Off topic
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November 26, 2011
Who’s That Girl?
Read moreA photo in the New York Amsterdam News of August 3, 1963. Ray, as far as I know, did not have a daughter called Barbara. And the girl doesn’t really look like an 11-year old. So who is she?
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October 3, 2011
Ray’s Other Hand (1961)
Read moreFrom Jet magazine, Apr. 20 and 27, and May 25, 1961. 20 March 1961: Ray Jr. finds his father with an arterial bleeding from his left hand. After his house doctor’s treatment, Sr. resumes playing after a week or so. According to legend, for the next weeks Ray would play piano with his right hand […]
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September 17, 2011
Ray Charles Flying With His Piano (1983)
Read moreLevitation (from Latin levitas, “lightness”) is the process by which a person, an animal or an object is suspended by a physical force against gravity, in a stable position without solid physical contact. A number of different techniques have been developed to levitate matter, including the aerodynamic, magnetic, acoustic, electromagnetic, electrostatic, gas film, and optical […]
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September 16, 2011
Ray Charles, Tonight In The Bay Area (1962)
Read moreKDIA, on the 1310 AM frequency, was founded as KLS in 1921. In 1945, it changed its name to KWBR, and its target audience to the African-American segment. In 1959 the call letters were changed to KDIA. Through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, they were was the premier soul and funk station in the San […]
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August 23, 2011
Ray Charles And Billy Preston In The Mid Sixties
Read moreFrom Unsung, a documentary about Preston (I think it’s from 2011). Preston, in an interview about Ray, c. 1991. Billy Preston had been Ray Charles’ protégé since his teenager years. The taping of Shindig, in 1965, was the first time they worked together professionally. Right after that Preston contributed decisively to the hot blues-gospel sound […]
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August 20, 2011
Ray’s Atlantic Contract (1952)
Read moreIn 2010 Warner Music Group announced the Sight Of Sound project, entailing the description and preservation of the non-vinyl (i.e. mainly photographic, typographic and administrative) contents of “[…] nearly 100,000 boxes from warehouses around the globe, whose accumulated […] memorabilia track popular music from the Edwardian and Victorian ages to disco and jazz, from Beethoven […]
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August 10, 2011
Ray Charles Headlining Dr. Jive’s (Last?) R&B Revue At The Apollo (1958)
Read moreFrom 1952 to 1958 Dr. Jive presented the radio shows to hear all the New York neighborhood vocal groups and all the new doo-wop and R&B records, on WWRL. In his afternoon and nighttime programs Dr. Jive (real name Tommy Smalls) also played blues artists, and he nurtured a regular Latin beat segment. For a […]
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June 20, 2011
A Tune Titled Tina, And More, From A 1963 Review Of A Ray Charles Concert
Read moreConcert reviews from the 60s that went beyond the message that Ray Charles had been in town were very rare. An interesting exception is the article below, by Norval Perkins, as it appeared in the Washington Afro-American on 12 November 1963, about a show that had taken place the week before at the University’s Gymnasium in […]
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June 17, 2011
More On O Gênio (1963)
Read moreIn my earlier post on Ray Charles’ magnificent O Gênio* concerts from 1963 I overlooked an article by Edmundo Leite from 2005, Sai em DVD show de Ray Charles no Brasil em 1963, which sheds some more light on the factual and entertaining details of Ray’s Brazilian tour. The Brazilian tour entailed 10 concerts in […]
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May 30, 2011
Ray Charles Plays For Children (Imaginary Albums, Vol. 1)
Read moreAlphabet Song (with kids choir) Alphabet Song (with other celebs) It’s Not Easy Being Green (with Kermit) It’s Not Easy Being Green (with Muppet choir) I Got A Song (with Bert & Ernie) Monster In The Mirror (with Grover and other celebs) Believe In Yourself (wih Elmo and Sesame choir) Zip A Dee Do Dah […]
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May 28, 2011
Manufacturing Of Ray Charles’ Greatest Hits (1962)
Read moreStock agency Budget Films has archived (ID Clip-4881) this documentary footage of the manufacturing of the compilation album Ray Charles, Greatest Hits (ABC 415), from 1962:
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April 25, 2011
Soul Bag – The Best R&B Magazine In The World (FYI)
Read moreThe historiography of African-American popular music is mainly in the hands of volunteers. And somehow, the appreciation for blues, rhythm & blues and soul music by these amateur specialists has always dominantly been a European thing. Since the early 1960s France was without a doubt the market where Ray Charles was more popular and […]