Ray Charles In Manchester (1996) – Fragments

In June 1996 Van Morrison and Ray Charles joined forces on a UK tour that brought them to the Wembley Arena in London, on 15 and 19 June, the Nynex Arena in Manchester (June 21), the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham (23) and the Arena in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (24).

A Van Morrison fan* shot a few parts of Ray’s Manchester concert from an audience perspective. Here you can listen to parts of Busted, Georgia On My Mind, I Can’t Stop Loving You, and What’d I Say:

Reconstructed line-up:

Musicians: Steve Elliott, Al Jackson, Al Waters, Rudy Johnson, and Jim Farnsworth – saxophone; Ted Murdock, Chuck Parrish, John Bailey, Kenny Scharf – trumpet; Steve Sigmund, Michael Guerrier, Sarah Morrow, Jason Jackson – trombone; Kenny Carr – guitar; Curtis Ohlson – bass; Ernest Vantrease – Hammond organ; Peter Turre – drums. Raelettes: Estella Yarbrough, Karen Evans, Cathy Mackey, ?Katrina Harper-Cooke?, Tonette McKinney.

* Woolhall, a Van Morrison/Bob Dylan  archivist, runs this entertaining channel on YouTube.