If you ever have the opportunity to speak with a legend who has lived an honest, successful, and fulfilling life, make darn sure you don't pass on the chance. While you're at it, you might want to seriously listen to what this person is saying -- with any luck you'll learn a little about yourself.

Ray Walker is easily one of those legends. Needless to say, I did listen and learned a little about myself.

And a bunch of other interesting stuff, too.

XMFan: What is your earliest musical memory?
Ray: My earliest musical memory is around two years old. My dad was a minister and I can remember singing, "Jesus Loves Me". My mother said I was carrying a tune almost from birth, and I would crawl and scoot around the house humming - even though I didn't know a song.

XMFan: Your family moved around a bit during your childhood. How did that influence your music and life in general?
Ray: I'm seventy years old now and have finally realized I am, you know, an airhead. I must be, because we looked at moving from place to place as a reward, like a Christmas present. I was never afraid of the schools, even though I was a shy kid. I never minded the moving and we were extremely fortunate, especially since my dad always took the hard churches. He was an evangelist, and would always go to the places where they were fussing and fighting... By the time he left they would all be having picnics in the park together.

As the Lord would have it, the educational systems got better and better every time we moved. More things were added. We started singing four-part harmony when I was in the third grade in Paragould, Arkansas. At that time the schools were divided by grades one through six and seven through twelve - they didn't have any other divisions at that time. Around seventh grade we moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, and I had the chance to learn about electricity, drafting, shop, mechanical arts and woodworking. I had six years of learning these skills in school before we moved to Jacksonville, where I graduated high school. I can build my own house thanks to an education that kept getting better.

I went off to David Lipscomb College in June of 1952 and graduated in 1957. I've lived in Nashville ever since.

XMFan: How did your wife Marilyn fit in during all of this?
Ray: We met when we were fourteen years old in Jacksonville, and daddy was the minister of the church they attended. Our churches always had youth groups with young people learning and training, little parties for them, and dad believed the youth really needed that type of experience. We dated for a year and it was all she wrote once I really got to know her. In 1950 she had to go back to Detroit with her dad, who was a skilled machinist. We wrote for about a year and then got separated a bit. I lost touch with her until I got a letter the end of the next year.

When I went to college in Nashville in 1952, I was studying for my final exams one day in December. I put my book down on my desk and told my friend Gary I just had to know where Marilyn was. He asked me the last place where I knew she might be, and I told him she had been living in Detroit but was thinking of joining the Navy. He told me there was a boy in his Bible class from Detroit - he was the only one from Detroit out of 2,200 students that year - and he would have the boy come speak with me. Later that day I spoke with him, his name was Charles Black, and he told me Marilyn was a member of the church where his daddy preached. Out of 52 Church of Christ churches in Detroit at that time she could have attended, she went to that one. He agreed to ask if she'd send her address so I could write.

After the holidays I wrote her and got an airmail letter back! Soon after she came down to visit thirteen of us at Lipscomb that had all gone to church in Jacksonville together. We were dating by the time she left, and were married a year and a half later.

XMFan: I would imagine the pace of your life changed when you joined The Jordanaires in 1958...
Ray: It slowed down, actually. My pace has been about 20 hours a day for as long as I can remember. I have always been involved in youth work, volunteering time as a deputy sheriff, working 72 hours a week on campus in college to make my way through, and so on.

I was teaching school after I graduated in '57 and one day we were having our free period. This was in the spring of '58. I called Lipscomb in reference to a medal I had won for a song leaders contest while I was there but had never received. When I called in to the music hall my former choral director Buddy Arnold answered the phone. Now Buddy had never been early for anything the four years I knew him, but happened to be there early that day. He told me Gordon Stoker had just called him to let him know The Jordanaires were looking for a bass singer. Buddy asked me if I'd be interested, and I told him they were the one group I would consider singing with. He called Gordon right back and gave him my name.

Gordon called me later that day and asked when I could come down to sing with them. We agreed I would come to the studio at WSM that night around eleven, where they would be wrapping up a show. So I went down to WSM, on Seventh Avenue, and sang with them. I was able to do everything they needed me to do - I already knew their number system and had a lower range than the bass they formerly had. When I got home my wife asked me if I had been given the job. I said, "Yeah. They haven't told me so, but we worked well. I'll get the job."

They called me the next day at school and asked if I could go to Hollywood with them to do four singles as The Jordanaires and Four with Tommy Sands for Capitol Records. I got a suitcase and took off for Hollywood. After that I came back to school, and it was getting close to finals time in April of '58. They called to ask if I could travel with them to do Dick Clark's show that weekend and I told them no, because my students had to have substitutes while I was gone and I needed to get them ready for finals. Gordon said, "What if I told you that if you can't go on this trip, we'll have to take our next choice?" I said, "Then you'll have to do it, because if I break this contract to go with you, I would break yours to go with somebody else." He asked when could I start coming to the Opry to get used to things, and I told him, "This Saturday." So I did that, and completed the school year. I officially took the Jordanaires job on June 1, 1958, after school ended, but started working with them in April.

Every major turn in my life has never been planned. I have never filled out a job application in my entire life. And I've never worried about it - I know the money will be there, I know the job will be there, I knew my children were going to be healthy.

XMFan: You have an interesting Elvis story to tell from before you even met him.
Ray: While I was teaching school we had a thirty-minute free period in the mornings. For the back of my classroom I bought an overstuffed sofa and chair, a rug and a table, and a record player, tape player, and radio. I had magazines back there too -- everything from Bugs Bunny comics to Harper's Bazaar and National Geographic. When the students would finish their deskwork to their satisfaction, they could turn in their paper and go back there while the others finished their studies. Well I brought some music down there, including an Elvis Presley record I wanted them to hear. All the kids liked him so I brought the records. I was actually a DJ when Elvis came out in '54, '55, '56, before he even came to RCA, so I had his first records.

One of the teachers down the hall did not like me playing the Elvis records and made a complaint to the school board. They came out to see me, and I asked what this was all about. They said, "Well, we understand you're playing Elvis Presley records in the morning." I told them I did during the thirty-minute free period. They mentioned it was bothering some, and I asked, "Bothering who? It's not bothering the parents." They wouldn't say which teacher had filed the complaint and told me not to play the records anymore. I told them ok, recorded the records on tape, and started playing the songs on tape.

Of course the teacher reported me again and the board came back out. I told them, "I'm not playing Elvis records. I'm playing tapes." They told me not to play the tapes either, and they didn't really want to hear about this again. I said to them, "Look, I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm young, but I know what I'm doing. You see this man (Elvis) as a threat, but I see him as part of a culture coming on. If we don't get used to it, our kids are going to be off the deep end. We'd better learn to fit him in to our lives somehow, because he's going to be around a while." They still told me not to play him and I agreed.

At that point I started to turn the radio on, and they would always play one or two Elvis Presley songs. Finally the board told me not do any of it, even the radio. I informed them that they had drawn their line, and I had drawn mine. I was going to continue playing the radio and if Elvis happened to be on it was their tough luck. I also challenged them to look at my student's grades at the end of the school year - and that the teacher down the hall should mind her own business.

XMFan: How about the first time you actually met Elvis?
Ray: Everyone was nervous during my first Jordanaires session with Elvis. We were looking the other way when Elvis came in. When I turned around, he stuck his hand out and said, "I'm Elvis Presley." I said, "I know who you are. I'm Ray Walker." Elvis replied to me, "And I know who you are." We stood there and talked, and the minute I looked in to his face all his fame left. I saw one of the nicest guys. I'm not really one to keep my mouth shut most of the time, as long as I know there's no harm, so during that all-night session I said to him, "You know, your heart's going to take a beating in this business. And I've only been in it three weeks." (Laughs) I really liked him right off.

There was just an aura about him -- you knew he was around -- and he was one of the most impressive people I have ever met in my life. He knew exactly what he wanted but would not go past what he could do -- he would while he was playing around, but would never put it on a record. He was just a good man, and I never changed my opinion of him.

XMFan: How was life on the road during those early days of rock and roll?
Ray: We always flew when we traveled. During my first year we were doing an average of two sessions a day, five days a week in the studio. Then, for the next twenty to twenty-five years, we were doing two to four sessions a day, seven days a week. We recorded all the time, which is why we couldn't go to the hotel with Elvis. We were on eight out of the top ten songs on the chart several times. At one time, we had a part in nine of the top ten songs on the chart, and would have had all ten if one of our songs wouldn't have dropped out when another came in! On another chart we had eighty-two out of the top hundred songs where we had done backgrounds. I've gotta find that chart -- it was unbelievable.

XMFan: The list of artists you have worked with over the years, like Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves, is just incredible...
Ray: Ricky Nelson, Patti Page, Carol Channing, Andy Williams, George Jones, Ferlin Husky, Conway Twitty, Connie Francis -- over 2500 performers. You just name 'em.

XMFan: How did it feel to be a young man singing in front of such large crowds? Any Butterflies?
Ray: No, I have always performed to full houses. We had a school that would hold 1,100 in one auditorium. In college we had an auditorium that would hold around 2,500. I've been in front of people since I was six years old, and started teaching children's song classes when I was nine. The bigger the crowd the better off you are, because you can't pick out anybody that hates you. (Laughs) We did Hawaii with Elvis, which was incredible, but everywhere we went there was a full crowd. When you're up there doing your work you don't have time to calculate crowd sizes.

XMFan: In how many live performances have you participated over the years?
Ray: Well, I've been in the public eye for over sixty years so probably at least 3,000-plus performances easily, besides church services. I'm in the public somewhere, at some kind of a gathering, every week. And it's been that way for over fifty years.

XMFan: As a singer, then later as the host of your own local show, how did you enjoy the perils of live TV?
Ray: It's a funny thing. We just did what we were supposed to do and never had any disasters that I can remember. As singers we never knew how we sounded going out on the air as far as balance, because we all shared on mic, but would usually sound better with one mic anyhow.

XMFan: Have you saved any memorabilia from your incredible journey?
Ray: Yes, I've got a lot of things in a storage unit that I'm due to do something with - I really need an extra room in my house. I still stay busy as the music minister at my church, among other things, and just don't have the time.

XMFan: What were a few of the last things you remember saying to Elvis?
Ray: One of the last things we ever did was take a walk in the back yard by this round house in Beverly Hills - I called it the "donut house." We talked about God and the presence of God, and discussed the different religions. He was one of the best-read people I have ever met on the subject of religion.

I also remember the last thing we did live with him, which was at RCA Victor around September of 1970. This was when we met Priscilla. He had just come off the road after three weeks and was unhappy with a live album that was in the works, so we were called in to redo some of the country stuff. I got to the studio early, and the big "A" studio is 75 feet wide, 150 feet long, and probably about 50 feet high. He normally worked at RCA "B", but was in "A" this time. The control room is way at one end and the door where we loaded in is on the other end. Elvis was sitting in a metal chair in the control room, listening to a demo and facing where I came in. I came in the back door - and it was a bright day - so I'm sure it caused some sunspots there in the room. Suddenly I saw this rushing figure coming towards me. Elvis ran up to me, grabbed me and lifted me under the arms, and just started to swing me around. He said, "I'm so glad to see you! Are the other guys coming?" I said, "Yeah, they'll be here in a little bit."

So we walked back to the control room and talked a little. He was really hyper after being on the road for three weeks and doing two shows a day. The control guys told me later they wished I could have seen the look on Elvis' face when I came through that back door. They said as soon as I walked though that back door Elvis stood straight up, stepped over the back of the chair, stepped over the railing that divides the people from the control panel, went through the first door, and before that door could even close had the other door open and was running for me. I look back now and it means more now than it did then, because I was just so surprised at the time and it really honored me greatly.

I remember one of the conversations we had in the hallway during that session. I told Elvis I was sorry we couldn't be working with him in Vegas, but that we had our families to... He interrupted me and said, "Listen, don't you apologize. I wish I had as much reason to stay home." That's exactly what he said to me. We would of course chitchat with other people around, but that is probably the last personal thing he ever said to me.

XMFan: How did you hear the dreadful news on August 16, 1977?
Ray: I was driving from a recording session in east Nashville and was coming around town on the loop. It was raining so hard I couldn't see the end of the hood on my car. I was listening to the station I always did to hear how our songs were doing. I'll never forget the voice that came over the air and said, "It is official. Elvis Presley is dead at the age of forty-two." I don't even remember hearing the rest of it. I said out loud, "Would The Colonel pull something like that? Surely he wouldn't do something like this for publicity." By the time I got to my office in Green Hills, which was about another ten miles away, there were reporters waiting from the different networks. I didn't believe it - I didn't know, and I didn't believe it.

Someone at the office asked me what my one wish about Elvis would be if I knew it could be true. I said I would wish he could be around long enough to know how people really loved him. Him. Not his music, not his life, not his image. Him. The person wondered how I would know that, and I said, "Look, when Elvis Presley got so big, the young ones from fourteen on down loved him - little babies too - and the grandmothers and granddaddies. They were the ones that weren't afraid of him. They were the ones that really knew him." And that's true.

I have never felt him gone at all.

XMFan: What are a few observations you have made with the entertainment industry today versus fifty years ago?
Ray: Fifty years ago there were only three music charts, then as the music came along they had to make other charts. Country turned in to rock and roll - Elvis thought he was singing country when he first recorded. So did Conway Twitty. Disc jockey Alan Freed in Cleveland mentioned he didn't know what was happening, but kids were rocking and rolling in the streets. This is where the term "Rock and Roll" came from. Of course now you've got metal, rhythm and blues, you've got bluegrass - so many different varieties, it's unbelievable. Same thing with cars. You used to be able to identify them when there were only three or four companies making them, but now look at what you've got.

The one thing I have really detested is the deterioration of the subject matter in the songs, and what the "Me, me, me, I've got my rights" is doing to this country. I gave talks just about every week in the eighties about how we have started fighting about rights and stopped fighting about principles, and we are writing ourselves in to bondage. Who would have ever thought that in this electronic world, when we could all be enjoying things so much, and serving so many people... You have to remember, the crooks have use of the same improvements. We have not appreciated the progress that man has made. I believe if you don't do at least one thing for someone else every day you aren't much of a human being.

XMFan: As a close personal friend of Elvis, what final words do you have about him?
Ray: I know how Elvis felt and I know how he thought. I'll tell you this... The Bible says, "...the sons of darkness are wiser after the things of this world than the children of light." Elvis did not know how to think like a son of darkness; he just didn't. He always had the same beautiful heart that he ever had. Look at the opinions about him now - look at the records he's selling. It's not because that music is any better than it used to be. But it's Elvis man, it's Elvis... Look at the way he affected people's lives. You don't do that with just talent - you do that by being the person you are.

I'll tell you one more thing I believe about Presley. If Presley is anywhere around... Well he's giving the Devil a fit. His heart was so good that if he's around the Devil, I pity the Devil. (Laughs)

Ray Walker and The Jordanaires can be heard on 50's on 5, 60's on 6, 70's on 7, America, Nashville, Hank's Place, The Village, Spirit, and The Fish.