Friendship (1985)

1. Two Old Cats Like Us (With Hank Williams, Jr.)
2. This Old Heart (Is Gonna Rise Again) (With The Oak Ridge Boys) 
3. We Didn't See A Thing (With Chet Atkins and George Jones)
4. Who Cares (With Janie Frickie)
5. Rock And Roll Shoes (With B.J. Thomas)
6. Friendship (With Ricky Skaggs)
7. It Ain't Gonna Worry My Mind (With Mickey Gilley)
8. Little Hotel Room (With Merle Haggard)
9. Crazy Old Soldier (With Johnny Cash)
10. Seven Spanish Angels (With Willie Nelson)

Radio promotion.

This country album was produced at the Eleven Eleven Studios and the Soundshop Studio in Nashville, and the  Pedernales Studio in Spicewood, with c&w veteran Billy Sherrill. Ray finished things off at RPM in LA. The album is a parade of country legends joining Ray in a string of great duets. Friendship went to #1 on the country album charts and spun off four Top 20 country singles, including a #1 hit for Ray and Willie on Seven Spanish Angels.

At the time of the album release, Columbia distributed a promotional elpee to radio stations, where Ray introduced each tune with a statement.

Personnel:

Recording in Nashville, with bass
player Bob Wray, smetime between
1983 and 1986.

Musicians: Hargus Pig Robbins, Robert Ogdin, Bobby Wood - keyboards; Jose McElhiney, Bill McElhiney - trumpet; Billy Sanford, Reggie Young; Henry Strzelecki, Bob Wray II - bass; Pete Drake, Buddy Emmons, Dale Sellers - acoustic guitar; Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Kennedy - acoustic guitar; Jerry Douglas - dobro; Terry McMillan - harmonica, percussion; Ron Snake Reynolds - percussion; Jerry Carrigan, Kenneth Malone, Jerry Kroon - drums; The A Strings - strings; Bill McElhiney - arranger, conductor strings. Vocals: Hershel Wiginton, Diane Tidwell, Lisa Silver, Louis Nunley.

Columbia 39415, 1985-02.

The 18th CMA Awards show in 1983 had Ray and his duet partners performing a medley of four tunes from the album: Friendship (Ricky Skaggs); Rock And Roll Shoes (B.J. Thomas); Who Cares (Janie Frickie); This Old Heart (Is Gonna Rise Again) (The Oak Ridge Boys); Friendship (all).

Click here.

A later release of the album had Baby Grand (with Billy Joel) and Everybody Has The Blues (with Tony Bennett) as bonus tracks.

The promo below, with Ray's voice-over - which seems to be either contemporary as a whole, or combines his contemporary commentary with new visual materials - was on exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum exhibit I Can’t Stop Loving You: Ray Charles & Country Music from March 10, 2006 to December 31, 2007. This voice-over sounds as if it comes from the Columbia promotion mentioned above.