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Razzy Bailey (born February 14, 1939 in Huguley, Alabama) is an American country music artist.
Bailey was raised on a farm in La Fayette, Alabama. Bailey got his first experience of musical performance as a member of his high school's Future Farmers of America string band. After graduation, he married and had children immediately, and had little time to pursue his career, but he spent many years playing occasional gigs at honkytonks in Georgia and Alabama and developing his songwriting.
In 1966, Bailey took his material to Bill Lowery at Atlantic Records, who arranged for him to record "9,999,999 Tears" backed by a studio band featuring Billy Joe Royal, Joe South, and Freddy Weller. The song failed to hit the charts at that time, but Bailey was encouraged, forming the pop trio Daily Bread which releasing a pair of albums on small labels. Another group, The Aquarians, followed in 1972; in 1974, Bailey recorded the album I Hate Hate simply as "Razzy." It sold over half a million copies before being picked up by MGM Records.
In the mid 1970s, Dickey Lee recorded "9,999,999 Tears", and it became a country and pop hit in 1976, and in 1977, Lee repeated this with another Bailey tune, "Peanut Butter," which also went into the charts. As his songwriting talents became known, Bailey signed with RCA Records and in 1978 began releasing singles of his own songs. His first hit as a singer-songwriter, "What Time Do You Have To Be Back In Heaven?", was on the charts for over four months. Bailey charted a total of seven #1 singles on Billboard's "Country" charts and another eight Top 10 in the late 1970s- early 1980s. His sound combines R&B influences with country; his version of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" was a country hit. His last country #1 hit was with "She Left Love All Over Me" in 1982.
Bailey has had three double sided number 1's in succession on the Country charts, a feat never accomplished by any other artist.
"9,999,999 Tears" has been rerecorded in Japan by one of the country's top artists. Bailey released the album Damned Good Time in 2009 on Sounds of America (SOA) records, an independent label.
He also operates Razzy's Hit House, his recording studio where he is helping other artist with their projects.
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