Ray Shulman, one of the founder members of 60s soul/psychedelic band Simon Dupree and The Big Sound, and later of 70s prog rockers Gentle Giant, has died at the age of 73.
The Portsmouth born violinist and guitarist formed sextet Simon Dupree and The Big Sound – often labelled as ‘one-hit wonders’ – with his brothers Derek (lead vocals) and Phil (vocals, saxophone, trumpet) in 1966, and they recruited Peter O’Flaherty (bass), Eric Hine (keyboards) and Tony Ransley (drums).
The first few singles from the then blue-eyed soul band were only minor hits, so their record label decided to venture down the often-trod psychedelic route and then they scored their only top-40 hit in 1967 with Kites, which peaked at number nine in November that year.
