Ray produced the 30- and 60-second versions at RPM International in Los Angeles in (circa) 1973. The making-of story is here.
The commercials were written and produced by Dean Tonkin, the film was shot by Vilmos Czigismond, Conrad Hall and Haskell Wexler.
The jingle was released as a hidden track on the 5th disk of the 50th Anniversary compilation, right after Still Crazy After All These Years.
The jingle was released as a hidden track on Genius & Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection (16 September 1997; Rhino/WEA, ASIN: B00000343O), right after Still Crazy After All These Years, on the 5th disk.
The commercials (one shaky sample at the bottom of this article; see more on YouTube) were written and produced by Dean Tonkin, the film was shot by Vilmos Czigismond, Conrad Hall and Haskell Wexler.
I never actually worked side by side with Mr. Charles but I did happen to work on one of his recordings and that's where this story starts.
Back in my staff engineer days, I recorded and mixed a whole series of Olympia Beer radio and TV commercials for an ad agency based in Washington State. The first year's batch had won many awards so the same team (including me) was hired to help produce the following year's commercials.
Ray Charles was also contracted to record a 60 and 30-second version of the commercial's jingle. Part of Ray's deal stipulated that he would record, mix and produce both spots without interference from the agency or anybody else. He also had final say on how his two spots would "look and feel" once completed. (I didn't mean to make a joke there!).
After we finished some 50 different versions of the ads, the agency people came by to play for me, Ray's final mixes - they wanted my opinion. They didn't want the client to hear them as they thought them inferior sounding. Ray's mixes, although nothing technically wrong or out of place, didn't match up (understandably) to the sound I had gotten on the rest. The agency wanted me to remix Ray's two spots to make them conform to the 'signature sound' I achieved on the others.
In situations like this I am a little hesitant to "muck around" with someone else's 'art' - especially when it comes to a living legend like Ray Charles. I was to mix them on my own without any input or criticism from Mr. Charles and the agency assured me that Ray still had final mix approval anyway; so I plowed ahead.
After I finished the mixes the agency, now pleased with what I had done, cautioned that they would still have to get Ray's approval. In those days, my assistant made a 15 i.p.s. copy, spooled it on a seven-inch plastic reel and placed it in a generic, solid white box and called a messenger.
A day later the tape and box came right back to me. Ray had written a rather long note covering the entire front of the white tape box. "Dear Barry, thanks so much...." his nearly incomprehensible scrawl started continuing with a 'tutorial' on all the certain musical elements, production techniques and sound he had realized within 'his' mix.
Trying to figure out if he liked my work at all, it took me five minutes to decipher Ray's tortured-looking script when I finally came to the very end where Ray wrote: "Nice Try", signed Ray. I remember not being particularly crestfallen: I heard it one way and he heard it his way. I wrote a return note (as I remember) thanking him for his comments and that I hoped we could work together some day in person. So the agency had to go with Ray's mixes and they sounded fine on the air.
I have two minor regrets: I wish I'd called to personally thank Mr. Charles and I wish I'd saved that tape and box.
Like Ray Charles, it's a classic!
"If it's really something good that was not on the record, that's okay, because when I perform I can make the performance of the song better than the record was."
The Genie
Ray Charles at the Apollo (Apr. or maybe Oct. 1959), working on his Wurlitzer. Photo by Alex Harsley.
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About
The Ray Charles Video Museum is a research project, documenting live performances by The Genius.
This blog is above all aMediagraphy. It's also a discography (or, more correctly, a trackography), aggregating all tunes that Ray sang and/or played - including the "canon" of 700 tracks listed on the official Ray Charles website, but also identifying the songs that have never been officially released, and e.g. the recordings of other artists, where Ray backed them on piano. Thirdly, this blog has evolved into a multimedia Chronology (click the years in the panel al the top of this page) of Ray's productive live.
I also try to do some justice to the more than 1,000 great musicians and singers who contributed to Ray's career (1, 2).
The Quotes page lists the wisest, craziest and funniest things that the Genius ever said. If you want to read more about Brother Ray, go here.
The availability of the streaming video and audio content on this blog is constantly under pressure. Some rights owners still think that sharing these videos damages their sales. I'm keeping disfunctional clips as placeholders - to show that the footage exists, and to replace them when new uploads appear on the Web.
The articles in this blog are continuously updated and improved. Your help is more than welcome.
The Bishop seduces the world with his voice
Sweat strangles mute eyes
As insinuations gush out through a hydrant of sorrow
Dreams, a world never seen
Mounded on Africa's anvil, tempered down home
Documented in cries and wails
Screaming to be ignored, crooning to be heard
Throbbing from the gutter
On Saturday night
Silver offering only,
The Right Reverend's Back in Town
Don't it make you feel all right?