What a rockabilly joker

Ray Campi’s Civil Disobedience backed with He’s a Devil (In His Own Home Town) gave Sonobeat its first and only novelty 45 RPM single. Recorded and released in 1968 and credited to “Ray Campi Establishment”, Civil Disobedience was Ray’s own take on the same general subject addressed by Country Joe and the Fish in their 1965 single, I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die: hippie sit-ins, protests, and riots in reaction to the unpopular Vietnam conflict. The “B” side, He’s a Devil, is a classic Irving Berlin-Grant Clark tune, written in 1914, performed by Ray in a 1930s style reminiscent of The New Vaudeville Band’s 1966 hit, Winchester Cathedral. But Ray’s rockabilly sensibilities distinguished his performances, so that neither Civil Disobedience nor He’s a Devil sounded derivative. Ray gave both songs a fresh take on vintage styles.

Ray Campi publicity photo (circa mid-1960s)

Ray’s performing and recording career spanned more than half a century, continuing into the early 20-teens. Based in Austin, Ray began his musical career in the 1950s, and, therefore, came to Sonobeat in 1968 well prepared for the recording studio, bringing along professional sidemen, including Henry Hill on banjo and Jay Clark on sax. Ray’s tracks were among the first recorded at Sonobeat’s home-based Western Hills Drive studio in northwest Austin, and, in fact, Ray overdubbed his vocals in producer Bill Josey Sr.’s living room.

Civil Disobedience and He’s a Devil were among Sonobeat’s better produced tracks during its early history. Unfortunately, however, the single – perceived as neither fish nor fowl – got little radio airplay, leading to poor sales, and, as a result, was a commercial failure. Nonetheless, both the Ray Campi Establishment and Ray’s single for Sonobeat were unique and wholly entertaining.

Ray Campi Establishment master tape

Ray Campi Establishment’s Sonobeat single

Ray moved to Hollywood shortly after the Sonobeat recording sessions and took a teaching job at a Los Angeles junior high school. But he couldn’t jettison music from his core, eventually returning to Austin to reboot his singing career. Ray’s big break, however, came in the 1970s, when he was rediscovered and began recording for the Las Vegas-based rockabilly-centric Rollin’ Rock label and resumed touring. Known far and wide as “The King of Rockabilly”, Ray was inducted into the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame in 1983 and into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in the late 1990s. Raymond Charles Campi Jr. passed away in his sleep, at age 86, on March 11, 2021.

A candid taken during a break in Ray Campi’s Sonobeat recording session