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ART RAZ STRIKES AGAIN! |
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| Dear Miss Stavers, Are you kidding? You couldn't even see Smitty's pal ART RAZ in that last photo you printed of him. Will you please print a closer view of ART? Kathy Brothers Lexington, Ky. · Dear Kathy, |
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| When I first saw
this, I thought it had to be the greatest "in-joke" the
Raiders had ever devised. Either that, or Smitty was a terrible
photographer. I thought for months that this was just a bad shot
of a Raider behind a wall!
Then there is the Just Like Us! album. Art gets mentioned a few times during a couple of tracks. During "I Know", Smitty's solo on the LP, where he's having the worst time trying to reach notes that are way beyond his range, you hear: Paul: "Terry Melcher will kick it down in the studio!"
Then during the ending of "New Orleans", you can hear a few shouts of "ART RAZ!" right before they say "Look at Smitty work!" His Royal Razness is even mentioned in a couple of magazine articles--all with some connection to Smitty. Whether it's a "fact" sheet or a questionnaire....there he is. SO WHO THE HECK IS HE? From the best I can figure, Art was one of Smitty's buddies back when he was still living in Oregon. Another one of Smitty's friends was a lady named Vicky, who later became Mrs. Raz. The Raz's separated several years down the road, but the three of them all remained close friends. Art passed away some years ago. I'm not sure of the exact date or the cause. I think Vicky is still in Oregon and she was in still in touch with Smitty until he permanently took up residence in Hawaii. His farewell was in the form of a note on her door...simply because the two of them happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Since Art was one of Smitty's friends even back before he first donned a Raider hat, I would like very much to put up a small biography page dedicated to him. Trying to figure out who he was has piqued my curiosity for a few years and I'd love to have that curiosity properly satisfied. I encourage anyone who knows about Art to please email me. I would really appreciate knowing more about who he really was, besides being a Raider catch-phrase. Although, that's not a bad thing! I think when Smitty crossed
over to the other side, his friend had to have been there to greet him. "ART RAZ!"
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