Ronnie Milsap
b. Ronnie Lee Millsaps, 16 January 1943, Robbinsville, North Carolina, USA. Milsap's mother had experienced a stillborn birth and the prospect of raising a blind child made her mentally unstable. Milsap's father took him to live with his grandparents and divorced his mother. What little vision young Ronnie had was lost after receiving a vicious punch from a schoolmaster; both eyes have now been removed. He studied piano, violin and guitar at the State School for the Blind in Raleigh, and although he had the ability to study law, he chose instead to be a professional musician. After some workouts with J.J. Cale and a 1963 single,’Total Disaster’, for the small Princess label, he toured PLAYBOY clubs with his own band from 1965. Among his recordings for Scepter were early compositions by Ashford And Simpson, including the memorable Let's Go Get Stoned, relegated to a b-side. A few months later it was a million-selling single for another blind pianist, Ray Charles. Following a residency at TJ's club in Memphis, Milsap performed at the 1969 New Year's Eve party for Elvis Presley. Presley invited him to sing harmony on his sessions for Don't Cry Daddy and Kentucky Rain, ironically the only time he has been part of a UK chart hit. After several recordings with smaller labels, Milsap made RONNIE MILSAP, for Warner Brothers, with top soul and country musicians. He worked throughout 1972 at Roger Miller's King Of The Road club in Nashville, and then signed with RCA. WHERE THE HEART IS was a tuneful, country collection including the US country hits, I Hate You and The Girl Who Waits On Tables. Pure Love is among the most uplifting country singles of all time, while Don Gibson's I'd Be A Legend In My Time was even more successful. In 1975, Milsap came to the UK as Glen Campbell's opening act, and the strength of his concert performances can be gauged from RCA's IN CONCERT double-album, hosted by Charley Pride, in which he duets Rollin In My Sweet Baby's Arms’ with Dolly Parton and tackles a wild rock ‘n’ roll medley. His live album from the GRAND OLD OPRY, shows a great sense of humour— ‘You don't think I'm gonna fall off this stage, do you? I got 20 more feet before the edge. That's what the band told me.’ He had a crossover hit—number 16 on the US pop charts—with Hal David's, It Was Almost Like A Song. Milsap bought a studio from Roy Orbison, GroundStar, and continued to record prolifically. In 1979, RCA sent an unmarked, pre-release single to disc jockeys, inviting them to guess the performer. The funky seven-minute disco workout of Hi-Heel Sneakers was by Milsap, but, more often than not, he was moving towards the Barry Manilow market. Milsap also helped with the country music score for Clint Eastwood's film, BRONCO BILLY, and he recorded a flamboyant tribute album to Jim Reeves, OUT WHERE THE BRIGHT LIGHTS ARE GLOWING. A revival of Chuck Jackson's Any Day Now (My Wild Beautiful Bird) reached number 14 on the US pop charts and also became Billboard's Adult Contemporary Song Of The Year. His LOST IN THE FIFTIES TONIGHT album had doo-wop touches, but the album should have remained completely in that mould. Milsap also recorded a duet with Kenny Rogers, Make No Mistake, She's Mine. He moved away from synthesizers and sounded more country than ever on Stranger Things Have Happened. Enjoying his 35th US country number 1 with a Hank Cochran song, Don't You Ever Get Tired (Of Hurtin' Me), Milsap remains a formidable force in US country music, and only Conway Twitty and Merle Haggard have had more chart-toppers. It shows remarkable consistency by an artist with little traditional country to his name.