Formerly a musician with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he can be heard playing on classic pop hits such as Good Vibrations, Thriller, Hotel California and Always on My Mind
US cellist Raymond ‘Ray’ Kelley died on 4 March at the age of 87. A well-known musician on the California music scene, he performed on several albums and film soundtracks, and in 1988 founded his own record label, Resort Music Inc.
Born in 1938, Kelley took the cello aged 13 and was mentored by Justin DiTullo, a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He joined the Utah Symphony in 1956 for one season, after which he performed with the Dallas Symphony for six years and subsequently the LA Phil for five. In 1968 he left the orchestra to concentrate on work as a freelance cellist in the Los Angeles area.
His cello playing can be heard on tracks by Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, the Eagles and Barry Manilow among many others. He was also principal cellist on the soundtracks for The Simpsons and Family Guy, and the Grammy Award-winning 1973 soundtrack album for Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
Kelley founded Resort Music, a music publishing, record and tourism marketing company, in 1988. The label produced instrumental CDs representing areas of the US such as Palm Springs, Chicago and the state of Wisconsin. In 2007 he was asked to fill the newly created position of music advisor for the Palm Springs Unified School District, for which he performed programmes for primary school children.
‘The importance of music education and the arts must never be underestimated. Music education/arts are the basis of world cultures and it is critical to keep them alive,’ he wrote. ‘The 19th-century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said it best: “Music is the international language of mankind.”’
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