Reverend Oris Mays

Oris Mays (1935-April 21, 1996) was an American preacher, gospel singer and songwriter.

Born in Lambert, Mississippi, he came to Memphis, Tennessee as a teen and graduated from Melrose High School. He studied theology at J. L. Campbell School of Religion and Brewster Seminary.[1]

Mays was pastor of the Boston Baptist Church in Memphis from 1960 to his death.[2]

His recording career unfolded with Don Robey's Song Bird Records, and Jewel Records. Song Bird released an album titled Tribute In Prayer (from A Soldier In Vietnam) in 1966. A compilation appeared in 1973, and another album the next year.[3] In Jewel he had single and album releases from 1965 to 1982.[3][4] Before the end of the 1970s he released materials with Creed/Nashboro Records.[5][6] A sole 1985 release by Atlanta International Records was followed by one from Miracle Records. Some of the recordings featured his congregation's choir, The Bostonians.[7] In the 1990s he occasionally appeared with Reverend Clay Evans.

Mays also co-owned a Beale Street record shop. He produced gospel records for The Johnson Ensemble and The Masonic Travelers under Jewel Records,[8] Ollie Collins Jr under Song Bird,[9] and a secular one for The Seven Brothers.[10] From November 1968 he was A&R person and regional promotion manager for Holiday Inn Records/Klondike.[11][12] He also worked for the more obscure Memphis label, B. B. Productions.[13] His gospel TV program on Sundays, broadcast from about 1966 on WMC-TV,[2][14] was the first such program hosted by an African-American in Memphis.[15] In its last years it was broadcast by WHBQ-TV. Mays' church sermons were aired on the WLOK and WBBP local radio stations.[1]

Mays' 1966 album and a 1971 song show conflicting attitudes about the Vietnam War.[16] His song "Don't Let the Devil Ride" was covered by numerous artists, including Brother Joe May, Bishop Dready Manning, The Campbell Brothers and Lucinda Williams.

Sources

  1. 1 2 REV. ORIS MAYS, MINISTER AND GOSPEL SINGER, DIES AT 61. The Commercial Appeal, April 22, 1996
  2. 1 2 LeBlanc, Eric (July 11, 1996). "REV. ORIS MAYS, GOSPEL SINGER, DIES AT 61". Retrieved 2016-02-02.
  3. 1 2 Rev. Oris Mays discography at Discogs
  4. ↑ Rev. Oris Mays and Rev. Oris Mays & The Bostonians at AllMusic
  5. ↑ "Rev. Oris Mays Discography". and "Reverend Oris Mays Discography". 45worlds. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
  6. ↑ "Nashboro/Nasco/Crescent/Creed/Mankind Album Discographies". Retrieved 2016-02-02.
  7. ↑ Oris Mays by Bernd Grimmel, Gospel-Lexikon (German)
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ http://www.45cat.com/record/sb1220
  10. ↑
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ Billboard. 28 December 1968. p. 24.
  13. ↑ Billboard. 1 June 1968. p. 46.
  14. ↑ United States. Federal Communications Commission. FCC Reports, Second Series, Volume 67, January 27, 1978 to June 22, 1978. p. 1557
  15. ↑ Billboard. 1 June 1968. p. 46.
  16. ↑ "Vietnam War: Soul, Gospel, & Funk Records". #111. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
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