I Wish I'd Never Loved You At All (With Gladys Knight)

Album: Just Between Us, Columbia 40703, September 1988. 

Recorded at RPM International with uncredited members of the Ray Charles Orchestra (i.e. Mark Curry, Bobby Medina, Ted Murdock, Jeff Kaye - trumpets; Mike Christianson, Armin Marmolejo, Steve Sigmund, Charlie Schofner - trombones; Al Jackson, Ricky Woodard, Rudy Johnson, Leroy Cooper [and Chris Lega?] - saxophones; Ernest Vantrease - keyboards; Kenny Carr - guitar; Anders Swanson - bass; Paul Kreibich - drums).



Live:
'91 TV 50Years - Released

Heaven Help Us All (With Gladys Knight)

Album: Genius Loves Company, Concord, August 2004.

The album was recorded at RPM International (and some of the orchestral parts elsewhere) in Los Angeles between mid 2003 and March 2004. For an unabridged personnel listing see Wikipedia.

Ray probably never sounded so unlike himself, but Gladys carried the tune - and the terrific arrangement - like the Empress of Soul she's always been.

Here's an AP preview of the 2005 Grammy Awards, including some footage of Gladys and Ray recording the song.

I'm So Tired Of Waiting (With Gladys Knight) (?)

Unreleased.

Ray and Larry in 2000,
at the House of Blues.

Stories like this are often not true, but who knows...: "One day he called (it was on a Wednesday) and said he wanted to record a song I wrote called I'm So Tired Of Waiting that he had in mind to record with Gladys Knight. He said he needed an additional verse by Saturday. By Saturday I had five new verses for him to select from. The song did not make it onto his album Just Between Friends [i.e. Just Between Us; Ray and Gladys recorded a duet on I Wish I'd Never Loved You At All]. I was very disappointed but was told through reliable sources that the song was recorded. My hope now is that one day it will surface along with some of the other tunes he had expressed interest in. However, I am still proud of the fact that Ray Charles took an interest in my songs. One of my highlights was after one of his performances at Hollywood's House of Blues [on October 2, 2000], I was invited backstage and he and I ended up singing the chorus of one of his songs together," songwriter Larry Buford recalled in this story.

Neither One Of Us (With Gladys Knight & The Pips)

Album3 (DVD): Gladys Knight & The Pips - Featuring Ray Charles: Live In Los Angeles, Immortal, 13 January 2008.

Filmed at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, on or around September 1977.

(Starts at 4'00):

You Were There (With Gladys Knight)

Album: Genius And Friends, Rhino/WEA, 20 September 2005.

Ray Charles laid down most of the songs of the later Genius And Friends album at his own studio, RPM International in Los Angeles, in 1997 and 1998. Post mortem, duet parts of these tunes were dubbed in by virtual duet partners.
I doubt if Gladys would have cooperated with a scheme like that, so this nice track may well be the result of a genuine session, where both were present. (The photo used in the YouTube clip below was made during a session in 2003 or 2004 for the Genius Loves Company album).

For more production details, follow the album link, above.

Genius Loves Company's 10th Anniversary Reissues (2014)

The 10th anniversary of the 2004 album Genius Loves Company will be celebrated with three deluxe reissues, in variant packages - one of them in (2-LP, 45RPM, 180-gram) vinyl* - and a 192/24 hi-res digital download-version. Another version is packaged with the film Ray; all packs will be including "interviews with guest artists from then and now"; and a "new expanded booklet with updated liner notes and photos".
Just as in 2004, Starbucks will take care of distribution in the U.S.

Remarkable: Concord has submitted all tracks on YouTube.

Concord/Hear Music, September - December 2014; ASIN B00MY5AKEA, B00MWZIASS, B00MY5AK1I. The pricing is at high-premium levels.

* The press release also promises the buyers of the vinyl pack a download voucher for two bonus tracks, but it's not clear if these are the known extra tracks that are part of all variants (including the 2004 pack), or if they are entirely new 'give aways'.

Promo 2014 release (short):

Promo 2014 release (longer):

Gladys Knight & The Pips Ft. Ray Charles: Live In Los Angeles (1977)

In this show the great Gladys Knight & The Pips - in their absolute prime in 1977* - played a powerful set, including five tunes (as well as some deftly filmed hanging out) from Ray Charles. First The Pips brought The Raelettes on stage. But even then Ray's guest role came as a complete surprise for the audience. Gladys 'unwrapped' it with a good feeling for drama.

The concert was filmed at the outdoor Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, on 23 September (newspapers of 23 and 24 September carried a story about complaints filed against the theatre for violating an LA noise ordinance during a Gladys Knight concert). The show was directed by Marty Callner.

The documentary footage at the beginning of the film also includes a few sequences of the show's rehearsals at the Greek Theatre. Gladys and Ray explored a duet on I've Got to Use My Imagination, which regrettably didn't make it to the evening show, and on Georgia (which proved why Gladys should have been the only artist to sing this song with Ray). 

1. How Can You Say That Ain't Love
2. Every Beat Of My Heart
3. Every Single Day
4. On And On
5. Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me
6. Midnight Train To Georgia
7. Evergreen
8. The Way We Were
9. I've Got To Use My Imagination
10. I Heard It Through The Grapevine
11. I Can See Clearly Now (Ray Charles)
12. America The Beautiful (Ray Charles)
13. Georgia On My Mind (with Gladys Knight)
14. Neither One Of Us (with Gladys Knight)
15. Hit the Road Jack (with Gladys Knight)

The TV program was produced for pay cable by HBO. The earliest air date I've found is 22 January 1978. The first release was on laser disc, some time during the 1980s, but only in Japan. The DVD was released in 2008; sound and picture quality are mediocre.

DVD: Immortal, 13 January 2008.

The catalog of the New York Public Library describes a 2-cassette, 75-minute U-matic copy of the show: "Gladys Knight and the Pips are joined by Ray Charles in concert. Musical numbers by Gladys Knight and the Pips include: Midnight train to Georgia, The way we were, Evergreen, Neither one of us, and On and on. Ray Charles performs Mack the knife [sic! BS], America the beautiful and Georgia on my mind."
A review in Billboard also makes clear that quite some tunes were left out of the video releases, including Daddy Could Swear, I Declare, where Ray accompanied Gladys & The Pips on piano, and What'd I Say (with the I'm Gonna Keep On Singin'-intro; probably the big finale of the whole show).

* At the time of this concert Knight and The Pips must already have been aware of the conflict with Buddah, their record company, forcing them to record separately between 1978 and 1980.

Georgia On My Mind + Neither One Of Us:

Hit The Road Jack (Pips with Raelettes!):

Complete show:

Ray Charles: 50 Years In Music, Uh-Huh! (1991)

Clipping from Jet Magazine.

Ray Charles: 50 Years In Music, Uh-Huh! was a special TV show, commemorating Ray Charles's 50th year in the music industry (timing his debut at the Saintt Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind in 1942, when he started platying piano for afternoon tea parties and ladies' club socials!). The program was presented as a benefit event for the Starlight and Starbright Pavilion Foundations on 19 September 1991, in Pasadena, and was directed by Jim Yukich. With The Ray Charles Band, and a record breaking line-up of seven (7!) Raelettes. A 60-minute cut was aired by Fox on October 6. The DVD (embedded below) had 90 minutes.

DVD: Image Entertainment, November 2005, ISAN B000BD1LI6.

Fox/WUPW ad for
broadcast on Oct. 6.

There were plenty of stars, with Whoopi Goldberg, M.C. Hammer, Quincy Jones and Robert Townsend hosting segments; Paul McCartney and Gloria Estefan delivering taped tributes, and Michael McDonald, Randy Travis and James Ingram singing Charles hits. There's also a tape of John Belushi's hilarious Beethoven/Charles' imitation. Footage from rehearsals is included, just as a variety of interviews, and several (totally irrelevant) bonus acts.
When Ray Charles: 50 Years In Music originally aired, it was the highest rated musical variety special in the history of Fox Network Television. It has had subsequent airings on The Family Channel, BET, Disney Channel, and Bravo TV.
Highlights abound in the show. It's hard to say which is better, Charles' duet with Stevie Wonder - Livin' For The City* - or his performing Busted with Willie Nelson. The finale is for America the Beautiful. Bolton's contribution to Georgia, on the other hand, should be erased from history.

Personnel:
There's a story behind the line-up of seven Raelettes in Livin' For The City. When they planned the show, the producers did not schedule The Ray Charles Orchestra or The Raelettes to be on it. In stead, they planned everything with studio musicians, and fake Raelettes (possibly the girls that also acted that role in the Pepsi commercials).
David Hoffman remembers: "When Ray heard this he nixed that idea, saying he wanted his band behind him. [...] So we had "all 5", plus 3 that were part of the first booking. The original plan was to put the fake-ettes in front, dancing around like the Pepsi girls [...], and the real Raelettes on the side [...]. Ray nixed this idea as well, saying the Raelettes would be in front, and the fake-ettes on the side or in the back. I'm not sure how 8 became 7 [...]. I seem to recall that one of them walked because she wasn't going to be front and center."
Nils Johnson has similar reminiscences about the role of the band's rhythm section: "Peter Turre and I were out in the audience seats listening to Ray and the band rehearse the first tune with whoever it was he was singing a duet with. Neil Stubenhaus and Harvey Mason were playing bass and drums. The plan was for those 2 to play everything except Ray's solo band numbers, which is the only thing Peter and I were supposed to play. The next thing we knew, Ray stopped everything, called Joe Hunter over and said something to him. Joe comes down to us lounging in our seats and says, "Ray says whenever he's on stage playing you two are on stage playing!" So Pete and I ended up playing most of the show except the commercial bumpers and 4 solo numbers that other people were singing. We went from the rhythm section guys who were supposed to play the least to the guys who played the most! [...]".

Cast members: Whoopi Goldberg, Quincy Jones, Robert Townsend, MC Hammer, Stevie Wonder, Michael Bolton, Randy Travis, Willie Nelson, Michael McDonald, James Ingram, Tevin Campbell, Paul McCartney, Bill Cosby, Gloria Estefan, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Tony Toni Tone.

* Though they had been longtime friends, Living For The City was the first song written by Stevie Wonder that Ray felt was right for him to record (Renaissance, 1975): "I do it a lot differently than Stevie; I cut out a lot of the musical flourishes and I put that long rap in the middle, talkin' ‘bout the rats and roaches." The song earned Ray a Grammy Award in 1975 for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance, Male.

1. What'd I Say 
2. Hallelujah (I Love Her So) [by Stevie Wonder] 
3. Living For The City [with Stevie Wonder]
4. Busted [with Willie Nelson]
5. Never Stop! [by Brand New Heavies]
6. Georgia On My Mind [with Michael Bolton] 
7. Your Cheatin' Heart [by Randy Travis]
8. I Can't Stop Loving You [by James Ingram] 
9. I Got A Woman [by Michael McDonald
10. Just Ask Me To [by Tevin Campbell]
11. Just For A Thrill (trumpet solo by Jeff Kaye)
12. I Wish I Never Loved You at All (with Gladys Knight)
13. Stranger In My Own Home Town
14. America The Beautiful (with Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, a.o.)

Ad promoting the Fox broadcast on October 6th. 

The show was obviously (soft?) sponsored by Pepsi-Cola, that also decided to bring the Uh-Huh! spirit to Russia in the first-ever television commercials for Diet Pepsi seen in the Soviet Republic. Pepsi sponsored the Russian broadcast of the show.

DVD cover.

Ray & Stevie, HQ:


Integral show (90 minutes):

Just Between Us (1988)

Visible on this album cover:
Robbie Kwock and John Boice
(from c. 1984). 

1. Nothing Like A Hundred Miles (with B.B. King)
2. I Wish I'd Never Loved You At All (with Gladys Knight) 
3. Too Hard To Love You (with Jim Johnson)
4. Now I Don't Believe That Anyone
5. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off
6. Stranger In My Own Hometown (with Kenny Carr) 
7. Over The Top
8. I'd Walk A Little More For You
9. If That's What' Cha Want
10. Save The Bones For Henry Jones (with Lou Rawls and Milt Jackson)

Ray came back home (from Nashville) to record with his own band in his own RPM studio (but without The Raelettes), also inviting some old friends to join in. Arrangements by Marty Paich, Quincy Jones, Ralph Burns and Ray Charles. The trumpet dubs (and possibly the bones too) for track #10 were recorded on 31 December 1987 or on 1 January 1988. Track #6 was arranged by James Polk.*

Ray originally meant to produce track #10 with B.B. King. In 2005 King recalled: "The first time I recorded with him, he wanted me to do Save The Bones For Henry Jones. Ray wanted to change it; he didn't want to do it the way it was written... I could never get it right. And he said to me, 'God damn, Brother B, I thought you was a musician!'"
Milt Jackson later revealed that Ray wanted so bad to feature him on his album that he had erased the taping of his own piano playing, making room for Milt to overdub his vibes solo.*   

Personnel**:
Mark Curry, Jeff Helgesen, Ted Murdock, Jeff Kaye - trumpets; Mike Christianson, Armin Marmolejo, Steve Sigmund, Charlie Schofner - trombones; Al Jackson, Chris Lega, Ricky Woodard, Rudy Johnson, Leroy Cooper - saxophones; Ernest Vantrease - keyboards; Kenny Carr - guitar; Anders Swanson - bass; Paul Kreibich - drums.

Album: Columbia 40703, September 1988.

Listen here to Nothing Like A Hundred Miles (With B.B. King).



Save The Bones For Henry Jones (with Lou Rawls and Milt Jackson): here.

* Info kindly shared by Joël Dufour. ** Info kindly provided by Steve Sigmund and Jeff Helgesen.