by Jason AnkenySinger Ray Peterson enjoyed a handful of pop hits during the early 1960s, among them the Phil Spector-produced Corrina Corrina and the car-crash melodrama Tell Laura I Love Her. Born April 23, 1939 in Denton, TX, he spent much of his childhood recovering from polio, and during an extended stay in a nearby treatment facility he began performing for his fellow patients. As Petersons health returned he began singing professionally in local clubs, eventually relocating to Los Angeles; there he was discovered by manager Stan Shulman, signing to RCA in 1958. The owner of a four-octave voice, Petersons early material ran the gamut from teen ballads like Lets Try Romance to covers including Little Willie Johns Fever, all to little success; he finally scored a hit in 1959 with The Wonder of You, which reached the Top 30 in both the U.S. and the U.K.Another minor hit, Answer Me, followed before Peterson scored his greatest success with the 1960 epic Tell Laura I Love Her. The records popularity allowed the singer to fund his own label, Dunes, and he soon recruited producer Spector to helm a smash rendition of the traditional Corrina Corrina. The Dunes roster also included singer Curtis Lee, for whom Spector produced the 1961 hits Pretty Little Angel Eyes and Under the Moon of Love. Peterson himself went on to cut the Goffin/King-authored Missing You and I Could Have Loved You So Well, but his stardom quickly faded, and after scoring a last minor chart entry with 1963s Give Us Your Blessing he signed to MGM in an attempt to cross over to country audiences, ultimately retiring from perfoming as the decade drew to a close.