Ray Charles Live At The Olympia In Paris (1962)

In June 2013, in one massive effort, the obscure 'record' label Body & Soul released a plethora of digital albums (only distributed as downloads and streaming audio) with concerts recorded Live In Paris in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The list entails Louis Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald, Sidney Bechet, Art Blakey, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones, Cannonball Adderley, Ray Charles, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Brenda Lee, Henri Salvador, Jacques Brel, Yves Montand, Gilbert Bécaud, Juliette Gréco, Johnny Hallyday, Luis Mariano, and The Shadows.
Looking at how Body & Soul treated the 3 Ray Charles albums in these series, my guess is that the fans of the artists involved will be relatively-to-very-happy (a number of these concerts were not released before), but that the owners of the artists' and composers' copyrights will not be abundantly content with it:  in Europe, most of the music on these albums is now in the public domain.

Cover 'art' of the downloadable 'albums'; they come without liner notes. The first 12 'organ' tracks of Volume 3 are  from the 1961 Paris concerts.

1. Ray Charles - Live In Paris; [Volume 1] October 22, 1961

Released on June 10, 2013 by Body & Soul. Distributed as MP3 downloadable file (iTunes, Amazon UK and others) and as audio streams (Spotify a.o.).

This album is the so-manieth release of a selection of tunes performed at the Palais des Sports in Paris in October '61. Cf. the release history described here.

2. Ray Charles - Live In Paris; Volume 2 - May 18, 1962
Released on June 10, 2013 by Body & Soul. Distributed as MP3 downloadable file (iTunes, Amazon UK and others) and as audio streams (Spotify a.o.). Taped during Brother Ray's concert series at the Olympia Theatre from 17 to 21 May 1962. I doubt if the track list was entirely congruent to the setlist (incl. a few obvious corrections):

1. Doodlin' (Warm Up) (With Ray Charles Orchestra)
2. Doodlin' (With Ray Charles Orchestra)
3. One Mint Julep (With Ray Charles Orchestra)
4. Let The Good Times Roll
5. Untitled Blues
6. Alexander's Ragtime Band
7. (Night Time Is) The Right Time (ft. Margie Hendricks)
8. Hit The Road Jack
9. I Believe To My Soul
10. My Bonnie
11. Unchain My Heart
12. I Can't Stop Loving You
13. Bye Bye Love
14. Yes Indeed
15. What'd I Say
16. Ray's Thank You speech (in French)
17. Tell The Truth
18. Margie

The marvelous (piano & hum & scat) blues (#5) as far as I know was never recorded elsewhere. #11 is an interesting first known performance of I Can't Stop Loving You - just accompanied by piano and rhythm section, with an important role for The Raelettes' harmony singing.

Untitled Blues:


3. Ray Charles - Live In Paris, Volume 3, 'The Organ Concert'; May 20, 1962
Released on June 10, 2013 by Body & Soul. Distributed as MP3 downloadable file (iTunes, Amazon UK and others) and as audio streams (Spotify a.o.). Tracklist (incl. a few obvious corrections):

1. Moanin' [1961]
2. Alexander's Ragtime Band [1961]
3. I Believe To My Soul [1961]
4. My Bonnie [1961]
5. I Wonder [1961]
6. Sticks And Stones [1961]
7. My Baby (I Love Her Yes I Do) (ft. Margie Hendricks) [1961]
8. Just For A Thrill [1961]
9. I've Got News For You [1961]
10. Yes Indeed [1961]
11. Hit The Road Jack [1961]
12. What'd I Say + Finale with Pop Goes The Weasel [1961]
13. Georgia On My Mind
14. Hide Nor Hair
15. Careless Love
16. Danger Zone
17. Marie
18. Drown In My Own Tears

It's credible that the tunes #13 to 18 (with Ray Charles on piano) indeed (partially) represent the May 20, 1962 concert in Paris. #15 (Careless Love) and # 17 (Marie) are first known live recordings.
However, the cluster #1 - # 12, indeed an "organ concert", represents yet another selection of tunes from the October 1961 series at the Palais des Sports.

Sources
The Olympia concerts took place on 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23 and 25 May. The 1962 recordings must go back to tapings made by the radio station Europe-1. (The originals of the 1961 tapes and/or digitals copies of same are shelved by INA, the archive of French public radio and TV).

Personnel '62

The 2014 release on the Frémeaux label.

Musicians: Marcus Belgrave, Wallace Davenport, Phil Guilbeau, John Hunt - trumpets; Henderson Chambers, James Lee Harbert, Frederic 'Keg' Johnson, Leon Comegys - trombones; Hank Crawford, Rudy Powell – alto saxophones; David Newman - tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, flute; Don Wilkerson - tenor saxophone; Leroy Cooper - baritone saxophone; Bruno Carr - drums; Sonny Forriest - guitar; Edgar Willis - bass. The Raelettes: Gwen Berry, Margie Hendricks, Pat Lyles, Darlene McRea.

One more tune
A separate recording of the Hank Crawford tune Blue Stone, probably also recorded at one of the 1962 Olympia concerts, with Ray solo'ing on alto, is circulating among fans.

Update: new release on CD
In 2014 the people behind the Body & Soul label took care of yet another release of the concerts, this time  on CD, on the Frémeaux label (FA5466).  Frémeaux seems to collaborate with INA and Radio France.

Documentation
More photos here.

 Poster (1962).

Theatre's marquee, a photo clipped from  the c. 1964 souvenir brochure "My Early Years 1930 - 1960". 

Spread from the souvenir program of the Olympia series, Paris 1962.

Photo: Getty.

Two photos by Gérald Bloncourt.

At the Olympia dressing room. These 2 photos were shot on or shortly after the 17th - (source says, incorrectly, at La Salle Pleyel). Second picture attributed to Tony Frank. 

Photos by Tony Frank/Getty.

Backstage with Eartha Kitt; photo by Eddy Wiggins. 

Still from French TV news on 19 May: Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan after one of Ray's concerts at the Olympia.

 Leaving the Olympia with Raita Johnson. Photo by Jean-Louis Atlan/Corbis. 

With Raita Johnson (clipped from Het Vrije Volk, Jun. 13, 1962).

Many thanks to André Monnot (for alerting me) and Joël Dufour (for sorting things out).

Jim Marshall Catching Ray Charles' Shadow (1961?)

Photo by Jim Marshall, put up for auction by Christie's. Dated in 1960, but must be of later date since Ray's first big band was established in 1961. The venue could be Longshoreman's Hall in San Francisco on Dec. 29, 1961 - where Marshall shot a series with a.o. this photo backstage (if so, prob. with Bruno Carr - d; Sonny Forriest - g).

Ray Charles Singing Georgia For Designing Women (1991)

Designing Women was a CBS sitcom about the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The series' theme song was Georgia On My Mind.
During the first five seasons, the the producers just used  an instrumental version of the tune, but for the sixth season (1991) they filmed a leader in which Brother Ray performed the song - in a special 1-minute arrangement - with the protagonists hanging around his piano. The leader was used for 23 episodes, right until the end of the series in 1992.

Ray Charles Band @ MIT (1961)

As far as I know, this is the second-ever picture of Ray Charles' big band.
"After an informal dinner, it was the popular jazz artist, Ray Charles, and his orchestra. An enthusiastic audience
attended the concert held in the Armory, which was followed by our own private performance - the annual pledge skit
and a 'jungle theme' party."

On November 4, 1961, the Ray Charles ("augmented") Big Band performed at the Armory in Boston on the occasion of MIT's yearly Junior Prom weekend. The 'Genius' signs on the music stands were new. The line-up must have been highly similar to the one in Paris, in late October '61, so that could well be John Hunt taking a trumpet solo in the shadows.

From MIT''s collegial newspaper, The Tech (Nov. 8, 1961).

Ray Charles' Iris By Francis Giacobetti (c 1990?)

Portrait of Ray Charles by Francis Giacobetti (c 1990?), in the Hymn series: 180 black and white portraits, combined with full color close ups of each person's iris.

Cf. Francis Giacobetti's website for more.

Rare Picture Of Ray Charles Fans At 1958 Dance Hall Gig In Rochester (NY)

Kids with (self-made?) Ray Charles hats at dance hall gig in 1958; photo by Paul Hoeffler. Almost certainly taken at Eddie's Roller Palace in Chestnut Street, Rochester (NY). More pictures: here.

Ray Charles Interviewed In Rock, Roll And Remember (1984)

Copy of the show on elpee,
offered for sale on Ebay. It could be
from a rerun of the show.

In 1984 Columbia Records put serious effort in promoting Ray's country & western album Do I Ever Cross Your Mind. Obviously, canvassing radio shows was part of the package.

Ray also appeared in the long-running syndicated radio show Rock, Roll and Remember (show #124) produced, presented and syndicated by Dick Clark for his United Stations network.

Ray Charles Live In Saratoga Springs (1988)

On 20 and 21 August 1988 the Ray Charles aggregation headlined the JVC Jazz Festival at the Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs (NY). Someone in the audience taped the show on the 21st. Here you can listen to it. The setlist* was:

1. Bacio (Ray Charles Orchestra) (Jeff Kaye - tp; Armin Marmolejo - tb)
2. The Team (Ray Charles Orchestra) (Jeff Kaye - tp, Rudy Johnson - ts)
3. Bill (Ray Charles Orchestra) (Mike Karn - ts)
4. Smokin' at Hungry Joe's (Ray Charles Orchestra)
5. Sister Sadie (Ray Charles Orchestra) (Al Jackson - bs)
6. Intro Ray Charles
7. Then We'll Be Home (Sadies Tune)
8. Busted
9. Georgia On My Mind
10. Mississippi Mud
11. Come Rain Or Come Shine
12. Feel So Bad
13. Come Live With Me
14. Intro Raelettes
15. Hold On, I'm Coming
16. Anyway You Want To
17. Don't Change On Me 
18. I Can't Stop Loving You 
19. Smack Dab In The Middle 
20. The Pages Of My Mind
21. Lay Around And Love On You (All I Wanna Do Is --)
22. What'd I Say
23. Outro 

Bacio (#1) was penned by Dan Marcus; Bill (#3) was composed by Onzy Matthews.

Personnel:*
Musicians: Chuck Parrish, Jeff Helgesen, Ted Murdock, Jeff Kaye - trumpets; Armin Marmolejo, Steve Sigmund, James Romanek, Charlie Shofner - trombones; Chris Lega, Al Jackson, Mike Karn, Rudy Johnson, Scott Frillman - saxophones; Jeff Ballard - drums; Kenny Carr - guitar; Darren Solomon - bass; Ernest Vantrease - keyboards. The Raelettes: unidentified.
* This concert shouldn't be confused (as happened to me) with the 1988 concert at the Paul Masson winery in Saratoga (CA), described here. Special thanks to Darren Solomon, Scott Frillman, Steve Sigmund, Jim Rotondi, Dan Marcus, and Jeff Helgesen for helping me to get the details right.

Ray Charles Interviewed By KTLA (2002)

In 2002 KTLA's Morning News sent actress-reporter-bimbo Mindy Burbano to RPM to interview Brother Ray - who was surprisingly patient with her.
Here's a 20-minute edit, offering nothing new, except for a few words on the Ray Charles Doll, and on Bally's Ray Charles slot machines, plus Ray's - not necessarily entirely true - claim that America The Beautiful only sold something like 30,000 records when it was first released, but over 2,000,000 copies thirty years later [i.e. after 9/11, BS], and a few Genius piano chords at the end.

Ray Charles 3x At La Salle Pleyel In Paris (1972)

Photo by Michel Artault/Corbis.

On 16 and 17 October 1972 the Ray Charles Band once again played a series of - probably four - concerts at the Pleyel Room in Paris. Three of the shows were recorded by Europe-1. It's not clear whether and when any of them was aired by the station. The setlists were:

Concert A (16 October, 07.30 pm):

1. Swing A Little Taste (With Ray Charles Orchestra) (quick walk-on version)
2. Hallelujah I Love Her So
3. Yesterday
4. You Made Me Love You
5. Georgia On My Mind
6. Feel So Bad (ft Ralph Byrd on guitar, John Henderson on organ) 
7. The Sun Died
8. Falling In Love All Over Again (ft Dorothy Berry) 
9. I Can't Stop Loving You
10. Look What They Have Done To My Song, Ma
11. Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong
12. Shake (The Raelettes)
13. What'd I Say (intro So Soon broken off) + Finale

Concert B (16 October, 10.30 pm):

1. Introduction Ray Charles
2. Swing A Little Taste (With Ray Charles Orchestra) (quick walk-on version)
3. Let The Good Times Roll
4. Georgia On My Mind
5. The Bright Lights And You Girl
6. The Sun Died
7. Feel So Bad (ft Ralph Byrd on guitar, John Henderson on organ)
8. Going Down Slow (ft  Ralph Byrd on guitar)
9. Look What They Have Done To My Song, Ma
10. I Can't Stop Loving You
11. Shake (The Raelettes)
12. So Soon (ft John Henderson)
13. What'd I Say (ft John Henderson)
14. Outro/Finale

Backstage. Photo by Ton den Haan.

Concert C (17 October, 10.30 p.m); incomplete:

1. Introduction Ray Charles
2. Swing A Little Taste (With Ray Charles Orchestra) (quick walk-on version)
3. Let The Good Times Roll
4. Georgia On My Mind
5. You Made Me Love You
6. The Sun Died
7. Feel So Bad (ft Ralph Byrd on guitar, John Henderson on organ)
8. Going Down Slow (ft Ralph Byrd on guitar)
9. Somebody (ft Ralph Byrd on guitar, John Henderson on organ)
10. I Can't Stop Loving You
11. Look What They Have Done To My Song, Ma
12. Indian Love Call (ft Susaye Greene)
13. Shake (The Raelettes)
14. [missing: What'd I Say]

Cover souvenir brochure.

This was an inspired series of performances, with a few sumptuous portions of blues. As always during the 1972 tours, John Henderson* had a special role - musically on his organ of course, but also as a (willing) victim of Ray's teasing.
Falling In Love (#A.8) received a much better (5:40) treatment than the Pleyel-version of 1971. Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong (#A.11) is the earliest known recorded live version of this tune, and a good one (the tune was originally released with the 1972 album Message From The People). As usual with The Genius, all versions of Feel So Bad are splendid, but the #B.7-version, with a Jimmy Smith-like organ solo by Henderson is really brilliant. Ray gave Somebody (#C.9), originally penned by the man himself, an extra bluesy rendition; until today I only knew the tune from the 1973 Come Live With Me album. So Soon (#B.12) got a super-slow, hilarious, 8:30 version with special (siren) sound effects; Ray urging Henderson (introduced as "Deacon John") several times to "Take It!". The #B.13 version of What'd I Say was a (highly unusual!) duet with Henderson.

Personnel:

Musicians: Mike Conlon (ct), Tommy Cortez, Joe Mitchell, Tommy Turrentine, Tony Farrell - trumpets; Glenn Childress, Al Hall Jr., Fred Murrell, Steve Turre - trombones; James Clay, Don Garcia - alto saxophones; Andy Ennis - tenor saxophone, flute; Fred Smith - tenor saxophone; Leroy Cooper - baritone saxophone, band leader; John Perrett - drums; Ralph Byrd - guitar; Edgar Willis - bass; John Henderson - organ. The Raelettes: Dorothy Berry, Susaye Greene, Mable John, Vernita Moss, Estella Yarbrough.

* The man seems to have disappeared after working with Brother Ray, but I have heard rumors that he has been living  (maybe even still is working) in Texas. Who knows more about John Henderson?