Ray Charles In The Blues Brothers (1980)

Ray Charles was one of the soul & blues singers starring in the music comedy The Blues Brothers, a film directed by John Landis (original story written by Dan Aykroyd), and released by Universal Pictures on 16 June 1980.

The tag line was "They'll never get caught. They're on a mission from God." Jake (Belushi) and Elwood (Aykroyd) are the former front men of a broken down blues band which disbanded after Jake was arrested several years before. Upon his release, he discovers that his boyhood orphanage home is about to be foreclosed upon for non-payment of property taxes. Beaten up by a nun, sung to by James Brown, and touched by God, Jake sees the light and seeks to put the band together for one last show - a charity benefit to save the orphanage.
Their journey takes them from James Brown to Aretha Franklin to Ray Charles to John Lee Hooker to Cab Calloway.

In Scene 20 Ray plays Ray, the owner of Ray's Music Exchange, a pawn shop in Calumet City (cf. this).
Jake, Elwood, and the Blues Brothers Band visit the shop to buy some new equipment. The characters in this scene are 'Joliet' Jake Blues, Elwood Blues, Ray, 'Duck' Dunn, Alan 'Mr Fabulous' Rubin, Lou 'Blue Lou' Marini, Matt 'Guitar' Murphy, Murphy 'Murph' Dunne, Steve 'The Colonel' Cropper, Tom 'Bones' Malone, Willie 'Too Big' Hall, and the Young Guitar Thief.
I assume the song was recorded in the sound studio (see B&W photos below), and therefore that Ray and 'the band' playbacked the song. (On Tail Feather you can also hear a bari player, while there was none on the film set).

The scene was filmed at Universal Studios Soundstages and Shelley's Loan Co (at 300 E. 47th, Chicago IL;  coordinates: 41.80929852285026, -87.61956233877473. The dancers weren't hired - they just got off the train and started to boogie. The scene cost $600,000 to produce.

Clipping from Billboard, 13 September 1980.

Ray: Pardon me, but we have a strict policy concerning the handling of the instruments. An employee of Ray's Music Exchange must be present. Now, may I help you?
Murph: Tell me a little about this electric piano, Ray.
Ray: Ah, you have a good eye, my man. That's the best in the city Chicago.
Jake: How much?
Ray: 2,000 bucks and it's yours. You can take it home with you. As a matter of fact, I'll throw in the black keys for free.
Jake: $2,000 for this chunk of shit? C'mon, Ray.
Murph: I mean really, Ray, it's used. There's no action left in this piano.
Ray: E-excuse me, uh, I don't think there's anything wrong with the action on this piano [launches into Shake A Tail Feather].

Ray's original text in the shooting sequence: Breaks my heart to see a boy that young goin' bad. Footage here.

At the closing of the film, as each character is credited, Ray, accompanied by the Blues Brothers Band, contributes a line to Jailhouse Rock: "Let's rock, everybody, let's rock" (just as James Brown, Cab Calloway, and Aretha Franklin):


See the 1980 Chronology page for more photos and stills. Read this for backgrounds.

The Blues Brothers' soundtrack album was released by Atlantic (SD 16017, June 20, 1980). A few tunes, including Tail Feather were also released as singles. Atlantic also released Tailfeather as a single (K 11615; backed with Cab Calloway's Minnie The Moocher).

Shake A Tail Feather:


The song was originally recorded in 1963 by The Five Du-Tones:

But the arrangement in the film was based on this version by James and Bobby Purify:

Scenario reconstruction (inc. spelling errors).

For the Billboard #1 live album Briefcase Full Of Blues (Atlantic, 1978) that preceded the film see this.

I'll Be Good To You (Pt 1, 2) (With Chaka Khan, Quincy Jones) (1989)

I'll Be Good To You originally was a 1976 hit song by R&B duo The Brothers Johnson. The Brothers Johnson's producer Quincy Jones heard the song, liked it, and convinced George to sing lead on the finished track. Released from their debut album, Look Out For #1, it was a top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot Singles Charts, peaking at number three, and a number one song on the Billboard R&B Charts.
14 years later, it became a number one R&B hit again, with Chaka Khan and Ray Charles doing the vocals on Quincy Jones' Back On the Block album (the record also went to #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, and topped the American dance chart in early 1990). This was Ray Charles' first #1 R&B hit in twenty-four years.

Single (A), (B): Qwest 22697, 1989-10.

Even the video seems to have been released in two versions...

'89 Clip Good (4:00):

'89 PR Good (Remix) (4:30):

The 4-minute videoclip of the song was based on Quincy Jones' album release Back On the Block, but the single that made it for the charts actually was a compilation of much longer remixes:

• 12" Remix (8:06)
• 12" Remix Dub
• Good For Your Soul Mix (8:18): additional production and remix by Arthur Baker for ABI. Rap written and performed by Skam. Programming by Mac Quayle. Mix engineer: Mark Plati at Shakedown Sound. Edits By Charlie Barbie and Vic.
• Good For Your Soul Dub (4:45)
• Around The House Mix: details as Soul mix, plus: edits by Oh Oh Omar Santana.
• Around The House Dub

Good For [Your] Soul Mix (8:18):
   [Video not visible]

Around The House Mix (6:54):
   [Video not visible]

The 33 1/3 vinyl version reproduced in the soundclip below specifies 3 of the mixes in yet another order:

• 12" Remix 8:06
• Good For Your Soul Mix 8:18
• Good For Your Soul Dub 4:45

Soundclip of a 4:54 version (possibly one of the mixes mentioned above):
  [Video not visible]

The label of this promo CD tells that there was also a 4:17 mix of the single version, plus an instrumental version with the same duration:

A few seconds of making of-footage in the BBC documentary The Many Lives Of Q, from 2008: start watching here.

Personnel:

Lead vocals – Chaka Khan, Ray Charles; guitar - George Johnson; bass - Louis Johnson; keyboards - David Paich, Greg Phillinganes, Ian Prince; drums - Harvey Mason; drum sounds - Bruce Swedien; backing vocals - George Johnson, James Ingram, James Gilstrap, Louis Johnson, Phil Perry, Siedah Garrett, Syreeta Wright; programmed by - Ian Underwood, Larry Williams, Michael Boddicker, Steve Porcaro; arranged by - Quincy Jones.

Listen Up (1990) had some marvelous making of-footage:

In The Heat Of The Night (1967)

This title song was composed and produced by Quincy Jones for the 1967 film. Director Norman Jewison recalled songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman singing their bluesy tune for Ray Charles. After they finished, Charles said to Quincy Jones, "They're brother and sister, right?" Jones replied, "No, no, they're married, they're white," To which Charles countered "No, they ain't." Jewison: "It was probably the greatest compliment he could have paid them." Source here. 

The single version (3'20) represents the complete taping. For the film a 2'35 cut-out was used, without the tenor sax-intro. The recording took place at Ray's RPM International studio in Los Angeles, probably in May or June 1967. Quincy Jones won a Grammy Award (for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media) for the album.
Carol Kaye remembers Toots Thielemans (on harmonica, in Mama Caleb's Blues? BS) as one of the session musicians, and herself playing electric bass. In an interview she elaborated, "What a great, great project. I worked with Quincy Jones on the film music, playing fuzz bass on a lot of the cues. That was pretty cool. Not many people knew you put fuzz on a bass; they thought it only worked with a guitar. Playing the title song with Ray Charles was a dream come true. Ray was so easy to work for. I thought he was a real salt-of-the-earth kind of man. We traded a lot of jokes back and forth. He was a good kidder. We cut the track at Ray's studio. I asked to have his vocal way up in my headphones because that's what I wanted to play to. On some records, you want to cook with the band. With Ray Charles, you wanted to cook with his singing. His vocal was the most important thing, so that's what you had to support." Listen to some memories of Quincy here.

The not overly clear liner notes suggest that In The Heat Of The Night was taped with Roland Kirk on flute, and Don Elliot on drums, but I'm only sure about Carol Kaye's base (uncredited) and the terrific organ playing by Billy Preston.

Ray also played solo piano on Mama Caleba's Blues (B7 of the soundtrack). The microphone was placed behind the piano, to create a somewhat 'surreal' echo effect. With Ray Brown (or was it Carol Kaye again? BS) on base, ?Don Elliot? on drums, Billy Preston on organ and an unidentified musician (Toots Thielemans?) on harmonica.

Single (A): ABC/Tangerine 10970, 1967-08. B/w Something's Got To Change.
Soundtrack album: United Artists Records, 1C 064-82 893.

Clip with film's credits:

Ray Charles - The Down Beat/Swing Time Years (1949 - 1952)

In the Summer of 1948 Ray Charles and his friend, guitar player Gossie McKee, scored the one-to-five-a.m. gig at The Rocking Chair in Seattle, at $45 a night. They pulled in Milton Garred on bass and called their combo The McSon Trio.
In December '48 they had their first meeting with the Californian record boss Jack Lauderdale, of Down Beat Records. In early 1949, but still without a contract, the first recording session was planned in Seattle. Their first single, I Love You, I Love You / Confession Blues, was issued in February '49. Lauderdale had misheard “McSon Trio”, and released the platter as a "Maxin Trio" single.
After a few more single releases, McKee negotiated and signed the first contract with Down Beat on June 11, 1949. Challenged by the magazine with the same title, Down Beat had to change its name, to Swing Time (after first trying out Swing Beat and Swing Records, but these brands only lived for a few months).
Until 1952, when he sold the contract to Atlantic's Ahmet Ertegun, Lauderdale recorded around 40 songs, and released half of that stack as singles.
"Maxin" sometimes morphed into "Maxine" or "Maxim", the improvised Seattle studio was replaced by professional studios in Los Angeles, Garred was phased out at later recording sessions, and soon session musicians helped Ray Charles to shape his sound "with Orchestra".
Of four tunes, most probably taped in 1952, in Miami, the initial ownership is vague (two of them were first issued on the Sittin' In With label).

The corpus of Ray Charles' "Early Years" tunes probably belongs to the most abused in the history of popular music. Soon after Swing Time folded (in 1953), the masters and a huge stack of acetate copies of alternate takes were sold and resold to several owners. From then on, until the day of today, much in the tradition of Jack Lauderdale himself, nobody releasing fantasy selections from these materials felt inclined to ever pay anyone who had ever been involved in making this music - composers nor lyricists, singers nor musicians.
The first time that a selection was released on an album, was in the early 1960s, when Ray's popularity skyrocketed (e.g. see the 1962 Billboard clipping below). Since then literally hundreds of albums have been released, every time recycling content from the same materials. Often under misleading titles. Often using umptieth generation copies. Often mistreating source materials (e.g. by adding organ sounds, or even adding 'live' audience sounds). Often misnaming song titles, or their authors. Rarely offering decent liner notes.

The cliché about this period is that Ray was merely an imitator (of Nat King Cole and Charles Brown), and was still searching for "his own voice", but the truth is that - although these influences can't be disputed - his voice and his piano playing were damn good, and unmistakable his as of the first recording. And he scored three hits from a handful of singles.

The data in the list of tunes below are based on the best possible sources, but most every fact can be (and frequently is) disputed. Furthermore, I've left out information about alternate and rehearsal takes.

We sure need a definitive discography!

COMPILATIONS
Thank God, there also are a few compilations, where music lovers took the trouble to present Ray's "early years" legacy in much more decent ways. The Way I Feel (see below) offers by far the best selection of the Down Beat/Swing Time years, with the best liner notes. Over the years smaller and bigger sets of alternate and rehearsal tapes and acetates have emerged. An audiophile reconstruction that I liked is Early Years - Ray Charles: Unreleased (see below). But be aware that there's more - a big collection of acetates with never released alternate takes was put up for sale on Ebay only a few years ago, and is now in the hands of a private collector.

01. The Way I Feel (1949 - 1956)

From Billboard, 12 May 1962.

This 4-CD box set contains all of Ray Charles' recordings (inc. rehearsal takes) between 1949 and 1956, i.e. all the Down Beat/Swing Time records and the early Atlantic* cuttings. Apart from the great set of early photos (cf. the two at the top of this article that were, as far as I know, not re-published anywhere for many decades - not even in their original B/W versions) the booklet that comes with the box also contains precious session details (compiled by Joel Dufour), that are even more complete than the liner notes to the Unreleased and Pure Genius compilations. Proper, 22 Oct 2007. * Not relevant in the context of this article, but below I'll quote the Atlantic tunes anyhow.

Disc 1 

1. I Love You, I Love You (I Will Never Let You Go)
2. Confession Blues
3. Alone In the City
4. Can Anyone Ask For More 
5. Here I Am
6. Rockin' Chair Blues
7. If I Give You My Love
8. Can't You See, Darling 
9. This Love Of Mine
10. Blues Before Sunrise
11. How Long Blues
12. A Sentimental Blues
13. You'll Never Miss The Water (Until The Well Runs Dry) 
14. Ain't That Fine
15. Don't Put All Your Dreams In One Basket 
16. Sitting On Top
17. I've Had My Fun (Going Down Slow)
18. See See Rider
19. What Have I Done?
20. Honey, Honey
21. She's On the Ball
22. The Ego Song 
23. Late In The Evening Blues 
24. Someday
25. I'll Do Anything But Work
26. I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now?
27. All To Myself

#1 - 9: The Maxin Trio: Ray Charles, voc, p; Gosady McKee, g; Milton S.Garred, b.- Seattle, February 1949. #10 - 15: The Maxim Trio: Ray Charles, voc, p; Gosady McKee or Mitchell “Tiny” Webb, g; Ralph Hamilton, b.- Los Angeles, 1949. #16 - 21: Ray Charles Trio: Ray Charles, voc, p; Gosady Mckee, g; Milton S.Garred, b. - Los Angeles, 1950. #22 - 25: Ray Charles with Orchestra: Ray Charles, voc, p; Teddy Buckner, tp; Marshall Royal, as; Jack McVea, ts; Charles Waller, bs; Louis Speiginer, g; Billy Hadnott, b; Clifton “Rudy” Pitts, d; Le Roy “Snake” White, arr. - Los Angeles, May 26, 1950. #26 - 27: Ray Charles Trio: Ray Charles, voc, p; cel, Oscar Moore, g: Johnny Miller, b.- Los Angeles, November 24, 1950.

Disc 2 

1. All To Myself
2. Lonely Boy
3. Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand
4. I'm Glad For Your Sake 
5. Baby, Won't You Please Come Home 
6. Kissa Me Baby
7. Hey Now
8. The Snow Is Falling
9. Misery In My Heart
10. Let Me Hear You Call My Name
11. I Can't Do No More
12. I'm Wonderin' And Wonderin'
13. Walkin' And Talkin'
14. Guitar Blues
15. Roly Poly
16. The Sun's Gonna Shine Again
17. Roll With Me Baby
18. The Midnight Hour
19. Jumpin' In The Mornin' 
20. Worried Life Blues (Someday Baby)
21. Low Society
22. It Should've Been Me
23. Losing Hand
24. Heartbreaker
25. Sinner's Prayer

#1 - 3: Ray Charles Trio: Ray Charles, voc, p; cel (-1); Oscar Moore, g; Johnny Miller, b.- Los Angeles, November 24, 1950. #4 - 6: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, voc, p; Unknown, g, b, d; Sy Oliver, arr. - Los Angeles, 1951. #7 - 10: Ray Charles with Orchestra: Ray Charles, voc, p; arr; Billy Brooks, Fleming Askew, tp; Marshall Royal, Earl Brown, as; Stanley Turrentine, Maurice Simon, ts; Charles Waller, bs; Frank McClure, b; Eddie Pipper, d. - Los Angeles 1951. #11 - 14: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, voc, p; possibly Gosady McKee, g; Otto McQueen, b; Manzy Harris, d. - Miami(?), 1951.

#15 - 16: Ray Charles, p (?), Rufus Beacham, p; Jack McVea, ts. Unknown, g; d. Ray Charles’ piano playing on these tracks is doubtful. I Can’t Do No More was originally released as Ray Charles with Rufus Beacham’s Orchestra on the Sittin’ In With label, SIW 651. Its flip side, an instrumental titled Roly Poly was released under pianist and band leader Rufus Beacham’s name. Roly Poly was subsequently released as Back Home under Ray Charles’ name (together with I Can’t Do No More, on all subsequent re-issues. During a March 4, 1989 interview, Ray Charles expert Joel Dufour played the track to Ray who did not recognize the piano playing, and said that the name of Rufus Beacham did not ring any bells to him. Finally, the original label for Guitar Blues credits “Ray Charles on guitar”. To anyone’s knowledge Ray Charles never played guitar. Jean Francois Villetard, the compiler of this set, suspects that this is another track by Rufus Beacham’s Orchestra, probably from the same session as Roly Poly - Los Angeles, 1952. #17 - 20: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, voc, p; possibly Jesse Drakes, tp; Sam “The Man” Taylor, ts; Dave McRae, bs; Lloyd Trotman, b; Connie Kay, d; Jesse Stone, arr. - New York, September 11, 1952. #21 - 22: Ray Charles rehearsal session: Ray Charles, voc, p. - New York, May 10, 1953. #23 - 26: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, voc, p; Jesse Drakes, tp; Sam “The Man Taylor, ts; Dave McRae, bs; Mickey Baker, g; Lloyd Trotman, b; Connie Kay, d; Candido Cameron , aga; Jesse Stone, arr, voc - New York, May 17, 1953.

Disc 3 

1. Mess Around
2. Funny (But I Still Love You)
3. Feelin' Sad
4. I Wonder Who?
5. Don't You Know
6. Nobody Cares
7. Ray's Blues
8. I Got a Break, Baby
9. Blackjack
10. I Got A Woman 
11. Greenbacks
12. Come Back Baby
13. A Fool For You
14. This Little Girl Of Mine
15. Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I)
16. Blues Hangover
17. Mary Ann
18. Drown In My Own Tears
19. Hallelujah I Love Her So 
20. What Would I Do Without You?
21. Dawn Ray
22. The Man I Love
23. Music, Music, Music
24. Black Coffee

#1 - 2: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, voc, p; Jesse Drakes, tp; Sam “The Man Taylor, ts; Dave McRae, bs; Mickey Baker, g; Lloyd Trotman, b; Connie Kay, d; Candido Cameron , aga (-1); Jesse Stone, arr, voc - New York, May 17, 1953. #3 - 4: Ray Charles with Edgar Blanchard’s Band: Ray Charles, voc, p; arr; Auguste “Dimes” Duont, as; Warren Hebrard, ts; Edgar Blanchard, g; Frank Fields, b; Alonzo Stewart, d.- New Orleans, August 18, 1953. #5 - 8: Ray Charles and his Orchestra: Ray Charles, voc, p, arr; Wallace Davenport, Frank Mitchell, tp; O’Neill Gerald, as; Joe Tillman, ts; Warren Bell, bs; Lloyd Lambert, b; Oscar Moore, d. - New Orleans, December 4, 1953. #9 - 12: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, voc, p, arr; Joe Bridgewater, Charles “Clanky” Whitley, tp; Don Wilkerson, ts; David “Fathead” Newman, bs; Wesley Jackson, g; Jimmy Bell, b; Glenn Brooks, d - Atlanta, November 18, 1954. #13 - 16: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, voc, p; arr; Joe Bridgewater, Riley Webb, tp; Davied “Fathead” Newman, as, bs; Don Wilkerson, ts; Roosevelt “Whiskey” Sheffield, b; Bill Peeples, d; Mary Ann Fisher, backing voc - Miami, April 23, 1955. #17 - 20: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, voc, p, arr; Joe Bridgewater, Joshua “Jack” Willis, tp; Don Wilkerson, ts; Cecil Payne, bs; Paul West, b; David “Panama” Francis, d; The Cookies (Margie Hendrix, Dorothy Jones, Ethel “Darlene” McRae, unknown male, backing voc. - New York, November 30, 1955. #21 - 24: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, p; Oscar Pettiford, b; Joe Harris, d.- New York, April 30, 1956.

Disc 4 

1. Lonely Avenue
2. I Want To Know
3. Leave My Woman Alone
4. The Ray
5. I Surrender Dear
6. Hornful Soul
7. Ain't Misbehavin'
8. Joy Ride
9. Sweet Sixteen Bars
10. Doodlin', Pts 1 & 2 
11. There's No You
12. Undecided
13. My Melancholy Baby
14. It's All Right
15. Ain't That Love
16. Get On the Right Track, Baby
17. Rockhouse, Pts 1 & 2

#1 - 3: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, voc, p; arr; Joe Bridgewater, John Hunt, tp; David “Fathead” Newman, as, ts; Emmett Dennis, bs; Roosevelt “Whiskey” Sheffield, b; Bill Peeples, d; The Cookies (Margie Hendrix, Dorothy Jones, Ethel “Darlene” McRae), backing voc. - New York, May 16, 1956. #4 - 9: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, p, cel; Joe Bridgewater, John Hunt, tp; David “Fathead” Newman, as, ts; Emmett Dennis, bs; Roosevelt “Whiskey” Sheffield, b; Bill Peeples, d; Quincy Jones, arr. - New York, November 20, ?1956. #10 - 13: Ray Charles: Same personnel as above, but Quincy Jones & Ernie Wilkins, arr; Ray Charles, arr - New York, November 26, 1956. #14 - 17: Ray Charles: Ray Charles, voc, p, arr; Joe Bridgewater, John Hunt, tp; David “Fathead” Newman, as, ts; Emmett Dennis, bs; Roosevelt “Whiskey” Sheffield, b; Bill Peeples, d; Jerry Wexler, tamb; Mary Ann Fisher & The Cookies (Margie Hendrix, Dorothy Jones, Ethel “Darlene” McRae) backing voc.- New York, September 27, 1956.

02. Early Years - Ray Charles: Unreleased This album presents restored and remastered outtakes from recordings for Lauderdale's Down Beat and Swing Time record labels.

1. Honey, Honey [False Starts]
2. I'm Glad for Your Sake [Take 1]
3. Jack, She's on the Ball [False Start]
4. Jack, She's on the Ball [Incomplete Take]
5. Baby Won't You Please Come Home [Take 1]
6. Sitting on Top of the World [Take 1]
7. Ain't That Fine [False Start]
8. Ain't That Fine [Take 1]
9. I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now? [Take 1]
10. All to Myself Alone [Extended Version]
11. Blues Before Sunrise [Take 4]
12. A Sentimental Blues [Take 1]
13. I'm Glad for Your Sake [Take 2]
14. Baby Won't You Please Come Home [Incomplete Take]
15. Sitting on Top of the World [Take 4]
16. I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now? [Take 3]
17. Blues Before Sunrise [Take 5]
18. A Sentimental Blues [Take 3] 

Album: 1949 - 1953 (2006). Night Train B000EBGFG8. Aaron Fuchs (Reissue Producer), Moses Nagel (Audio Restoration), Art Shifrin (Audio Restoration).

03. Early Years - Really Unreleased
In September 2011 a series of original 33-1/3 (!) rpm 16" acetate LP discs from 1949-1950 were offered up for sale on Ebay, constituting the earliest studio recordings by Ray Charles for Swing Time records. The discs entail complete recording sessions - including false starts, count-offs, alternative takes, and copies of what later became master tapes. A number of the alternative complete takes have never been released.

The recordings include takes of: Blues Before Sunrise, Sentimental Blues, How Long Blues, I Love You, Confession Blues, I'm Glad For Your Sake, I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now, I'm Glad For Your Sake, Honey Honey, Baby Won't You Please Come Home, She's On The Ball, Sitting On Top Of The World, Ain't That Fine, All To Myself Alone.