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Ray's Autobiography - Part 1
I can't remember when my life wasn't touched by music. My Dad was off fighting in the war about the time I was a year old. Me, my Mom, and her two sisters all lived together with Big Momma and Big Daddy (grandparents on my Mom’s side). It was a fairly small house, so they had to put my crib in the living room where the family band (my Mom, her sisters Lois and Jean and brother Bobby) rehearsed everyday. I knew the words to “Rum and Coca-Cola” by the time I was a year old.

Big Momma and Big Daddy had a medicine show they took on the road every summer. They couldn't leave me home, so they bought a small trailer that they pulled behind an old Dodge station wagon. Mom and I stayed in the trailer. I'd watch them set up the stage and test the old Bogan P.A. At night I would sit in a chair with Big Momma and watch Mom play.
Ray with Big Momma and Big Daddy
Then Big Daddy would come on stage. He would play a song on his harp and start selling his home-made lye soap, cure-all tonic and snake oil. During the intermission we would sell popcorn, Cokes, and saltwater taffy with “a prize in every box”. One box always contained the “Grand Prize"; a cheap pen and pencil set. At the end of the night me and my cousin Ronnie would collect the Coke bottles for the deposit. Back then the bottle was worth more than the Coke!

My Dad was fighting the war overseas flying B-24 Bombers. After the war Mom couldn't get Dad to leave the Air Corps and Mom couldn't live a military life, so Mom and Dad divorced.

Ronnie was at the age were he had to start to school so his Mom and Dad (Lois, my Mom’s sister and George, Lois’ husband), took Ronnie home to get him enrolled in school.

That was the beginning of the end of the medicine show. Mom later married a rodeo cowboy named Tex Dean. Tex trained horses and was a rodeo trick rider, bullwhip artist, and was also a country western singer. He was a long-time friend of Tom and Mabel Mix.

After Tom Mix's tragic death, Tex and Mabel remained good friends and performed together in Bradley and Benson's Wild West Show. Bradley and Benson was a combined circus and Wild West Show, later to be named Bradley and Dean.

Tex was gaining weight and pulled his horse over on him while doing an over-and-under belly roll at full gallop. That ended his trick riding days. Mabel wanted to retire and move to Florida, so that ended the Wild West show.

Without the Wild west show the circus wasn't big enough to compete with the bigger circuses like Ringling Bros. They sold everything but the big top to break even. The big top would now become a tent show called the Hillbilly Jamboree. Tex's horse Skeeter could still do all his tricks even though Tex couldn't. They put the band back together, replacing Lois with Tex's brother Clarence on bass. The Jamboree consisted of a great comedy show and dance band, and featured Tex and his Wonder horse Skeeter, as well as Tex’s bullwhip act. At this point I only had a couple years left to travel with the show until I had to start to school.
Big Daddy and Dino, our chimp, taking a break inside the Big Top
Stepdad Tex Dean and his great trick horse, Skeeter