While enjoying some excellent west coast blues and R&B found on the Ray Agee – Another Fool Sings The Blues CD (Jasmine Records JASMCD 3258), I was again struck by just how incredibly talented Agee was, how prolifically he recorded, and unfortunately how little awareness his astonishing abilities enjoy outside of only the most rabid of blues and R&B enthusiasts.

After all, Agee consistently made records for a period in excess of 25 years even without ever attaining any work that climbed the charts to being considered a bona fide hit.  As I previously indicated, all but the most “deep in the weeds” blues and R&B enthusiasts know about Agee’s substantial gifts.  But to those fanatics in-the-know, Agee and his brand of blues and R&B rate in rarified air and seen as the tremendous work of certainly one of the most esteemed west coast singers of his time.

For the uninitiated, the question is how best to describe his vocal character.  Without a doubt, there is a rather laidback flair to it, say one similar to that of Bobby “Blue” Bland.  Like Bland, the message of whatever tune he was singing unquestionably comes through, however vocal melodramas were not required.  There was no over-the-top volume or flamboyant scale excursions necessary.   

Such was the allure of Agee’s singing that he cut sides for myriads of the west coast’s top and not-so-well-known labels from the 1950s into the 1970s.  His vocal proficiencies were of such a high level that those who worked some on his recording sessions were individuals whose bodies of work attained legendary status, including San Francisco area blues and R&B producer Bob Geddins, and Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, the Grammy award-winning R&B, pop, and Broadway songwriting and record production tandem. 

 My renewed interest in Agee’s music seems a perfect time to present a brief overview of his life and career.  Like so many on the fringes of the blues and R&B world, while they may have sensational skills and recordings, oftentimes they toiled in their crafts as the “big names” who were being campaigned by the record companies got all the glory and what money there was to be had.  Let’s try to right a wrong here and at least bring some awareness to Agee’s incredible musical aptitudes.

 Raymond Clinton Agee came into the world in early April, 1921 in Dixon Mills, Alabama, an unincorporated district in Marengo County, an area in the lower southwestern third of the state.  As hard as this next fact may be to consider, Agee was one of 17 children in his family, being the eighth in line.  Unfortunately, at the young age of four years-old, Agee contracted polio and was left with a lasting physical impediment.

 While still a youngster, sometime in the 1930s, Agee’s family moved westward to Los Angeles, California.  His parents strove to provide a religious upbringing, and with several of his male siblings he founded a gospel quartet singing group, one named The Agee Brothers, performing in local houses of worship.  As a result, the performing and singing yearnings were strongly kindled within Agee.

 As the 1950s rolled around, Agee turned his attention and energies toward nonspiritual music, and he chose to supply his chilled vocal style (think Charles Brown’s relaxed manner) in the R&B field, though through his career his blues side also reared its head.  Agee’s vocal flairs provided notice that he was someone of high value on the west coast scene, and he made his first recording behind the Richard Brown Orchestra in 1952, one that was released on the small R.K. imprint.

Now, Agee really was bitten by the recording bug, and the next step in his ascension was to record as the featured artist, and that opportunity also came in 1952 when the Aladdin label, owned by Eddie and Leo Mesner (originally named Philo Records), released sides by him where he was accompanied by tenor saxophone great Maxwell Davis and his superb band.

 So popular was Agee’s singing that he went on to record for a who’s-who of west coast record labels in the 1950s including Spark Record Company, Cash Records, TAN Records, Orbit, Elko Records, Ebb Records, Modern Records, and G R A Records. 

 Agee, despite working with some of the time’s best recording sessions people, substantially wrote most of his tunes.  So elevated were some of his songs that they were covered by the likes of west coast giants such as Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Johnny Otis, and the aforementioned Bobby “Blue” Bland.  In later years, one of Agee’s songs was covered by Chicago bluesman Lurrie Bell, and the alternative country and folk-rock band the Cowboy Junkies released a cover of one of Agee’s tunes on a 1993 collection.

In 1960, Agee joined forces with blues and soul musician and tunesmith Johnny Heartsman to cut a stellar version of “Tin Pan Alley” for the Shirley Records label.  Agee went on to record a number of 45rpms for the imprint in the 1960s.  The record stands as a fine document of Agee’s blues capacities.

Throughout the 1960s, Agee remained a consistent record seller, and he plowed forward recording for many west coast and other regional labels including Celeste, Veltone, Check Records, Tri Delt Records, Mar-Jan, Krafton, Brandin Records, Soultown Records, and Jewel Records.  However, despite Agee’s significant vocal skill set, his records sold little outside of his local expanse; the big national chart hit eluded him.

Into the 1970s, Agee continued to record for imprints such as Romark and Watts Way.  And all the labels that have been already indicated that Agee laid-down tracks for, there are still others that his work appeared upon including Prowlin’, Fatback, Born Again Records, and Solid Soul Records.

As the 1970s moved forward, Agee increasingly moved away from the music business.  By mid-April, 1989, he passed away.

Agee’s exhaustive recording legacy is witness to his wide-ranging adaptability as a blues and R&B vocalist.  His efforts warrant a much broader audience.  To that end, thank goodness, compilations of Agee’s work exist on various re-issue labels.  The Jasmine Records assemblage mentioned previously at the beginning of this overview would be the recommended starting point for a solid understanding of Agee’s grand vocal merits.