All Night Long

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.

Recorded at the United Studios in Hollywood in February 1965.

With a rhythm section (including Rene Hall on guitar, and Earl Palmer on drums), strings and The Jack Halloran Singers. Arranged by Sid Feller.

Blue Moon Of Kentucky

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.

This was one of the four Ray Charles tunes that were labeled with the  'swingova' rhythm'-tag. The term had been invented by arranger Sid Feller, to emphasize their hybrid swing/bossa nova style.

Recorded at RPM International, Los Angeles.

The musicians were not credited. The Jack Halloran Singers and The Raelettes took care of backing vocals. Arranged by Sid Feller.

Don't Let Her Know

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.

Recorded at RPM International, Los Angeles.

The musicians for the C&W/R&B album were not credited. The Jack Halloran Singers and The Raelettes took care of the backing vocals. Arranged by Sid Feller.

In the live version Ray brought the BPM rate back to a death march tempo. Beautiful!



Stuttgart 1976:


Live:
The Ray Charles Troupe also knew the song under the title Lips*.

'75 LC Japan - Released
'76 LC Stuttgart

* Information kindly shared by Avis Harrell, who often sang the song when she was part of The Raelettes (1979 - 1982/3).

I Don't Care

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.

Recorded at RPM International, Los Angeles.

The musicians were not credited. The Jack Halloran Singers and The Raelettes took care of backing vocals. Arranged by Sid Feller.

I Like To Hear It Sometime

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.

Recorded at RPM International, Los Angeles.

The musicians were not credited. The Raelettes took care of the backing vocals. Arranged by Onzy Matthews.

I've Got A Tiger By The Tail

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.

One of the four Ray Charles tunes that were labeled with the 'swingova'-tag. The term was invented by arranger Sid Feller, to emphasize their hybrid swing/bossa nova style.

Recorded at RPM International, Los Angeles. The musicians were not credited. The Jack Halloran Singers and The Raelettes took care of the backing vocals. Arranged by Sid Feller.

Light Out Of Darkness

The genesis of the song, as described
in a (c. 1965) concert souvenir
brochure.

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.

Ray wrote this wonderful song in '64 for the film Ballad In Blue. Arranged by Sid Feller.
The - longer - album version was delivered with strings and choir, and was recorded at the United Studios in Hollywood in January 1965 (Rene Hall on guitar, Earl Palmer on drums).
When and where was the - different - film version recorded?



Ballad In Blue 1964:


Live:
As concert souvenir programs from the period show, the song was on the playlist of the band between 1966 and 1968.

Maybe It's Nothing At All

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.

Recorded at RPM International in Los Angeles. The Raelettes took care of the backing vocals.

Arranged by Onzy Matthews.

Next Door To The Blues

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.

Recorded at RPM International, Los Angeles.

With the Ray Charles Orchestra and The Raelettes. Arranged by Onzy Matthews.

Please Forgive And Forget

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.

Recorded at the United Studios in Hollywood in January 1965 (Rene Hall on guitar, Earl Palmer on drums). Arranged by Sid Feller.
On the album it was stated that the song was originally produced for the film Ballad In Blue, whereas it's not heard in the soundscore.

Together Again

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.
Single (A): ABC 10785, March 1966, b/w You're Just About To Lose Your Clown.

Recorded at the United Studios in Hollywood in January 1965.

The musicians were not credited (Rene Hall on guitar, Earl Palmer on drums). The Jack Halloran Singers took care of backing vocals. Arranged by Sid Feller.



Live:
According to a concert souvenir booklet from c. 1968, this number was part of the live repertoire then, but no recordings with the band have surfaced.
'70 TV Glen
'70 TV Hee Haw - With Buck Owens

Watch It Baby

Album: Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again), ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.

Ray recorded this typical Percy Mayfield song at RPM International in Los Angeles. The musicians were not credited.

Arranged by Gerald Wilson.

Listen here. 

Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues (aka Together Again) (1965)

During his rehab-year off - without any live gigs to speak of - in 1965, Ray spend a lot of time in his studio. These sessions resulted in an avalanche of singles and three albums, each - seemingly - with a random distribution of songs*: Country & Western Meets Rhythm Blues a.k.a. Together Again (1965), Crying Time (Jan. 1966) and Ray’s Moods (Jul. 1966), and a slew of songs that only were issued as singles.

*As observed by Joël Dufour.

1. Together Again
2. I Like To Hear It Sometime
3. I've Got A Tiger By The Tail (Swingova)
4. Please Forgive And Forget
5. I Don't Care
6. Next Door To The Blues
7. Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Swingova)
8. Light Out Of Darkness
9. Maybe It's Nothing At All
10. All Night Long
11. Don't Let Her Know
12. Watch It Baby

This was the first album to come out with a number of tunes recorded at RPM, Ray's own studio at West Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles. The 4-track console was built by Tom Dowd.
Tunes #1, #4 and #8 were recorded at the United Studios in Hollywood in January 1965. Song #10 was recorded in February 1965 at the same studio. These four tracks had Rene Hall on guitar, and Earl Palmer on drums.
Tracks #4 and #8 were originally written for Ballad In Blue. I don't know if the different, string-less versions used in the film were also recorded at United.
The Jack Halloran Singers and The Raelettes took care of the backing vocals.

Tracks #3 and #7 were done in Ray's Swingova rhythm. The term had been invented by arranger Sid Feller when Ray resurrected R&B bandleader Buddy Johnson's 1943 hit Baby, Don't You Cry, to emphasize its hybrid swing/bossa nova style (at that time the bossa nova was 'sweeping the nation')*.

Arrangers: Sid Feller (#1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8,10, 11), Onzy Matthews (# 2, 6, 9), and Gerald Wilson (#12).

The album had the first in a series of tasteless album cover designs, a new responsibility of Ray's second man at Ray Charles Enterprises, Joe Adams.

* A fourth Swingova arrangement was Love's Gonna Live Here.

ABC/Paramount 520, August 1965.