Ray Hildebrand, whose song “Hey Paula” was number one in the nation in early 1963, will offer a mini-concert Saturday afternoon as the audience enters Brownwood’s Lyric Theatre for the 2:30 p.m. matinee of “Leading Ladies.”
Hildebrand will be in town with the PrimeTimers of First Baptist Church in Burleson, who are spending the weekend visiting sites in Brown County. Several dozen members of that group, led by Howard Payne University chancellor and former president Dr. Don Newbury, will also be attending the Saturday matinee.
There is no additional charge, but those wanting to hear him should plan to arrive early. The doors to the Lyric will open around 2 p.m.
While a student at Howard Payne in the early 1960s, Hildebrand was asked to write the song “Hey Paula” by a friend so he could woo his girlfriend, Paula. Hildebrand and classmate Jill Jackson recorded the song at the urging of her mother. It soared to number one on the Billboard Top 40 for three weeks in February 1963 after ranking second for two weeks.
After leaving the pop music world, Hildebrand went on to write more than 500 contemporary Christian songs, more than 300 of which have been published. He served on the national staff of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for almost two decades, and was guest soloist at five Billy Graham Crusades.
The success of “Paul and Paula” has since been credited with paving the way for many boy-girl singing duets in popular music, such as Sonny and Cher and others.
Jill Jackson Landon will not be with him this time, but she and Hildebrand have performed repeatedly throughout the country in 1960s oldies music retrospectives. The duet has also returned to the Howard Payne campus several times, including a 50th anniversary event marking the song’s composition, and a 2014 homecoming performance to dedicate a Texas Historical Marker honoring “Paul and Paula” on the Howard Payne campus.
Information on the Lyric’s weekend performances of “Leading Ladies” April 1 through April 10 can be found on its website, www.brownwoodlyrictheatre.com.
[Story by Gene Deason]