{{Short description|American R&B producer, songwriter and vocalist (1937–2016)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Ray Singleton | image = Ray Singleton.webp | caption = | image_size = | alias = Miss Ray<br>Raynoma Liles<br>Raynoma Gordy<br>Raynoma Gordy Singleton<br>Raynoma Ossman | birth_name = Raynoma Mayberry | birth_date = {{birth date|1937|3|08}} | birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | death_date = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|2016|11|11|1937|3|8}}}} | death_place = Woodland Hills, California, U.S. | instrument = Vocals, piano | genre = R&B, Disco | occupation = Songwriter<br />Producer | years_active = 1958–2016 | label = Motown, Shrine, Scepter | associated_acts = Apollo, Rayber Voices, Rockwell, Sherrick }}
'''Raynoma Mayberry Liles Gordy Singleton''' (March 8, 1937 – November 11, 2016) was an American R&B producer, songwriter, and vocalist perhaps best known for her association with ex-husband, Berry Gordy during the early days of Motown when she was often known as '''Miss Ray'''.
==Early life== Raynoma Mayberry was born on March 8, 1937, in Detroit, Michigan. She was her mother Lucille's eighth child, but her first by her marriage to Ashby Mayberry. Although her father worked as a janitor for Cadillac, he did well enough to purchase a house on Detroit's Blaine Street in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood.<ref name='Singleton-Detroit'>{{cite book |last1=Gordy Singleton |first1=Raynoma |title=Berry, Me and Motown |edition=First |year=1990 |publisher=Contemporary Books |location=Chicago |isbn=0-8092-4340-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/berrymemotownunt0000sing/page/4 4–22] |chapter=Detroit |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/berrymemotownunt0000sing/page/4 }}</ref>
In the mid 1950s, Raynoma met and married Charles Liles, an aspiring musician. They had one son, Cliff Liles, born in December 1955. Burdened by financial pressures, the marriage soon folded.<ref name='Singleton-Detroit'/>
==Career==
===Early association with Berry Gordy=== In 1958, Raynoma and her younger sister, Alice, auditioned as a duo for a young songwriter named Berry Gordy. Sensing that Gordy was not excited about their singing, Raynoma told him that she could also write and arrange music. Before long, she was doing just that, becoming a vital part of his budding operation.<ref name='Gordy-Songwriting'>{{cite book |last1=Gordy |first1=Berry |title=To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown |edition=First |year=1994 |publisher=Headline Book Publishing |location=New York |isbn=0-7472-1417-4 |pages=84–108 |chapter=The Songwriting Years: 1957-1959 |quote=Soon she was writing out little lead sheets, chord arrangements and helping with background singing. She made life easier for me. I liked it, and before long I was used to it.}}</ref><ref name='Singleton-Rayber'>{{cite book |last1=Gordy Singleton |first1=Raynoma |title=Berry, Me and Motown |edition=First |year=1990 |publisher=Contemporary Books |location=Chicago |isbn=0-8092-4340-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/berrymemotownunt0000sing/page/23 23–59] |chapter=Rayber:1958 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/berrymemotownunt0000sing/page/23 }}</ref>
Later, Gordy had her put together a backup vocal group, which was composed of singers who had been hanging around the studio. Gordy, who loved contractions, decided to call the group the Rayber Voices after their given names, ''Ray''noma and ''Ber''ry. In addition to Ray, the singers in the group were Brian Holland, Robert Bateman, Sonny Sanders and later, Gwendolyn Murray <ref name='Gordy-Songwriting'/> and Louvain Demps.<ref>{{cite book |title=Motown - From the Background |last=Wright |first=Vickie |year=2007 |publisher=Bank House Books}}</ref> Together, Ray and Berry also formed a music producing and publishing firm, Rayber Music Writing Company.<ref name='Singleton-Rayber'/>
===Motown=== Tired of the paltry royalty checks that he was receiving, Gordy was encouraged by Ray and Smokey Robinson to start his own record company.<ref name='Gordy-Songwriting'/><ref name='Singleton-Tamla'>{{cite book |last1=Gordy Singleton |first1=Raynoma |title=Berry, Me and Motown |edition=First |year=1990 |publisher=Contemporary Books |location=Chicago |isbn=0-8092-4340-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/berrymemotownunt0000sing/page/65 65–79] |chapter=Tamla |quote=You know, we aren’t some mom-and-pop fly-by-night operation. What we have to do now is start our own label. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/berrymemotownunt0000sing/page/65 }}</ref> Ray located a two-story house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard as the headquarters for the new enterprise. Gordy placed her in charge of the company's publishing operations (now known as Jobete) with the assistance of her brother, Mike Ossman, and Janie Bradford, the company's first receptionist.<ref name='Gordy-Motown:1959-1960'>{{cite book |last1=Gordy |first1=Berry |title=To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown |edition=First |year=1994 |publisher=Headline Book Publishing |location=New York |isbn=0-7472-1417-4 |pages=109–137 |chapter=Motown: 1959-1960 |quote=Because of her knowledge of music and lead sheets, I put her in charge of the publishing operation, where she got tremendous help from her mother, Mike Ossman, and Janie Bradford, our first receptionist.}}</ref>
After the birth of their child, Kerry, and his divorce from his previous wife was final, Ray and Berry Gordy were married.<ref name='Gordy-Motown:1959-1960'/> Not long after the marriage, Gordy began having an affair with Margaret Norton, who he once described as "the most beautiful woman in Detroit." However, by the time he finally decided to end the affair, his marriage with Ray was over.<ref name='Gordy-Fittest'>{{cite book |last1=Gordy |first1=Berry |title=To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown |edition=First |year=1994 |publisher=Headline Book Publishing |location=New York |isbn=0-7472-1417-4 |pages=138–195 |chapter=Survival of the Fittest: 1960-1964 |quote=Both wanting the breakup to be quick and painless, we got a Mexican divorce by mail. Ray wanted to continue working for the company. She wanted to take Kerry, our son, and move to New York and open a Jobete office there. I said okay.}}</ref> As the details of their separation were being worked out, Ray indicated that she still wanted to work for Motown. Gordy accepted her proposal to establish an office of Jobete in New York City.<ref name='Gordy-Fittest'/>
However, with the cost of living being much higher in New York than Detroit, Ray struggled to get proper funding to maintain her office. After repeated attempts to obtain additional funding had failed, Ray decided to take desperate measures. Against the advice of Eddie Singleton (her partner and future husband) she arranged to bootleg five thousand copies of the Motown single, "My Guy" by Mary Wells to keep the office open.<ref name='Singleton-Busted'>{{cite book |last1=Gordy Singleton |first1=Raynoma |title=Berry, Me and Motown |edition=First |year=1990 |publisher=Contemporary Books |location=Chicago |isbn=0-8092-4340-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/berrymemotownunt0000sing/page/149 149–164] |chapter=Busted:1963-1967 |quote=Bootlegging came with the territory in the music business. By-passing distributors and artists' and writers' royalties for direct payment to one individual was as routine as the sun coming up in the morning. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/berrymemotownunt0000sing/page/149 }}</ref>
When Berry Gordy found out what happened, he was furious. He did not however, press charges. After their divorce was finalized, they remained on amicable terms. So much so that after Ray married Eddie Singleton, Gordy loaned the couple money so that they could start their own record label in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.<ref name='Gordy-Fittest'/>
===Shrine Records=== Ray and Eddie Singleton formed a record label, Shrine, which was based in Washington, D.C. When the label proved unsuccessful, Ray returned to Motown in 1968.<ref name='Gordy-Fittest'/>
===Super Three=== Raynoma formed a partnership with Motown under the Super Three banner. One of the most successful projects under that arrangement was Rockwell’s Top 10 album, ''Somebody's Watching Me'', in which she served as executive producer.<ref name='Singleton-Super-Three'>{{cite book |last1=Gordy Singleton |first1=Raynoma |title=Berry, Me and Motown |edition=First |year=1990 |publisher=Contemporary Books |location=Chicago |isbn=0-8092-4340-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/berrymemotownunt0000sing/page/288 288–301] |chapter=Super Three |quote=It wasn’t exactly a full partnership, since the money was Berry’s. We were still Motown, but we had an independent budget, which he controlled as chairman of the board, and with which we sought to produce artists who were the cream of the crop. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/berrymemotownunt0000sing/page/288 }}</ref><ref name='Watching'>{{cite AV media notes |title=Somebody's Watching Me |others=Rockwell |year=1984 |publisher=Motown Records }}</ref>
==Personal life== Ray Singleton was married three times and has three sons and one daughter from her various marriages.
Her first husband was Charles Liles; they have one son together, recording artist Cliff Liles. Cliff has recorded for Motown with two groups, Apollo and Kagny & The Dirty Rats.<ref name='Apollo'>{{cite AV media notes |title=Apollo |others=Apollo |year=1979 |publisher=Gordy Records }}</ref>
From 1960-1964, Singleton was married to her second husband, Berry Gordy; they have one son together, musician and entertainment executive Kerry Gordy. Kerry was also a member of the group Apollo, along with his brother, Cliff Liles.<ref name='Apollo'/>
From 1966-1970, Singleton was married to her third husband, Eddie Singleton; they have one son together, William Edward Singleton, Jr., as well as a daughter, recording artist Rya Singleton.
===Death=== Singleton died on November 11, 2016, of brain cancer in Woodland Hills, California.<ref>{{cite news|author=Ben Sisario |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/04/arts/music/raynoma-gordy-singleton-motown.html |title=Raynoma Gordy Singleton, an Early Motown Force, Dies at 79 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1937-03-08 |accessdate=2020-04-20}}</ref><ref>[http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/raynoma-singleton-obituary?pid=1000000182595545 "In Memory Of Raynoma Gordy Singleton", ''Legacy.com'']</ref>
==Credits==
===Producing=== {{Clear}} {| class="wikitable" !style="text-align: center;"|Release date !style="text-align: center;"|Album !style="text-align: center;"|Artist(s) or Group !style="text-align: center;"|Capacity(ies) |- |1979 |style="text-align: center;"|''Apollo''<ref name='Apollo'/> |style="text-align: center;"|Apollo |style="text-align: center;"|Producer |- |1984 |style="text-align: center;"|''Somebody's Watching Me''<ref name='Watching'/> |style="text-align: center;"|Rockwell |style="text-align: center;"|Executive Producer |- |1985 |style="text-align: center;"|''Captured''<ref name='Captured'>{{cite AV media notes |title=Captured |others=Rockwell |year=1985 |publisher=Motown Records }}</ref> |style="text-align: center;"|Rockwell |style="text-align: center;"|Executive Producer |}
==Bibliography== * {{Citation | last = Singleton | first = Raynoma | year = 1990 | title = Berry, Me and Motown : The Untold Story | publisher = Contemporary Books | isbn = 978-0809243402 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/berrymemotownunt0000sing }}.
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} ==Bibliography== *{{cite book|first=Raynoma|last=Gordy Singleton|title=Berry, Me, and Motown|date=1990|publisher=Contemporary Books|isbn=9780809243402}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0802327}} *[http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Raynoma-Singleton&lc=2240&pid=182595545&mid=7165318 Obituary]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Singleton, Ray}} Category:1937 births Category:2016 deaths Category:American autobiographers Category:American music industry executives Category:American pop pianists Category:American women pianists Category:Record producers from Michigan Category:American soul musicians Category:Motown artists Category:Songwriters from Michigan Category:Singers from Detroit Category:American women record producers Category:American women autobiographers Category:African-American women songwriters Category:African-American pianists Category:20th-century African-American women singers Category:20th-century American women singers Category:20th-century American singers