Career
Walker has been the bass singer for the group since 1958. During his tenure with The Jordanaires, the group was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the NACMAI (North American Country Music Association International) Hall of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. During the early 1960s, Ray Walker, Neal Matthews, Hoyt Hawkins, and Gordon Stoker helped mold the genre of country music known as "The Nashville Sound", singing backup harmonies to such artists as Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves.
Also known for his solo recordings, Walker has helped in the development of albums and CDs of a cappella composition performed by, among others, the Freed-Hardeman University Singers and the Harding University Choir.
He has over 600 a cappella worship songs recorded, reportedly being heard in 77 nations. Walker has been recorded nearly every week since he was 13 years old.
He began singing in public at 6 years old. In the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, he was sometimes recorded on 200 songs a week, as aids in church worship in spirit and truth series.
Up to 2006, it is estimated that Walker has been recorded on more than 200,000 songs (including repeats for different services and classes), outside of his professional recording with the Jordanaires, and it is possible that he is the most recorded voice in the history of music over his 66 years of performing and teaching.
In September 1954, Ray married Marilyn DuFresne. Walker continues to perform, although the Jordanaires are no longer a group, since the death of Gordon Stoker on March 27, 2013. The group, occasionally, performed with country crooner Ronnie McDowell in programs dedicated to the memory of Elvis Presley, as well as, other tribute artists in honor of Elvis.
Walker"s most recent interview came in January 2014, with topics ranging from how he joined The Jordanaires, Elvis working in the recording studio, Elvis" first encounter with Priscilla, and the time singer/guitarist Jerry Reed sat in with Elvis.
