Ray Charles Interviewed By Hy Gardner (1966)

 

Hy Gardner (1908 – 1989) was a columnist for the New York Herald Tribune, and the host of The Hy Gardner Show. He began interviewing celebrities for tv in 1954, and continued until the mid-1980s.

The first 12 minutes of his interview with Ray Charles covered leading a big band, his musical training and his skills on keyboard instruments, clarinet, trumpet (and even playing "a bit of base violin"), working with, recruiting and educating young musicians, the art of playing boogie woogie, making his first dollar, and the musical ambitions of his own children. I've seen further fragments (kept in the BBC Archive as an undated 8m30s reel titled Hy Gardner interviews blues man Ray Charles) covering Ray's drug addiction, the effect of drink & drugs on performing, the influence of entertainers on young people, censorship, his record sales & alternative careers, and his privacy. The interview was taped in Miami (this may have coincided with a dinner concert at the Key Auditorium on October 8, 1966).
Stock footage agency ThoughtEquity shows separate parts of this interview. From some sequences it becomes clear that the interview must have been shot in 1966 (not 1960, as the agency says).