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.
But the group hated the song as they thought it was not representative of their particular style and they never darkened the door of the top 40 again, breaking up in 1969 after several more chart misses, including the song We Are The Moles (Part 1 and Part 2), recorded under the moniker The Moles, who many people at the time presumed were The Beatles as it was not revealed who the musicians were.
The following year the Shulman brothers formed Gentle Giant a progressive rock group who recorded several singles and albums throughout the 70s. They recruited Gary Green, Kerry Minnear and Martin Smith (later replaced by Malcolm Mortimore and then John ‘Pugwash’ Weathers) to flesh out the band, with Ray mainly playing bass and violin, while also writing most of their material with Minnear.
Ray stayed with the band for its entirety before disbanding the group in 1980, during which they released 11 studio albums and various live releases, along with six singles. He went into TV and advertising, writing soundtracks, before becoming a successful record producer, working with the likes of The Sugababes and Echo & The Bunnymen.
Gentle Giant released a statement on Twitter, which read: “It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Raymond Shulman on March 30, 2023. He passed away peacefully at home after battling a long illness.
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“He is survived by his wife Barbara Tanner and his brothers Derek and Philip. His family requests privacy at this very sad time.”
Fans responded to the news, with one writing: “Loss of a giant talent, loved your music. Peace to you and your family, while another added: “What a loss. He never got the credit he deserved for his outstanding compositions, unique in every sense of the word.”
There was also this message from another fan: “Oh no. Very sad news. One of the very best musicians of pop music. My condolences. RIP Ray Shulman.”
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