Ray Dean Reese - Getting Better With Age!

Well, I am currently listening to the Kingsmen's newest album, Missing People.  Aside from the lyrical content, I am finding Ray Dean Reese's bass vocals more and more fascinating.  To me, Ray is known not necessarily for being a 'deep' bass singer, but having a very rich and smooth voice.  I just love that country accent in addition to those other qualities, but on the latest two albums, Ray has exhibited some Gold City-style bass singing.  For instance, on the old favorite Beautiful Home, Ray would touch the G1 after the second run through the chorus, but only "touch" it.  It was a solid note, but nothing sustained.  On When God Ran, Ray ends tracks one and five with solid, sustained A1s, features an Ab1 on track ten, and finishes off track eight, Sound From The Other Side with a full, sustained G1 for nearly six seconds.  When I heard that note, I had to take a second, third, and even fourth listen.  When I heard that the first time, I thought, "Wow...that's deep for Ray!  Must be around A or so..."  When I played the song out on the keyboard, and realized it was a G1, I was shocked.

I am shocked again by the power and depth of Ray's vocals on Missing People.  I haven't gone through the songs on this album and "mapped out" Ray's ending notes, but he surpasses the G1 from the last album.  On track number two, Someday, Ray cuts loose on a full, powerful Gb1 lasting a full nine seconds.  WOW.  I look forward to what Ray has in store in the future.





After a fun bit of scanning the source code on Amazon's page for the song Missing People (ALL of the tracks for the Missing People album are messed up...the track listing for the song Missing People is actually the forty-seven second reprise of Someday), I have gotten this preview embedded for Someday featuring the Gb1 on the end.  Enjoy!

Timothy

EDIT:  Seems the clip through Amazon is no longer present.  Oh well...  I'll have to learn a new way to post audio clips.