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Singer Johnnie Ray, 31, stood at the microphone in Philadelphia's Latin Casino, opened his mouth wide, and slid into a number he has sobbed to audiences the world over: The Little White Cloud That Cried. To club patrons, it seemed the same old lachrymose wheeze, but to Johnnie the effect was like "the first atom bomb, exploding in pieces everywhere." Singer Ray had abandoned his familiar hearing aid, for the first time in his career was able to hear his own caterwauling at its painfully natural decibel count.

Once before in his career, Johnnie underwent surgery to clear up the deafness he developed in his teens. In January, on the second try, surgery worked, restored much of the hearing in his left ear. In the old hearing-aid days, Johnnie was unsure of rhythm and pitch, developed a habit of sliding into his notes. With his hearing restored, he promptly became panicky. "That first night," he says, "I was a nervous wreck. After my first show I rushed backstage and said to the other guys: 'O.K., now tell me I wasn't singing flat.' They said: 'No, you were singing up a storm.' "

Johnnie doubts that his improved hearing has altered his style, but Columbia Records' resolutely optimistic Mitch Miller disagrees. "He told me," says Ray, "that my beat is stronger and truer to the notes, my voice register is lower, and my speech is more articulate." Adds Singer Ray, who was rehearsing last week for a European tour: "Thirty-one is a heck of an age to have your voice change."

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