James Ray
Member of Andrew Eldritch's side-project The Sisterhood and the according Chorus Of Vengeance. Having written and produced the music for Gift and Giving Ground, Andrew Eldritch was not able to sing officially in the band, since his record company Warner still held him under contract. It was commonly believed that - due to this fact - James Ray sang/spoke all the lyrics. An interview by Heartland Forum Members with James Ray on these and other issues can be found under here in this thread, see also the interview that Chris Sampson of Glasperlenspiel (the most recent officially endorsed Sisters fanzine) did with James Ray in 2003.
James Ray - together with Carl Harrison - formed James Ray And The Performance. Their single Mexico Sundown Blues was released on Merciful Release in July 1986, shortly after The Sisterhood's Giving Ground single and Gift album. For other projects by James Ray, issued on Merciful Release see our James Ray Discography.
James Ray and Carl Harrison also accompanied Sisters to several TV performances in 1997, one with BBC Top Of The Pops and another one with Roxy TV. The song they performed on both occasions with The Sisters of Mercy (i.e. Andrew Eldritch and Patricia Morrison at the time) was This Corrosion, originally written for The Sisterhood until Eldritch changed his mind.
The TV performance on Top Of The Pops is available here on YouTube, the one at Roxy TV here ... or down below for a listen and an impression ...
External Links
On James Ray
The Sisters of Mercy's statements on
