Ray Charles Featured In Down Beat (1956)

This is the first full page magazine article about Ray Charles that I know of, from Down Beat, dated 28 November 1956. Wexler's quote on the "soul part" of the blues is remarkable - possibly the earliest instance where Ray's music was associated with the term soul. The essence of RC's biographical mantra is there, but small mistakes ("parents", "uncle") show that Ray can't have been personally involved in briefing the writer.

Rare Photos Of The Ray Charles Orchestra & The Raelettes In Paris (1963)

Early photos of Ray Charles are relatively rare, but photos from the musicians in his band and of The Raelettes are really scarce. People who regularly follow this blog have seen that lately I've spent quite some effort in documenting the few pics that are available on the web.

That's how I came across the Facebook page of trumpet player Phillip (Phil) Guilbeau (1926 - 2005), maintained by his daughter Nina. Browsing that page about a week ago, I found a magnificent photo of the Ray Charles Orchestra, obviously from the early 1960s. Intrigued and touched by a comment of one of Guilbeau's grandchildren ("who are all these people"?), I shared the same photo on my own Facebook page, and asked people to help me tag the protagonists in the photo. Things went fast when Leroy Cooper biographer Susan Cross asked Joel Dufour, the #1 Ray Charles connaisseur in the world, to help me out. Joel responded immediately, with a full concordance of the musicians in the photo...

...and with one even bigger surprise. He saw that the photo was from the same series that was published on 23 May 1963 in France Soir, and added a cut out from a variant photo in that publication, where the Raelettes and singer Jean King have stepped into the frame of the Orchestra picture. The pictures were taken in Paris, Dufour writes, presumably on 22 May 1963.

Musicians: 1. Julian Priester (tb), 2. James Harbert (tb), 3. Phillip Guilbeau (tp), 4. Wallace Davenport (tp, band leader), 5. John Hunt (tp, flh), 6. Oliver Beener (tp), 7. Henderson Chambers (tb), 8. Frederic 'Keg' Johnson (b, tb), 9. Edgar Willis (b), 10. Wilbert Hogan (dm), 11. Elbert 'Sonny' Forriest (g), 12. Bennie 'Hank' Crawford (as), 13. James Clay (ts), 14. William 'Buddy' Pearson (as), 15. Leroy Cooper (bs). Singers: 16. Marjorie (Margie) Hendricks (Raelette), 17. Gwen(dolyn) Berry (Raelette), 18. Jean King (featured singer), 19. Priscilla (Pat) Lyles (Raelette), 20. Ethel (Darlene) McCrea (Raelette).

That week Ray sold out his show at the Olympia Theater for seven (May 22nd - 28th) days in a row. Jean (Louise) King (1938 - 1983), of Blossoms fame, had her own solo spot in these concerts, accompanied by Ray and the band.
David Fathead Newman was missing in the Orchestra line-up. He had been arrested for drug possession a few days before by the British police. Later that week he joined the group again in Paris (and again caused some - this time internal - drugs-related trouble), but he didn't make it to the concerts because his place in the band was already taken by the English tenor saxophone player Vic Ash, the first white cat ever to play in Ray's band (don't miss his autobiography, I Blew It My Way).
Phil Guilbeau, on trumpet of course, had to fill in the flute parts on Georgia On My Mind (a partial sound recording has survived).

Some TV footage of the 1963 French tour has survived; see this.

 Band leader and trumpet player Wallace Davenport, Ray Charles, and Vic Ash. 

Ray Charles On Public People, Private Lives (1989)

Public People, Private Lives was a gossip talkshow, hosted by Sarah Purcell, featuring interviews with famous personalities in the stars' own homes. It ran for one season, 1988/89.
On or around 2 October 1989 Purcell had Cheryl Tiegs, Larry Hagman and Ray Charles on her show.

Here's the - surprisingly candid - interview segment with RC:

Ray Charles On Donahue's 25th Anniversary Show (1992)

From the late 60s to the mid 90s Phil Donahue hosted a series of successful talkshow formats for NBC. His last day-show format was aptly titled Donahue. On 15 November 1992 he was celebrated by fellow talk show hosts as a mentor and patriarch of the genre, with Donahue: The 25th Anniversary, directed by Gary Halvorson.
John Leonard in New York Magazine announced the content of the show like this: "[It] has everybody from Marlo [Donahue] to Muhammad Ali, from Dr. Ruth to Jerry Rubin, from Gloria Steinem to Ray Charles. It's as if your very worst dreams of daytime television got together to throw a three-ring circus in your head. Why, then, did I love every minute of the unfinished preview cassette?"
The New York Times tagged it, more matter-of-factly, as "A special saluting Phil Donahue that includes film clips of past programs, on-stage reunions and personalities he has interviewed in the past 25 years." The latter implies that Ray had been on the show before.

Who knows more?

Ray Receives Heraldo De Mexico Award From Cantinflas (1970)

Ad (from Cashbox?).

In (late) February 1970 Ray Charles was at Camino Royal in Mexico City, to be presented - by the famous comedian Cantinflas - with the annual Heraldo de Mexico Award for being "the most outstanding international artist". Ray was his typical self in his acceptance speech, throwing in a lot of shy muchas gracias and an occasional  "Continflas numero uno!" See the clip below, and read this.

Brother Ray Is At It Again (1980)

1. Compared To What
2. Anyway You Want To
3. Don’t You Love Me Anymore (flugelhorn solo by Bobby Bryant Freddie Hubbard*)
4. A Poor Man's Song
5. Now That We've Found Each other
6. Ophelia
7. I Can't Change It
8. Questions

Crossover/Atlantic SH 8546, March 1980.

This album was released more than a year after the first edition of Brother Ray; Ray Charles' Own Story, the autobiography co-written with David Ritz, a moderate bestseller in 1978, and a little before the release of The Blues Brothers. Nevertheless, this release was hardly noticed, and now the album is almost totally forgotten.

The musicians were not credited. Bobby Bryant (trumpet) and David T. Walker (guitar) were amongst the session musicians. The backing vocals on #1 were possibly sung by The Raelettes; the choir on #7 remains unidentified. Arrangers: Mike Post (#1, 4, 6), Larry Muhoberac (#2, 5), Nan Schwartz (#3), Ray Charles (#7 and #8 together with), Sid Feller.

* This new attribution is based on a consensus among trumpetist alumni of the Ray Charles band.











Full album:

Ray Charles Live In Antibes (1990)

The taping of Ray Charles' concert in Antibes on 19 July 1990 at the 30th edition of Jazz à Juan was directed - as always - by Jean-Christophe Averty. The footage of the concert was re-edited into three 30-minute programs, titled Special Ray Charles (#1, #2, #3) which were broadcast by France 2.

The choice for Special Ray Charles #1 (first aired on 21 August 1990) was:

1. Then We'll Be Home (Sadies Tune)
2. Busted
3. Georgia On My Mind
4. Mississippi Mud
5. The Brightest Smile In Town
6. Feel So Bad

The tunes chosen for Special Ray Charles #2 (first aired on 28 December 1990) had a focus on The Raelettes, but started with a splendid Orchestra piece:

1. Metamorphosis (Ray Charles Orchestra) (solos by Al Jackson, Jeff Kaye, Ernest Vantrease)
2. Intro RC
3. Chain Of Fools (The Raelettes)
4. Giving Up* (ft Trudy Cohran)
5. Smack Dab In The Middle
6. I Can't Stop Loving You
7. I Can See Clearly Now 

* Based on Donny Hathaway's minor hit from 1972. It's a beautiful, soaring  7-minute love lament sung by Trudy Cohran, which seems to have been improvised on the spot (Ray moaning directions between Trudy's lines), but it was performed several times by Cohran (later also by Tonette McKinney). The TV program's editors gave it the title Spiritual Solo.

The concert was interrupted to let the mayor award Ray with a Légion d'honneur. This scene was
left out of the broadcast (but you can see Ray suddenly with
a medal around his neck).

Ina archive, also describes the contents of Special Ray Charles #3, first broadcast on 8 January 1991, by France 2.

• The matrix tape (INA ID CPB90014937) has a run time of 29m16s. The record specifies that it entailed two instrumentals by the Ray Charles Orchestra, plus four tunes performed by Ray Charles, one of which was a duet with Dee Dee Bridgewater (no doubt this was Precious Thing). The description of INA tape #  I00005172 seems to imply that The Raelettes supported the duet with backing vocals. 
• Another tape (INA ID I00005170), with a run time of 4m26s, gives the title of one of the three other tunes: "Sadie (without Raelettes)", surely referring to Then We'll Be Home (Sadies Tune). This song was also part of the first Special.
• The description of a third tape (INA ID I00005173), with a run time of 5m24s, specifies the name of yet another tune, performed by Ray and the girls: "Gonna coils one you" - which, unfortunately, is a phantasy title.
• The description of the last tape (INA ID CPB90014937) names What'd I Say, with a duration of 3m12s, as the fourth song. "Then Ray Charles greets the public with the orchestra playing".

* J.P. Verger pointed me at this (cf. comments).

Update: Today I watched an excellent copy of the Special Ray Charles #3, with the following tunes:

1. The Shadow Of Your Smile (The Ray Charles Orchestra) (solo by Craig Bailey - ts)
2. Beatrice (The Ray Charles Orchestra) (solos by Wayne Coniglio - tb, Ken Rampton - tp)
3. Intro RC
4. Then We'll Be Home (Sadies Tune)
5. Precious Thing (with Dee Dee Bridgewater)
6. Lay Around And Love On You (All I Wanna Do Is --) (solos by Kenny Carr - g, Ray Charles - ep)
7. What'd I Say

So far, The Shadow Of Your Smile (#1) was only known from a recording at the Salle Pleyel concert in 1969. Dee Dee Bridgewater's guest appearance was a little triumph; Precious Thing (#5) got a very inspired rendition.

Personnel:
Musicians: Chuck Parrish, Jeff Kaye, Jeff Helgesen, Kenny Rampton - trumpets; Steve Sigmund, Mike  Guerrier, Marc Fields, Wayne Coniglio - trombones; Al Waters, Rudy Johnson, Al Jackson, Craig Baily, Scott Frillman - saxophones; David Rokeach - drums; Kenny Carr - guitar; Benoît Grey - bass; Ernest Vantrease - organ. The Raelettes: Trudy Cohran, Kay Nickerson, Lalomie Washburn, Angie Workman, Estella Yarbrough.

'90 LC Antibes - Busted:

'90 LC Antibes - Georgia On My Mind:

Ray Charles Live In Antibes (1987)

The 1987 Jazz À Juan concert took place on 19 July. The songs were:

1.      Pas-Se-O-Ne Blues (Ray Charles Orchestra)

2.      High On The Hogg (Ray Charles Orchestra)

Intro RC

3.      Then We'll Be Home (Sadies Tune)

4.      Busted

5.      Georgia On My Mind

6.      Mississippi Mud

7.      Just For A Thrill (solo: Jeff Kaye - fh) 

8.      Feel So Bad (solo: Kenny Carr - g)

9.      Yours

Intro Raelettes

10.  Chain Of Fools (ft Estella Yarbrough)

11.  All I Need (Elaine Woodard)

12.  Smack Dab In The Middle

13.  I Can’t Stop Loving You

14.  I Can See Clearly Now

15.  Any Way You Want To

16.  The Pages Of My Mind (ft Elaine Woodard)

17.  I'm Gonna Keep On Singin'

18.  What'd I Say

Outro

Personnel:
Musicians: Mark Curry, Bobby Medina, Ted Murdock, Jeff Kaye - trumpets; Mike Christianson, Armin Marmolejo, Steve Sigmund, Charlie Schofner - trombones; Al Jackson, Clifford Solomon (bandleader), Ricky Woodard, Rudy Johnson, Leroy Cooper - saxophones; Ernest Vantrease - keyboards; Kenny Carr - guitar; Anders Swanson - bass; Paul Kreibich - drums. The Raelettes: Estella Yarbrough, Trudy Cohran, Sharon Creighton, Elaine Woodard, Angela Workman.

The French television recycled the contents of the show in several programs (A - C, below).

A. Special with Sarah Vaughan
On July 19 France 2 aired a 29m29s special titled Sarah Vaughan - Ray Charles, with parts of their concerts (the broadcast was repeated on 24 June 1988; cf. Ina archive ID CPB88008443; I05043478 is a 7 minute cut just with Sarah Vaughan). The program was presented by André Francis and was - as always - directed by Jean Christophe Averty. The special showed: From This Moment (Vaughan), Smack Dab In The Middle (Charles), I Can't Stop Loving You (Charles), Goodbye (Vaughan), Send In The Clowns (Vaughan). There was no direct interaction between Brother Ray and Sister Sass.

B. Possible second Special with Sarah Vaughan
Yet another informant has send me yet another description of source materials or of a TV program extracted from the 1987 footage, archived on two tapes, where "Ray Charles shares the stage with a singer called Sarah Vaughan".
Tape 1 - Sarah Vaughan: There Will Never Be Another You, I'm So Glad There Is You, Just Friends, East Of The Sun, Lush Life, and a 'Gershwin medley'. Ray Charles: #5, 7, 3, 11, 9, 10, 4, 8, 6 from the list above.
Tape 2 - Sarah Vaughan: From This Moment, Goodbye, Send In The Clowns. Ray Charles: #1, 12, 13 from the list above.

C. Special titled I Feel So Bad
This source describes a 37 minute video titled I Feel So Bad. I have seen a partial copy of what most probably is this program, with the numbers 3, 5, 4, 7, 6, 8, 9 from the list above.

D. Radio recording
INA has archived (ID: PHY11006268) a recording of the complete show. This is the only copy I've listened to with the numbers 3, 4, and 11 to 18.

INA keeps 2 more video tapes with rest materials or post production footage, with performances of Mississippi Mud (Ina, I00005182) and Feel So Bad (Ina, ID I00005183) from the same concert.

Ray Charles (Probably Not) On IMNtv.com (2000)

In 2000 Ray Charles was part of a brief dotcom-ish adventure with InVision Records, a division of Falcon Entertainment Corp. Falcon was a crossmedia concept focused on three areas: broadcasting and cable networks, music, and internet websites.
Part of the deal was exposure through Independent Music Network Television (IMNtv), a medium intended to offer amateur bands and artists free national television exposure, plus worldwide visibility through concurrent webcasting.
"I’m very happy to be involved with InVision Records because the programs that they’ve come up with will make sure that the music gets heard — not just mine, but amateur artists as well," said Charles in a Falcon press release. "And then they go a step further with a commitment to make sure that their artists are satisfied with their music. Nobody does that anymore. It’s the way the industry used to work, and it’s great to find a label providing that kind of support. It’s all about the music — that’s what matters to me, and the people at InVision Records are people who stand behind their word. It’s more than just contracts and money, these are men whose word means something. What we’re doing is going back to the way music and artists used to be treated in this business."
Following a soft launch on April 15, IMNtv hit the airwaves and the web on 1 June. But on 6 November 2000 Falcon sent out a press release announcing that "after an evaluation of its current cable distribution and programming strategies for its IMNtv music video program, it has terminated its network carriage agreement with OlympuSat." The company planned to launch version 2.0 of its web site during early November, "including: substantially easier navigation and search tools, improved band and video information for viewers, a more intuitive interface for bands to manage their IMNtv accounts, and an enhanced streaming video interface". Furthermore, Falcon claimed it was negotiating with several sources for additional equity funding, "the completion of which is necessary for the company to expand its cable distribution efforts and to re-launch its IMNtv programming. At the present time, Falcon is relying solely on its Chairman and principal shareholder for its working capital funding."
No records were released. I doubt if they ever aired any footage with Ray Charles. In 2009 (!) Falcon's stock registrations were finally revoked. Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Charles and Eddinger.

In a 2017 article (which does not sound entirely true) label manager Marc Eddinger "[...] said he pushed Charles to record duets with other artists, which the singer then did on the posthumously-released album Genius Loves Company. Eddinger had the idea for InVision, and Charles was initially opposed, saying similar releases by other artists had never done well. 'I said, well, there are all sorts of people out there that really want to work with you,' Eddinger recalled telling Charles. 'He said 'What would we sing?' and I said, 'You would sing songs that you like. You do things you like.' [...] Charles recorded material for a record with InVision, but the album was ultimately never released, as InVision was closed by its parent company a year after Charles was signed."

The New York agency RDA produced the launch campaign for IMNtv (they're probably still waiting to be paid), including these two - very decent - commercials on the theme "Get huge!":

Ray Charles On Johnny Carson's Tonight Show (1970 - 1992)

At one of the '87 shows. Photo: NBC/Getty.

Ray Charles always enjoyed guesting on the Tonight Show. The performances that I have watched - with Carson's studio band (conducted by Doc Severinsen), or with his own rhythm section, and even the ones where he only brought a prerecorded orchestra tape - were always inspired, without an exception.
Between 1970 and 1992 Ray Charles guested 18 17 times on the show (including one in 1980, where Joan Rivers stood in for Johnny).

1. 17 February 1970. Among the guests: Ray Charles. Unknown content.
2. 30 May 1972. Guests: Ray Charles, Maureen Stapleton. Unknown content.
3. 20 April 1973. Guests: Ray Charles, Cliff Robertson, John Davidson, The East Trucking Company and Ann [inaudible] (one source mentions a "Gymnast" as a guest). Unknown content [but possibly a performance of What'd I Say, with band and Raelettes]. 
4. 12 March 1974. Among the guests: Ray Charles. Unknown content.
5. 19 November 1974. Guests: Ray Charles, Petula Clark, Madlyn Rhue, Orson Bean. Ray performed Louise* and Come Live With Me*.
6. 25 March 1976. Guests: Ray Charles, Arthur Ashe, George Gobel, Orson Welles. Ray performed Then We'll Be Home (Sadies Tune).
7. 16 February 1979. Guests: Ray Charles, Cheryl Hennington, Cindy Lynn Lawson, David Brenner, William Demarest. Ray performed Riding Thumb* and She Knows*.
8. 1 February 1980. Guests:  Ray Charles, Bob Hope, Teri Garr. Ray performed Some Enchanted Evening*  and The Jealous Kind*. 
9. 2 February 1984. Guests: Ray Charles, George Jones, Charles Nelson Reilly, Holly Palance. Ray and George did duets on Friendship* and We Didn't See A Thing*.
10. 18 March 1986. Guests: Ray Charles, Barbara Hershey. Ray performed Stranger In My Own Home Town* and Oh, What A Beautiful Morning*.
11. 19 February 1987. Guests: Ray Charles, Lily Tomlin. Ray performed Mississippi Mud* and Come Live With Me*.
12. 9 June 1987. Guests: Ray Charles, Madonna. Ray performed Chattanooga Choo Choo* and Yours*.
13. 10 December 1987. Among the guests: Ray Charles, David Brenner. Ray performed Just For A Thrill*.
14. 12 October 1988. Guests: Ray Charles, Cody Carr. Ray performed You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)* and There'll Be Some Changes Made*.  
15. 11 April 1990. Guests: Ray Charles, Richard Lewis. Ray performed I’ve Got News For You* and Oh, What A Beautiful Morning*, both with his own orchestra's rhythm section. 
16. 21 November 1990. Guests: Ray Charles, Father Guido Sarducci. Ray performed Elly, My Love* and Teardrops From My Eyes*. From Ray's rhythm section: David Rokeach - drums; Kenny Carr - guitar; Benoît Grey - bass; Doc Severinson & The Tonight Show Orchestra with Pete Christelieb - sax solo, Snooky Young - lead trumpet.
17. 16 April 1992. Guests: Ray Charles, John McEnroe, Tom Selleck. Ray performed The Brightest Smile In Town* and The Good Life*.

The Tonight Show's licensing site:

Video copies of the tunes marked with an asterisk (*) have survived - and some of these sometimes make it to the interweb (also cf. below). The submissions to Youtube often come with contradictory notes on the years or dates they were aired. In the list above, I have attributed them with dates that either are documented through listings in contemporary TV guides, or by the JohnnyCarson.com website, or by a list compiled by Joël Dufour.
#18 (the appearance on April 16, 1992) was announced as Ray's "18th on the show, which was started in 1972". This suggests that the list is incomplete and that #1 doesn't belong here.
The complete history of all Tonight Show formats spans the period from 1962 to 1992. Before the Carson era Ray also appeared on one Tonight Show presented by Hal March (on 30 August 1960; see this).
For Ray Charles, late night talk shows have always been a great environment to plug new records (and an occasional book). In 1993 Ray was a one-time guest at Jay Leno's Tonight Show (see this). He also guested at several Late shows hosted by Ed Sullivan (see this and this), by Joan Rivers (see this), and by David Letterman (see this).

In most of shows in the list above Ray was interviewed by Carson. All or most of this footage has also survived.

Over the years many (parts of) Tonight shows have been (re-)issued on VHS, laser disc and DVD; Ray is featured on some of them.
The JohnnyCarson.com website licenses and showcases a number of the programs listed above  (you can watch them in watermarked versions, but with good audio quality).

The Jealous Kind, from the 1980 episode hosted by Joan Rivers (includes nice interview):


From the 1987 show (Just For A Thrill + [poorly edited] interview):

On 21 November 1990 Ray Charles performed Ellie, My Love and Teardrops From My Eyes; the first with Doc Severinson's The Tonight Show Orchestra: Snooky Young - trumpet; Pete Christelieb - sax (solo on Teardrops); the second also with The Ray Charles Orchestra's rhythm section: Kenny Carr - guitar, Benoît Grey - bass, David Rokeach - drums.