Ray Charles Video Museum: Ray Charles Is In Town

Photo by Christian Rose.

Photos by John Maginnis, c. 1976.

Leroy Cooper, interviewed and photographed by Val Wilmer, in: Coda, April 1976.

Publicity photo, c. 1976.

1976

America The Beautiful peaks at #98 on R&B chart.
Porgy And Bess (with Cleo Laine) peaks at #138 on Pop Album Chart.

Mill Run Playhouse Theatre in the Round, Niles. (c) Rex Features.

Interviewed for Australian television. See this.
Performing guest on A Touch Of Gold. See this.
Interviewed by Larry Sawell for Armed Forces, East Asia:

Featured in ad for Craig Powerplay Car Stereo.

January 1976
On tv show A Touch Of Gold. See this.
'Soul of Amercica' commercial for McDonnalds.

7 January 1976
Toronto [? according to photo caption, but unusal date for a concert].

"Ray Charles... he made it a concert". Photo by Reg Innell/Toronto Star/ Getty Images.

25 January 1976
Performing on Celebration: The American Spirit (air date), filmed on Hollywood hilltop. See this.

Photos: Disney / Getty.

February 1976
Release of the single America the Beautiful / Sunshine.
Presenter at 9th Annual NAACP Image Awards at Hollywood Palladium.

With Maggie Hathaway.

28 February 1976
Wins Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male Grammy award for Living For The City. See this.

??4 March 1976??
Fundraiser for Jackie Wilson at Hollywood Palladium (Ray was announced, but probably didn't make it).

25 March 1976
On The Tonight Show. See this.

With Red Foxx amd Orson Welles.

With Red Foxx amd Orson Welles and unid.

With Red Foxx amd Arthur Ashe and unid.
Photos by Fred Sabine (NBC/Getty).

5 April 1976
Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg MB; read review here.

7 April 1976
Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary AB

9 April 1976
On The Comedy In America Report. See this.

Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary.

13 April 1976
In Chicago, receiving Music Icon Goodwill Award from Richard S. Bull:

News wire photos.

12 - 18 April 1976
Guest on The Hollywood Squares (air dates). See this.

On or around 16 April 1976
At his auditorium, probably in St. Petersburg (FA):

Photo by Norman Zeisloft.

17 April 1976
Two concerts for inmates of Sybil Brand Institute for Women (women's jail), Los Angeles CA.

Intro to extensive article in Los Angeles Sentinel, Apr. 22.

From Billboard, Apr. 24.

19 April 1976
National Arts Center, Ottawa ON ("rip-off"; read this and this).

20 to 23 April 1976
Recording Porgy & Bess with Cleo Laine at RCA Recording Studio in Hollywood.

Norman Granz and Ray Charles at RCA Studio.

Recording for Porgy & Bess, with James Cleveland.

Most of these photos by Phil Stern.

25 April 1976
Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo NY.

28 April 1 976
"In Celebration" benefit concert at Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

30 April 1976
Co-hosting Midnight Special (air date). See this.
Carnegie Hall, New York City NY.

3 to 9 May 1976
Latin Casino (with B.B. King), Cherry Hill NJ.

14 May 1976
Headlining the Bob Hope Bicentennial Preakness Spectacular at the Civic in Baltimore, MD.

From Baltimore Sun, 2 May 1976.

17 May 1976
Meets Billy Carter. See this.

25 to 31 May 1976
Bachelors III Club, Fort Lauderdale CA.

3 June 1976
On Mike Douglas Show. See this.

10 June 1976
Great American Music Hall, San Francisco CA.

11 June 1976
Charity concert for the Life Institute For The Blind; with The Four Tops and Dorothy Moore.

12 - 13 June 1976
Grove, Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles CA.

13 June 1976
Hutchinson.

14 June 1976
Assembly Hall, Champaign IL.

20 June 1976
The Brothers Four, Nashua ("Superb"; read revies here).

19 June 1976
Benefit at Olympia Stadium in Detroit canceled, but Charles'manager "doesn't want to acquire a no-show reputation" and demands $ 7.750 payment (later suing them for an additional $ 6.000).

20 June 1976
The Brothers Four, Nashua NH.

22 June 1976
Marc Antony's Cafe, Hartford CT.

Ad from Hartford Courant, 11 Jun.

27 June 1976
B'nai B'rith Man of The Year event at Beverly Wilshire Hotel, L.A.

July 1976
Release of album Live In Japan.
Broadcast of third Dick Cavett Show. See this.

2 July 1976
Music Mill Theater, Six Flags Texas TX.

4? July 1976
Circle Star Theatre, San Carlos.

L - R: Ernest Vantrease, Tony Matthews, Jim Campbell, Scott von Ravensberg.

Johnny Coles. Pictures by unidentified photographer.

5 July 1976

This photo (offered for sale on Ebay) had a printed sticker with a "1" styled with stars and stripes, and the text "Ray Charles / The Raeletts / and the Ray Charles Orchestra / Monday, July 5, 1976 at 8.p.m."

10 July 1976
Kool Jazz Festival, Royals Stadium, Kansas City MO.

11 July 1976
Recording instrumentals for Porgy & Bess at RCA Recording Studio in Hollywood.
Manning Bowl, Lynn MA (with The Four Tops).

Ad from Boston Globe. 4 Jul.

16 July 1976
First night of first edition of North Sea Jazz Festival (5,000 visitors). Ray Charles performs at PWA Zaal of Congresgeboouw, in The Hague, receiving $12,000, Count Basie gets $7,500, Lionel Hampton and Sarah Vaughan $6,000.

Photo by Hans Hendriks.

17 and 18 July 1976
Jazz à Juan festival, Antibes.

20 July 1976
Salon-de-Provence.

Photos (undated) by Guy le Querrec.

22 July 1976
Évian-les-Bains.

24 July 1976
Le Grand Mottey.

26 July 1976
Casino Prado, Sitges; aired on RTVE. See this.

27 July 1976
Arcachon.

30 July 1976
Festival International de Carthage, at Théâtre, Carthage.

3 August 1976

In Italy, summer 1976.

Start of Italian tour in Viareggio. Read this.

4 August 1976
Teatro Bussola Domani, Lido di Camaiore Camaiore. Read review here.

7 August 1976
1st Annual Pontiac Kool Jazz Festival, Pontiac MI, with "6 giant closed-circuit TV screens".

Ad from Ann Arbor Sun, Jul. 1.

8 August 1976
Double concert in Versilia.

16 August 1976
At Altromondo in Rimini.

25 August 1976
Paramount Theatre, Portland OR.

Ad from Portland Oregonian, 24 Jul.

26 August 1976
High School Auditorium, Southland.

End of August - early September 1976
Tours North-West, with oncerts Vancouver, Prince George, Fairbanks, Walla Walla, Ocean Shore.

29 August 1976
West High Auditorium, Anchorage AK.

3 September 1976
Paramount-Northwest Theatre, Seattle WA.

Ad from Seattle Times, 6 Aug.

12 September 1976
Honorary chairman of tribute to Ella Fitzgerald at NASCD awards dinner at Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills (in other source dated on October 17).

16 - 18 September 1976
Aladdin Hotel, Las Vegas NV.

19 September 1976
Paul Anthony's International Club, Pico Rivera.

26 September 1976
Ostseehalle, Kiel.

27 September 1976
Robert Schumann Saal, Dusseldorf.

Poster.

28 September 1976
Stuttgart, Liederhalle (taped for a radio broadcast; bootlegged). See this. Photos taken at press conference; read interview here.

October 1976
Release of the single Oh, Lawd, I'm On My Way / Oh Bess, Where's My Bess (with Cleo Laine).

1 October 1976
Deutsches Museum, Munich (part of the TZ Music Festival 76).

3 October 1976
Deutschlandhalle, Berlin.

5 October 1976
In A Salute To American Imagination (air date). See this.
Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt.

6 and 8 October 1976

La Salle Pleyel, Paris.

Promotional postcard.

Ticket stubs (coll. Jean Francis Merle).

9 October 1976
Southport.

Souvenir brochure for UK tour.

10 or 11 October 1976
Palladium, London.

16 October 1976
Macomb IL.

17 October 1976
Chase-Park Plaza Hotel, St. Louis MO.

23 October 1976
Civic Center, Atlanta GA.

27 October 1976

At the Aitken Centre, UNB, Fredericton NB.

"This was a truly rare event - held - to Ray’s expressed amazement, where there was ice covered with carpet, and metal chairs. He said to the audience that if we would sit on those chairs, on ice, to hear him, he was going to do his best concert ever. It was mind blowing."

November 1976
Release of album Porgy & Bess.

Trade ad from Billboard.

12 to 20 November 1976
Turn of the Century, Denver CO.

14 November 1976
Ft. In The Oscar Peterson Superspecial (air date; taping was in September). See this.