Ain't But The One (With Aretha Franklin)

Album3 (VHS): Duke Ellington - We Love You Madly, VRV 1124, S.l.s.a. (France).
Album3: Rare & Unreleased Recordings From The Golden Reign Of The Queen Of Soul, Atlantic/Rhino B00122MKI0, 16 October 2007.


The churchy duet from the We Love You Madly tribute to Duke Ellington (1973) was also released on Aretha's Unreleased Recordings album, in an edited, remastered version.

The album version is 6:01, where the video version - including Ray's rather extensive spoken intro - is only 4:46. During the first minutes the album producers also added Hammond organ and keyboard sounds (and I think some percussion) to the track, numbing Ray's original piano playing to almost unhearable levels for the main part of the tune.
The result, however, is pleasing; the only odd thing is that the album producers didn't make explicit that they a) went back to the original, longer, taping, and b) didn't specify what they changed and added.

The details listed by Michel Ruppli's Atlantic Discography (sub Master #26222) are: "vo RC, AF, JC" (i.e. that Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and James Cleveland's gospel singers took care of the vocals).
David Ritz' liner notes to the album explain nothing, and erroneously state that Aretha played piano and Ray played electric piano, quite different from what can be seen in the video. The other musicians credited by Ritz are Dave Grusin (keyboards), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Chuck Rainey (bass) and Paul Humphrey (drums). They no doubt contributed to the original show, but I very much doubt if Gruisin played keyboards in the original, videotaped version of Ain't But The One.*

I suspect that in an interview (cf. 1, 2) Jerry Wexler, who (executive) produced the album, may have been about to tell something about 'post producing' this particular track when the interviewer diverted him into replicating a well known, similar, anecdote about the 1971 release of Aretha & Ray's famous duet on Spirit In The Dark. My conjecture, therefore, is that it was Wexler who may be 'blamed' for also 'improving' this release of Ain't But The One.

From Unreleased Recordings:

It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) (With Cast)

Album3 (VHS, France): Duke Ellington - We Love You Madly, VRV 1124, S.a.

Opening of the 1973 CBS TV special Duke Ellington... We Love You Madly, recorded at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles, on 10 and 11 January 1973. With Roberta Flack, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee, Count Basie, Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr., Billy Eckstine, Quincy Jones, Joe Williams, Marva Cally.

Ray Charles On Duke Ellington... We Love You Madly (1973)

Ad in Billboard.

Photos taken during  rehearsals for the show(or was this taken 
at a rehearsal for the 1971 episode of the Merv Griffin Show?).

Duke Ellington... We Love You Madly was a tribute to Duke Ellington, recorded at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles, on 10 and 11 January 1973 in an ABC special (aired on February 11th). Ray performed I Like The Sunrise, and he did a breathtaking duet on Ain't But The One with Aretha. Both were also part of the chorus line in the opening act, where the whole cast united in It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), and Ray did a quatre mains with Count Basie.

 Exterior of a theatre advertising a screening of  the TV Special.
Photo by Ted Williams.

Personnel:
Cat Anderson, Bill Berry, Ernie Royal, Clark Terry, Cootie Williams, Snooky Young (tp); Bob Brookmeyer, Jimmy Cleveland, Tyree Glenn, Maurice Spears, Britt Woodman (tb); Vince DeRosa, Art Maebe, Dick Perissi (frh); Red Callender (tu); Harry Carney,

The producers and Atlantic played with the
idea to release an album (from Cashbox,
May 26, 1973). At the time they did'nt execute on
the idea, but the later "rare" Aretha track
discussed below was clearly made possible
because of this abandoned plan.

Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Bill Green, Murray McEachern, Bill Perkins, Russell Procope, Jerome Richardson, Marshall Royal, Murray McEachern, Paul Gonsalves, Bill Perkins, Bill Green, Harry Carney (reeds); Count Basie (p); Dave Grusin (kb); Kenny Burrell (g); Ray Brown (b); Chuck Rainey (el-b); Louis Bellson, Paul Humphrey (d). Luther Henderson, Jimmy Jones, Phil Moore (arr); Quincy Jones (arr, cond); 4 violins, 12 violas, 4 violin cellos, 1 harp.

Performers:
Ray Charles, Cornerstone Baptist Church Choir, Sammy Davis Jr., Billy Eckstine; Duke Ellington; Marva Cally, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams.

Cover of French VHS release.

Produced by Norman Lear and (exec) Quincy Jones, directed by Bud Yorkin. Phil Ramone was responsible for the sound mix.

Later Ray remembered, "[Ellington] was on an oxygen tank until they called him to come out onstage. But he went out there and you'd never have known there was anything wrong with the man. That's what music can do."

Read review here. Behind the scenes-photos are here. The show was released by RCA on VHS, in France (VRV 1124)*.

Quincy looking back:



It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) (with Roberta, Sarah, Peggy, Count, Sammy, Billy, Quincy, Joe and Marva):



Ain't But The One (with Aretha) - this song was also released (in an altered version) on: Aretha Franklin, Rare & Unreleased Recordings From The Golden Reign Of The Queen Of Soul (Atlantic B00122MKI0):

   [Clip removed from YouTube]

*Remarks made by Joël Dufour.