Drifting with Ray Lewis

It’s not often that a legend drifts into town, plays an understated gig at a local establishment and quietly drifts out again.

But last week, Ray Lewis, the only-surviving lead singer of the legendary rhythm and blues group The Drifters did exactly that. In an interview with GulfWeekly, Lewis revealed his plans to return to the kingdom.
Dressed in jogging shorts and a T-shirt that reads ‘Don’t rush me, I get paid by the hour’, Ray Lewis energetically snakes around the stage at JJ’s during a sound-check. His hips are gyrating to the familiar honey-voiced vocals that for decades had teenage girls squealing with delight.
In a mock whisper the barmaid declares, “I’m going to scream when he sings Under the Boardwalk.”
The ageing crooner who refuses to reveal his age is in great shape. It’s easy to see where his pro-star American footballer son (also named Ray Lewis) gets his genes.
“Here’s something from my new album,” says Lewis, who is still going strong after almost 40 years of performing.
Formed in 1953, the Drifters helped to define R&B music and are one of the longest running bands in history. The group is aptly named. Over the years dozens of singers have drifted in and out of the band, including celebrated names like Ben E King and Charlie Thomas.
In the 70s and 80s Lewis took over as lead singer catapulting him to instant stardom.
“My whole world, everything I knew changed when I joined the Drifters,” he says, “working with The Drifters was like winning the lottery.”
The band’s hits include Saturday Night at the Movies, Save the Last Dance for Me, Fools Fall in Love and Lucille.
Lewis has performed thousands of gigs all over the world and it’s the second time he’s performed in Bahrain.
“We did a lot of work for the Shaikhs years ago in the 70s,” explains Lewis, “we went all over the Gulf, touring Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Dubai and Bahrain. When I was last here it was to perform for the Royal family. This was when there were only one or two million dollar buildings around. It’s really changed.”
Lewis has also played for King of Saudi Arabia, British royals and two US presidents, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.
Speaking with Lewis is surreal. He drops names like Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, and talks of working with everyone from Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross to George Michael and Paul McCartney. 
“I’ve worked with a lot of people who were superstars and who went on to become megastars. We knew Whitney Houston when she was only a baby, doing her thing and starting out, or Tina Turner before she became big,” he says.
For Lewis, performing was a way of life that began as a child.
“Like most black American kids I started singing in church. I was about nine when I started singing gospel. As a kid I used to love listening to Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Ray Charles and Donny Hathaway.”
Lewis’s singing career took off after a stint in the US military and an engineering degree.
While living in Los Angeles in the 70s a friend recommended that he audition for The Drifters and he hasn’t looked back.
Lewis is multi-talented. Over the decades the singer has branched into acting. 
He’s been in movies and had a number of surprising TV parts. He acted alongside Bruce Willis in the cult 80s TV series Moonlighting and also had a two year stint in the detective series Cagney and Lacy.
Not content with performing and acting, Lewis has also written scores for films.
“One of the best people I’ve worked with was Joan Collins. We did the soundtrack for one of her movies and there’s definitely something about her. She’s very inspiring,” he says. Now based in London, Lewis is concentrating on a solo album called Why Goodbye that he gives us a preview of on the JJ’s sound system.
“Nine of the songs are already recorded,” he reveals, “but I’m not sure if I’ll release it on a white label yet.”
Despite enjoying a career which firmly secures his place in R&B and soul history, he is meditative about his achievements.
“I feel like I’m a cog in a massive machine,” he explains. “I realised that today the machine is only working because of old cogs like myself. It’s the old well-oiled cogs which make the machine run as smoothly as it does. People are inspired by what we did in the past, and as a result of that I’m part of history.”
If you missed out on Lewis’ gig at JJs, don’t despair, because the singer plans to return.
“I’ll definitely come back if I’m invited,” he jokes. And he has been.
An outdoor gig at the Coral Beach club is being planned for after Ramadan, and Lewis will return to the island complete with his backing singers to perform another slice of musical history.

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By -RdS-