Claude Gray Jr. (January 25, 1932 – April 28, 2023), nicknamed "The Tall Texan", was an American country music singer-songwriter and guitar picker best known for his 1960 hit "Family Bible", which has been covered by many different artists.
Alongside artists such as Ray Price, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Don Gibson and Chet Atkins, Gray was a purveyor of the Nashville sound, embracing the Countrypolitan movement which paved the way for pop-oriented singers in country music and attracted new audiences to the genre.
Gray was born in Henderson, Texas, on January 25, 1932,[1][2] where he started his singing career while attending high school.
He began a recording career in 1959, after working as a radio announcer in Kilgore, Texas, and performing as a disc jockey in Meridian, Mississippi.
[6] In the late 1970s, Gray co-wrote with Walt Breeland, a controversial song titled "The Ballad of Jimmy Hoffa".