Cat'|publisher=The Tennessean|date=October 5, 2007|location=Nashville, Tennessee|page=F3}}</ref> In 1949, he played on his first session: Red Kirk's recording of "Lovesick Blues" for Mercury Records.<ref name="ateam-tn">{{cite news|last1=Roland|first1=Tom|last2=Orr|first2=Jay|title=Nashville's 'A Team': The Unsung Heroes of the Nashville Sound|publisher=The Tennessean|date=June 21, 1998|location=Nashville, Tennessee|pages=135–142}}</ref> His first appearance on a major hit was on Webb Pierce's 1953 single "There Stands the Glass".<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|title=Ray Edenton: Biography & History|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ray-edenton-mn0000411455|website=AllMusic|access-date=21 January 2018}}</ref> Edenton played on 26 of Pierce's 27 chart-topping country singles, and also played on other well-known recordings, such as the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love" and "Wake Up Little Susie", as well as Marty Robbins' "Singing the Blues", and Roger Miller's "King of the Road".<ref name="salute" />
Edenton accompanied other artists on recordings, including Julie Andrews, the Beach Boys, Gary Burton, Sammy Davis Jr., Henry Mancini, Reba McEntire, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Leon Russell, and Neil Young.<ref name="cmhof" /><ref name="salute" /><ref name="allmusic" />
Though Edenton could play lead guitar and a variety of other instruments, he is best known as an acoustic and rhythm guitar player. On some of his earlier recordings, he is miscredited as "Ray Eddington".
Edenton retired in 1991.<ref name=EncyclopediaOfCountryMusic-2012 /> He died on September 21, 2022, at the age of 95, in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.<ref name="Nyt">{{cite web|title=Ray Edenton, 'A-Team' Studio Guitarist in Nashville, Dies at 95|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/27/arts/music/ray-edenton-dead.html|last=Friskics-Warren|first=Bill|work=The New York Times|date=September 27, 2022|access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://countrymusichalloffame.org/nashville-cats/ray-edenton Ray Edenton] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926205917/https://countrymusichalloffame.org/nashville-cats/ray-edenton |date=September 26, 2018 }} at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum * {{AllMusic|id=mn0000411455|title=Ray Edenton}} * {{discogs artist|Ray Edenton}} * [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/202861 Ray Edenton recordings] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings * {{IMDb name|5623271}} *[https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/ray-edenton Ray Edenton Interview] at NAMM Oral History Library
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Edenton, Ray}} Category:1926 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:American country guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:American session musicians Category:Guitarists from Tennessee Category:People from Louisa County, Virginia Category:Military personnel from Virginia Category:American ukulele players Category:American country banjoists Category:American country mandolinists Category:American acoustic guitarists Category:American lead guitarists Category:American rhythm guitarists Category:Country musicians from Tennessee Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:United States Army personnel of World War II