Appearances
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October 23, 2014
Ol’ Man River
Read moreUnreleased. Sinatra: 80 Years My Way was recorded at the at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on November 19th, directed by Louis J. Horvitz, and aired by ABC on December 14th, 1995. Ray Charles used an unusual quantity of well prepared text to chide Sinatra for his appearance in the 1946 picture Till The Clouds Roll […]
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October 23, 2014
Old MacDonald Had a Farm [Piano Theme]
Read moreUnreleased. Adweek (Feb, 21, 2000) wrote: “Georgia native and music legend Ray Charles sat down behind a studio microphone last week, starring in a series of television and radio commercials for the Georgia Lottery. Created by Atlanta’s Austin Kelley Advertising, the new campaign’s objective is to increase awareness of the lottery’s $3.3 billion contribution to […]
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October 23, 2014
Old Time Religion (Give Me That —)
Read moreUnreleased. Ray gave the song a brief rendition in the TV show Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters, taped on 23 January and aired on 27 February 1982.
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October 23, 2014
Olympia Beer (Jingle)
Read moreCompilation: Genius & Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection, Rhino/WEA R2 72859, 16 September 1997. Ray produced the 30- and 60-second versions at RPM International in Los Angeles in (circa) 1973. The making-of story is here. The commercials were written and produced by Dean Tonkin, the film was shot by Vilmos Czigismond, Conrad Hall and Haskell Wexler. The […]
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October 22, 2014
On Saturday Night (A Little Fun —) (With SNL Cast)
Read moreAlbum 3 (VHS): Saturday Night Live, Warner Home Video 085392902132, 23 August 1989; DVD: Universal Studios, 13 March 2011 – both with this SNL episode (#051, aka season 3, episode 5). The show aired on 12 November 1977. At the end Ray performed a 1-minute ditty – titled (A Little Fun) On Saturday Night – with the cast of […]
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October 22, 2014
One More Time (There Is Always —)
Read moreUnreleased. The song was written by Doc Pomus and Kenny Hirsch. Ray Charles was the first to play it on the Easter Seal Telethon on 9 March 1986 (cf. this). Someone out there must have taped it. Who knows more? Johnny Adams’ splendid version of (There Is Always) One More Time:
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October 22, 2014
One-Two-Three (aka 1-2-3) (The Ray Charles Orchestra)
Read moreAlbum3 (VHS): The Big T.N.T. Show, Anchor Bay, 1988. Album3 (DVD): The Big T.N.T. Show, March 2011. For the T.N.T. gig in 1965 Ray was billed with “his band”, but since he wasn’t touring at that time, the orchestra was, just for this occasion, “composed largely of Los Angeles jazz artists” (as Jet magazine wrote). This “Ray Charles Band” must have contributed (or […]
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October 22, 2014
Pacific Palisades
Read moreUnreleased. Ray Charles performed the title song for the French film Pacific Palisades, directed by Bernard Schmitt, with Sophie Marceau and Adam Coleman Howard. The film was released on March 28, 1990. The film flopped, and didn’t even bring it to a video release. A soundtrack was never released. The song was written by Michael Jones, and composed by Jean-Jacques […]
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October 22, 2014
Popo (With The Ray Charles Septet)
Read moreUnreleased. Instrumental (written by Shorty Rogers)*, played twice during the concerts in Antibes in July 1961. With a nice tenor/alto battle between David Newman and Hank Crawford. Also: Phil Guilbeau, John Hunt – trumpets; Leroy Cooper – baritone saxophone; Edgar Willis – bass; Bruno Carr – drums. For Shorty’s original, hear this. * Many thanks to Jeff […]
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October 22, 2014
Ray And Marian’s Blues (With Marian McPartland)
Read moreUnreleased On January 9, 1990 Marian McPartland invited Ray Charles for her NPR radio show Piano Jazz, taped at the Manhattan Beach Studios in New York (first broadcast on April 6, 1991). They improvised a blues; you can listen to it here (i.e. the last musical sequence of the program).
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October 21, 2014
Reaching For The Dream (Jingle)
Read moreCopy of the PSA, as sent to TV stations. Unreleased (but at the time distributed thru a limited DJ-only 45RPM single). Jingle (audio only) of a PSA-infomercial for the UNCF, filmed in 1977. The audio recording took place in New York City, probably at the A&R studios. Cf. this article.
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October 21, 2014
Release Me (With Engelbert Humperdinck)
Read moreUnreleased. When Ray guested in The Engelbert Humperdinck Show, recorded on 9 February 1970 in London, he an the host did a duet on the song. He returned the favor 13 years later, when he invited Humperdinck to sing the same duet at A Man And His Soul, A 40th Anniversary Celebration, taped at the Cocoanut Grove […]