Ray Charles’ Statement On Drugs In Let’s Go (1968)

Still, originally probably  from Australian interview.

The weekly Let’s Go music show was produced by CBC in Canada, and was hosted by Bill Good, Jr. The footage below shows sequences from an  episode titled Let’s Go – Psychedelic. The clips form an entertaining time document (a highly moralistic and therefore utterly hilarious one, looking at it through modern eyes), examining the Flower Power, Hippie, Psychedelic and drugs scenes in 1968.

Country Joe, Pat Boone, Richard Pryor, The Everly Brothers, The Beach Boys, Harper’s Bizarre, Little Richard, Bobby Hebb, and Frank Sinatra Jr. were among the interviewees. Ray Charles, Timothy Leary and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi were also featured.

The sequence with Ray Charles’ refreshingly independent statement (also watch Pryor for that angle!) possibly comes from an interview shot at Sydney Airport, on 16 August 1967 (also see this post).

Ray at 8:40: