Appearances
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January 15, 2017
Ray Charles’ 1979 Austin City Limits Concert Released (Audio Only)
Read moreComplete digital audio bootlegs of Ray Charles’ Austin City Limits TV concert, originally taped on October 23, 1979, have been circulating on the web since the late 1990s. For free, in a very decent quality. It’s still easily and freely available through torrent websites.Nevertheless, Hi Hat, an obscure British-Cypriot record label, found a reason to […]
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January 14, 2017
Ray Charles’ Zurich 1961 Concert Released
Read moreA while ago my inquiries at the Swiss Radio archives resulted in the discovery of a set of 2 edited tapes with parts of a Jazzkonzert by the Ray Charles Big Band at the Kongresshaus in Zürich, on October 18, 1961.This concert is now part of an abundant “Swiss Radio Days Jazz” CD-series with post-WWII […]
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December 23, 2016
Ray Charles Performs An Unidentified Song In Hee Haw (1970)
Read moreOn September 29, 1970 Ray Charles guested on Hee Haw (season 2, episode 3) for the first time. Half way the show he played a brief jam-ish interlude with the house band (Buck Owens’ Buckaneers). It sounds like a ditty which Ray wrote for just this occasion, but if anyone can give a title to it, please […]
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December 18, 2016
Ray Charles And The Florida Playboys, A Short Adventure
Read moreRay Charles loved to reminisce about his earliest endeavors in country music. Shortly after his seventreenth birthday, in 1947, he landed a gig with the Florida Playboys. In Michael Lydon’s biography, Ray Charles – Man And Music, the story is that “[o]ne audition convinced the Playboys that RC could play country music with a genuine […]
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December 10, 2016
Ray Charles Ft In AFL Commercial
Read moreBetween 1994 and 1999 the Australian Football League (AFL) ran a hugely successful TV campaign that was built on celebreties delivering the cynical catchline, “I’d Like To See That”.Ray delivered it with a winning variation: “Aussie rules. I’d Like To See That.” I have a still, but the footage hasn’t resurfaced yet. More examples:
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December 10, 2016
Ray Charles Interviewed In Houston (1977)
Read moreKenneth R. Petrucci, MSW is a psychotherapist who hosted The Creative Connection, a self-development talk show for four years on KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston, Texas. Ken’s guests included “leaders in human potential and self-improvement”. Petrucci’s “legendary interview” with Ray Charles” was conducted at Jones Hall in Houston, on June 5, 1977. It is registered […]
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December 10, 2016
Heigh-Ho
Read moreIn NBC Salutes The 25th Anniversary Of The Wonderful World Of Disney, first aired on 13 September 1978. Ray Charles contributed a line to a multi-star performance of the Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs-song Heigh-Ho(starts at 1:45):
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June 14, 2016
Ray Charles Live In Wantagh (1992)
Read moreOn June 22, 1992 Ray Charles, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Dr. John and The Fabulous Thunderbirds were found jamming at the Downtime Bar in New York City, where they announced their Blues Festival ’92 Tour. As far as I know the plans only materialized in a limited series of concerts in June and September.On September […]
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June 14, 2016
Ray Charles In Q&A With UCLA Students (1983)
Read moreOn May 10, 1983 Ray Charles received the UCLA Distinguished Humanitarian Award. The event was “attended by nearly 1,000 students who gave him a standing ovation” after an extensive Q&A where Ray tried to avoid his usual answers.He was well aware of the challenge of reaching 1,000 people with just his speaking voice. The audio […]
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June 6, 2016
Ray Charles And Wiley Pitman, His Protector
Read moreThis remarkable commercial was made for TrustE’s Tracker (protection) software.Uroš Perić – vocals; John Fresk – piano; Graham Currie – bass; Peter Auret – drums. The song, in Ray Charles’ late ’40s style (actually, borrowing some late ’50s grunts), was written and arranged by Adam Howard. Recording date: April/May 2016; Adam Howard – sound engineer. […]
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January 23, 2016
Ray Charles Live In Geneva (1970)
Read moreOn October 23, 1970 the Ray Charles Band played a concert at the Victoria Hall in Geneva. Don’t miss the remarkable version of Going Down Slow, which included a solo on (muted) trumpet by Johnny Coles and some bone chilling notes added by Joe Randazzo on bass trombone (he even got a reprise) – I […]
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November 24, 2015
Ray Charles Contributing To Smothers Brothers Show’s Theme Song
Read moreHalfway through the production of theThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967–1969) a theme tune (written by Perry Botkin, Jr., Mason Williams, and Nancy Ames) was introduced. While it became more and more popular, the stars who appeared on the show were asked to contribute to a montage, which probably was broadcast only once: during the very […]