Appearances
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March 2, 2013
Ray Charles Interviewed For Martin Luther King Tribute Show (1977)
Read moreThe Sun Reporter of 13 January 1977 announced that the following day Channel 9 in San Francisco was to broadcast I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968. The ‘show’ seems to have had an odd format: “an hour-long television tribute to the memory of the civil rights leader”, including “interviews with Ray Charles, […]
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March 1, 2013
Ray Charles Performing We Didn’t See A Thing With George Jones At 18th CMA (1984)
Read moreThe source if this photo attributed it to the same CMA show, probably erroneously. George Jones and Ray Charles performed their country hit record We Didn’t See A Thing on the 18th* Academy of Country Music Awards show, held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. The program was produced by Dick Clark, directed by […]
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February 23, 2013
Ray Charles Ft. In Hallmarks Commercial (1997)
Read moreIn February 1997 Hallmark Cards launched a 30-second TV commercial featuring Ray Charles giving Valentine’s Day greetings to three beauties who “sneak a peek” at Hallmark’s logo on the back of the cards he gave them. The campaign promoted a new Say It With Music line of cards with song clips, stored on a digital […]
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February 17, 2013
The Ray Charles BBC-2 Spectacular (1968)
Read moreI’ve posted before about a mythical TV performance by Ray Charles, his band and The Raelettes in London, in the autumn of 1968.The evidence that the performance actually took place only consisted of a hardly informative little squib from New Musical Express and a set of frequently published photos by David Redfern.The bad news is […]
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February 14, 2013
Ray Charles Sings America In Lake Placid (1980)
Read moreThe 13th Olympic Winter Games were held from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid. Ray Charles performed America The Beautiful at the end of the closing ceremony. In the U.S. the show was televized by ABC.
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February 13, 2013
Ray Charles Interviewed By Russian Boy Band Na-Na (2001)
Read moreWhen Ray Charles played his last concert in Moscow, in the autumn of 2000, he had the popular Russian boy band Na-Na in the audience, where, they confessed to Ray, they tried to respond to his music as ‘black’ as they could. Not too long after that, in 2001, the boys paid the old man […]
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February 12, 2013
Ray Charles On The Ken Hawkins Show (c 1967)
Read moreKen Hawkins (c. 1975). The Ken Hawkins Show was a second-tier dance show, produced by WEWS-TV, an ABC outlet in Cleveland. Billboard (Sep. 2, 1967) wrote that in the first show, “rocking across the screen were the Big K Dancers in mini skirts”. Host and driving force Ken Hawkins promised, “We’ll be integrated. We will […]
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February 12, 2013
Ray Charles On The Rosey Grier Show (c 1970)
Read moreContemporary article about the show. Football card, 1965. To call the actor, singer, minister, writer, macrame artist and former professional football player Rosey Grier a colorful personality, is an understatement. After his sports career he worked as a bodyguard for Robert Kennedy. Grier took control of the gun and subdued the shooter, Sirhan Sirhan. He […]
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February 12, 2013
Ray Charles On The Steel Pier Show (1971)
Read moreThe TV stations new logo, in 1971. According to the Philadelphia Tribune of 14 August 1971, The Steel Pier Show had a “star-studded bill that includes Ray Charles, B.B. King and Cab Calloway highlights”. Also featured were Chuck Berry, Hugh Masekela and The Union of South Africa, plus three vocal groups, The Main Ingredient, The […]
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February 12, 2013
Ray Charles Guesting In A Steve Allen Program (c 1962)
Read moreAd from 1962. Steve Allen (1921 – 2000) was a brilliant TV maker, and one of the pioneers of the talk show phenomenon. He became the first host of the Tonight Show. After that, he hosted numerous game and variety shows, including – in the 1960s – The Steve Allen Show, The New Steve Allen […]
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February 12, 2013
Ray Charles On The Arthur Godfrey Show (c 1961)
Read moreFrom Billboard, Oct. 15, 1963; the caption calls Godfrey one of Ray’s “peforming friends”. Photo from same event, watermarked byRay Charles Foundation. Arthur Godfrey (1903 – 1983) was a one-man TV and radio powerhouse in the 1950s. Presenting several popular daily and weekly live show formats for CBS made him about as unavoidable as Ed […]
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February 11, 2013
Ray Charles Ft In McDonalds Jingles (1976, 1979)
Read more1976 In January 1976 Ray Charles completed the musical portion of a 60-second bicentennial themed commercial for McDonalds. The spot was part of a “Special Black Bicentennial Radio” promotion entitled Soul of a Nation, narrated by Bill Cosby, with free brochures dealing with “the monumental contribution Black Americans have made to our country’s overall development”, […]