Percussionist to the stars who has performed with a
who's who of The British Invasion, including The Who, with whom he
started his prolific career in the '60s.He
followed this by collaborating with Elton
John
on most of his 1970s albums, an artistic collaboration that
continued well into the '90s.Cooper befriended The Rolling Stones when he performed on their 1974
release, It's Only Rock and
Roll, and went on to contribute his energetic percussive talents to
Bill Wyman's 1981 solo effort and 1997's Struttin' Our Stuff, and Mick Jagger's
1985 release, She's the Boss.So enamoured of Ray was
Elton
that in the 1970s, and later on in the '90s, Elton
went on a "solo" tour that included Ray.This
included Elton's
groundbreaking Russia concerts in 1979.Ray
also appeared in concert with Elton
and Billy Joel on their Face To
Face tour in 1994 and 1995.In 2002, he appeared in and produced the Concert for George.Ray branched out into film in the '70s when he performed on
the soundtracks of Tommy and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band.He became even more
involved in the '80s and '90s thanks to a creative partnership
with Terry Gilliam, acting as Music Producer for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (in which he also played a
functionary) and A Private Function.He also composed music for Brazil (in which he played a
technician), Monty Python Live at the
Hollywood Bowl, and Time Bandits,
and appeared as the preacher in the 1980 musical comedy, Popeye.The list of artists and groups he
has worked with would cover his drum set in small print, but includes Joan Armatrading, Liona Boyd, Eric
Clapton,
Ian Dury, Yvonne Elliman, Herbie Flowers, Art
Garfunkel, Nicky
Hopkins , INXS,
Davy Johnstone, Linda Lewis, Paul
McCartney & Wings,
Harry Nilsson, Roy
Orbison, Pink Floyd, Chris Rea, Carly Simon, Ringo Starr , Ali
Thompson, Jeff Wayne, and The Wombles.Ray is still active in the recording
studio, and recently appeared on Katie Melua's
2007 release, Pictures.
