We went back to L.A. from time to time and I had a chance to do a little more recording. This was in 1950 and 1951… [when] I started changing my [singing] style… Two days didn't go by without someone saying, "Ray, you sound exactly like Nat Cole." Or, "Ray, your voice is the spittin' image of Charles Brown." At first that delighted me. They were bad cats--those two--and I was proud to be confused with them. But after a while these comments started getting to me. I thought it'd be nice if people began to recognize me… So I started experimenting with a different voice. Strangely enough, that voice turned out to be mine… I did some tunes for Jack [Lauderdale, friend and record producer]--"The Snow Is Falling" and "Kissa Me, Baby"--which were about the first ones I'd ever tried without consciously trying to imitate anyone. These songs were the prototype of me… << less