From
James Mundie (Prodigies):
Ray R. Myers was born -
without arms - in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on 2 January 1911, the fifth
child in a family of nine. His career as a musician began at Allentown
High School, where Myers played trombone in the school band. Later,
Ray Myers purchased a Hawaiian steel guitar, which
he kept under his bed until he learned to play it.
After graduating from high school, Myers played local events such as
church fairs and amateur talent contests. It was at one of these events
that someone from Lancaster's radio station WGAL was sufficiently impressed
by Myer's musicianship to offer him his own weekly radio program. It
was through this show that Myers came to the attention of Cowboy Loye,
a popular country music performer on WWVA's "The Original Jamboree"
radio show out of Wheeling, West Virginia. In 1937, Loye heard "The
Armless Wonder" play and hired him to perform with him on WWVA.
That gig introduced Myers to a larger country music audience, and Myers
was soon playing on radio stations across the southern United States.
In 1947, Myers was playing his steel guitar
with the Brewster Brothers on WVOK's popular "Dixie Jamboree"
show. In addition to the weekly radio broadcasts, the WVOK bands also
played live gigs at American Legion halls and other locations across
northern Alabama. People turned out in droves to watch and listen to
Myers play old timey music. Immediately after the show many patrons
headed directly to the parking lot to watch the spectacle of Ray Myers
driving his own car, he being at that time the only licensened automobile
driver in the U.S. born without arms.
By 1953, Ray Myers had a daily radio show on WPDX in Clarksburg, West
Virginia. Ten years later, Myers was appearing on WLAC in Nashville,
Tennessee. Apart from the novelty of his playing, Myers seems to have
been highly regarded as a musician. His longevity as a radio personality,
where no one could see that he didn't have arms, is one testament to
his ability; but he also played and recorded with many of country and
bluegrass music's biggest names, including Charles Bailey of the legendary
brother act the Bailey Brothers.
The last performance reference I have found for Myers is his appearance
on a 3 July 1969 handbill for a performance at a drive-in theater in
Manchester, Kentucky. Ray was appearing with a band called the Saddle
Pals, who were billed as "Ray Myers, Lloyd Bell & Bobby Thompson,
Recording Stars". Myers is further described as "The Armless
Musician Who Leads Normal Life." Ray Myers died in Gordonville,
Pennsylvania, in May 1986.
