Ray Rasch

American pianist, Hammond organist, arranger and composer.

Born March 1, 1917 in Ohio, USA.

Died December 23, 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Rasch frequently collaborated with [a=Dotty Wayne], whom he worked with for [a=Nat King Cole] in the 1960's. Together, they wrote the fourteen songs that made up [i]Wild is Love[/i], the 1960 concept album by Nat King Cole and arranged by Nelson Riddle. The album formed the basis for an unsuccessful musical, [i]I'm With You[/i], that starred Cole.

In the 1940's Rasch was playing piano at dinner clubs. In the 1950's, he co-scored and arranged Charlie Chaplin's "Limelight" movie (1952), winning a posthumous Oscar in 1972 for Best Original Music Score (along with Charlie Chaplin and Larry Russell). Rasch would take Chaplin's humming of an idea and then arrange and create a song of it, often not receiving credit.

After working with Chaplin, Rasch moved onto Las Vegas as accompanist and music director for Marie Wilson.