February 22, 1968 - RPM Studio, Los Angeles

Session No: Liberty 1426.
Period: The ABC / Tangerine Years (1959 – 1972).
Location: RPM Studio, Los Angeles.
Artist: Clydie King.
Album (compilation): Clydie King ‎- The Imperial & Minit Years.
Label: Liberty Records; Stateside 5099950958122.

Personnel:
Clydie King (vocals); Jimmy Holiday (2nd lead vocals); Bobby Bryant, Mike Akopoff, Melvin Moore, Roy Burrows (trumpet); Bobby Knight, Tommy Shepard, Streamline Ewing, Dick "Slyde" Hyde (trombone); Georgie Auld, Charles Miller (alto saxophone); Plas Johnson, Jay Migliori (tenor saxophone); Leroy Cooper (baritone saxophone); Donald R. Stolz (unid. instrument); Ray Charles (piano); Cecil Womack, Terry Evans (guitar); Ronald Brown (electric bass); Jim Gordon, Teddy Robinson (drums); Unidentified mixed singers (background vocals).

Jim Gordon, Ray Charles (arranger); Dave Pell (producer).

Master #	Titles	Dur.	Writers	Releases
NA	Ode To Billy Joe	(4:31)	Bobbie Gentry	Stateside
NA	(omit piano - RC; add choir - background vocals) Good Kind Of Hurt	(2:16)	Mickey Newbury	Stateside
NA	Something To Remember You By	(2:22)	Arthur Schwarts, Howard Dietz	Stateside
NA	(2nd lead vocals - JH) We Got A Good Thing Goin' On	(2:20)	Jimmy Holiday	Stateside
NA	(omit JH, choir; add piano - RC) If You Love Me Like You Say	(2:40)	Little Johnny Taylor	Stateside

Remarks:

1. Source: AFM (Local 47) recording contract #479705 (dated 26 February; 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM, 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM).
2. Clydie King was a Raelett from March 1966 to July 1968. She was Ray's duet partner when he recorded Sweet Memories, and during concerts she was 2nd lead on Baby, It's Cold Outside, and solo'ed in If You Love Me Like You Say and Ode To Billie Joe. In this session, which was assigned by Liberty records and took place at RPM, she sang two of these songs. In an interview Ray Charles had already declared that the final piano chord on You Love Me Like You Say was his. When these tracks, after almost 40 years, were first issued by Stateside, Clydie said in the liner notes that Ode To Billy Joe had been arranged by Ray Charles. Listening to this recording, it becomes clear that he subtly contributed to it as well. At 0:25 you can vaguely, in the background, hear him respond to Clydie's call (just as he did in the live version that was captured at the Blues Thing concert), and the final piano chord is unmistakably his also: he plays Pop Goes The Weasel!
3. In the line-up above, instruments were inferred based on what these musicians were best known for. Jim Gordon, a multi-instrumentalist, may also have played reeds, flute or clarinet. The attribution of the alto to Charles W. Miller is uncertain. Regrettably, I haven't found anything on Robert L. Stolz. Dick "Slyde" Hyde was credited for "1 Dbl", i.e. he either played a second instrument (in his case that may have been any kind of horn), or he was paid double as a 'first call'-session musician.
4. The Stateside release credited Ike Turner (who recorded it in 1972) for writing the song. Taylor's own original is from 1964. Ray Charles was mentioned in the notes to Taylor's compilation CD The Galaxy Years: "Members of the Ray Charles band are said to be present on some selections and indeed [a few tunes from this period] have a strong Charles flavour". Any contributions by band members (or maybe even the song being recorded - at RPM??) may explain how Ray got to know the song, which wasn't a hit.

If You Love Me Like You Say (By Clydie King, Ray Charles On Piano)

Clydie and Billy Preston, arriving

in Europe in April 1967.

Album3: Clydie King - The Imperial & Minit Years, Stateside EMI 5099950958122, 2007.

Ray Charles (on piano) and his band are on Clydie King's one-off Tangerine recording of this song, which wasn't released until 2007, as part of Clydie King - The Imperial & Minit Years, from a previously unreleased Tangerine master taped in 1968 (session info here).

Live: '67 LC Berlin

Ode To Billie Joe (Ft Clydie King)

Album: It's A Blues Thing, Monad B000003J7X, 1995 (1968).

  

F.l.t.r. Merry Clayton, Alex Brown, Gwen Berry, Clydie King at Newport Jazz Fest on July 7, 1968. From Michigan Daily 
(Jul. 13): "Charles is an unequaled musical institution. He closed 
his performance with High-Heeled Sneakers [= Hi Heel 
Sneakers], bringing the house down 8 times. One highlight of the 
remarkable afternoon was the performance of Ode To Billy Joe by 
Sister Clara [= Clydie] of the Raelets. The Ode will never 
sound the same."

The Raelette singing this great song is "Sister" Clydie King. The tune first appeared on a bootleggish live CD, It's A Blues Thing, released in 1995 (cf. Amazon). The concert was in 1968.
The studio version on the compilation CD Clydie King - The Imperial And Minit Years (EMI Europe, 2007; track #18) was probably recorded on an earlier date (February 22, 1968) than the live concert (also from '68, but precise date unknown). Ray's ad-libs on the studio version are barely hearable (session notes here).
In the liner notes of her compilation CD Clydie declared that Ray arranged the song for her.

Sweet Memories (With Clydie King)

Dutch release.

Album: Love Country Style, ABC/Tangerine 707, June 1970.
Single (B): ABC 11291, February 1971, b/w Don't Change On Me.

A nice duet with Sister Clydie. Recorded at RPM International in Los Angeles. The musicians and choir remained uncredited.

It's A Blues Thing (1968)

1. Eleanor Rigby
2. Let's Go Get Stoned
3. Crying Time
4. You Are My Sunshine
5. Esther Phillips guest medley: Monolog / You Must Be Crazy / Long John Blues / Jelly Jelly Jelly 
6. A Girl I Used To Know
7. Ode To Billy Joe (With Clydie King)
8. I Won't Leave

Album Live CD: Monad B000003J7X, 1968 (1995).

The liner notes of this semi-bootleg from 1995 don't offer any information on the location or date of the concert.
Looking at the setlist, and - most notably - listening to Billy Preston's organ playing, this live concert was probably recorded in 1967 or 1968*. Ode To Billy Joe is an excellent track, with Clydie King, who also put it on a single.
The 15:29 medley by Esther Phillips is a pain in the ear. I doubt if this actually was even taped at one of Ray's shows.

The very similar contents of the Bakersfield concert, make (the Summer of) 1968 the most probable year for the Blues Thing show.

And this review of the Schaefer Music Festival concert on July 7, 1968 confirms the year and the season once more:

from Cashbox, Jul. 20. 

#7 (Ode To Billie Joe) was also released as part of Clydie King's compilation album The Imperial & Minit Years, Stateside EMI 5099950958122, 2007.