They dropped into a radio station in October of 1962 (unannounced) and asked if they could record a record. The studio was in the basement of the station. The song was " Hey, Hey, Paula" written by Ray Hildebrand and it went to #1 on the charts by February, 1963. They were encouraged to change their stage names to Paul and Paula after that and they did.
The song sold over 2 million records at the time. They went all over the world with Dick Clark and Ray tells a story that they were singing on a BBC Radio Program. That day they were singing with several groups and the Beatles was one of them. Paul and Paula was #1 in England so the Beatles got bumped because they ran out of air time!!! The Beatles loved them and asked for a picture with them and their autographs.
In 1965 Ray decided he did not want to continue and that the life was not for him. They went their separate ways, he got married and settled down and Jill moved to California and continued her singing career.
In the 1980's Ray started singing contemporary Christian music and was in a group known as Land & Hildebrand, they sang for 27 years.
He moved his family to Kansas City and worked with The Fellowship Of Christian Athletes until he retired.
He still gets together with Jill from time to time to perform for special occasions.
In September, my husband and I got to meet Ray. He performed at a 50th Anniversary for a friend of ours. He gave us a CD of hits and some signed pictures of him and Jill and one of them with the Beatles. What a THRILL to meet an icon from the 1960's, I remember listening to their music for hours.
My friend Ruthie sang Paula's part on "Hey, Hey, Paula".
Here he is tuning his guitar.
.JPG)
My hubby is a guitarist and they had lots in common, Ray would like to visit our church. Can't wait for that.
Linking with ABC WEDNESDAY
.jpg)
Ann
17 comments:
Hi Ann! What a sweet story! I always loved that song! This is a wonderful story. I hope your friend Ray will enjoy visiting your church. It is good to see you here. I am always way behind visiting. We will be in Kansas Nov 7-8. Pray for good weather. We will watch Nick and the team run at Sterling College on Saturday. I am exciting because I am hoping Linda from Prairie Flower Farm will be at their coffeehouse that they recently bought. They live in Sterling! I am always exciting to visit Kansas. We always have a good time and of course, seeing our youngest son helps too!
I need to catch up with you here so I will go over more posts. Thanks Ann, enjoy your week.
Hugs, Anne
I remember that song so well. How great to meet Ray. It was fun to read all the extra info on him that I never knew!
Neat piece of history♪ http://lauriekazmierczak.com/prickly-burrs/
I remember that Beatles story! Fun stuff.
ROG, ABCW
This is a fascinating story. Thanks for sharing. Happy ABC Wednesday and blessings!
I remember that song quite clearly and thanks to Roger knew of The Beatles connection.
Such a talented group of friends you have, enjoyed reading this,
Best wishes,
Di,
abcw team.
What fun. I remember singing along to this song on the radio. It doesn't seem so long ago.
That's a great story. I remember that song. I have it on right now (Youtube) as I'm writing. I like their individual voices and harmonies.
That is so cool! I love that song and often sing it while making dinner or cleaning.
Fun post for P ~ fond memories shared!
Happy Weekend to you,
artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)
I don't know them at all, but I certainly have heard the song once !
Hi Joy,
Back again, just to tell you that the little man on the right of the picture of the Beatles, with his trouser leg pulled up is a famous Liverpool comedian called Arthur Askey.
My dad us to literally, fall about laughing at him. He was on the radio a lot and always opened his act saying 'Hello Playmates'..
I think the photograph was taken at a Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium, a yearly event, in which various acts were invited to perform before the Queen, still happens today !
best wishes,
Di...
abcw team.
What a fun post. And what a "small world!" Thank you for sharing. :-)
OH MY GOSH I remember that song back in my days of romantic songs from the 1960's
How wonderful
He had a good life from your story
I sure like that song.
Hi Ann,
I looked for your Blue Monday post today, and realized I haven't seen you for a while. Hope all is well. How wonderful that you got to hear Ray Hildebrand in person. I, too, remember "Hey, Hey, Paula" fondly.
This caught my eye as I was reading your current post. This was always a favorite song of mine. Thanks for the story about Paul and Paula.
Post a Comment