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19 unusual facts about Ray Charles


Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts

Among the performers to grace the stage of the Walt Whitman Theatre are Luciano Pavarotti, Isaac Stern, Gregory Hines, Margot Fonteyn, Beverly Sills, Ray Charles, Joan Sutherland, Tony Bennett, Les Ballets Africains, Isaac Hayes, Vladimir Horowitz, Andre Watts, The Temptations, Arthur Rubinstein, The National Dance Theatre of Jamaica, Jose Greco, The Moiseyev Dance Company, Suzanne Farrell, Peter Martins, and Itzhak Perlman.

Buphthalmos

US musical legend Ray Charles, who was totally blind by age 7, had probably been afflicted glaucoma and may have had buphthalmos early in life.

Clarence Tex Walker

In Las Vegas, Walker appeared with the Drifters who worked in the same venues with Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett and many major rock, blues and jazz artists including: The Rolling Stones; The Beatles; B.B. King; Aretha Franklin; Louis Armstrong; Count Basie; Herbie Hancock; Miles Davis; Ray Charles and Nat King Cole.

Francesco Di Carlo

The club was popular with the beau monde of Palermo, visiting concerts of Ray Charles and Amanda Lear.

Gil Dobrică

He is most famous for his 1979 cover version of John Denver's song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" or simply "Country Roads" (adapted as "Hai acasă" - "Let's go home"), although he had performed a variety of musical genres (pop, rock, blues, soul, jazz, country) and performed several covers of artists as diverse as Ray Charles, Little Richard, Otis Redding and Bill Monroe.

Gil Dobrica made his impact in Romanian music history by adapting into Romanian various rock and roll, blues and soul hits, including songs by Ray Charles, Bill Monroe, Otis Redding, Little Richard and others.

I'd Rather Go Blonde

Cushnan started out as an engineer at Metropolis studios in London, working with Queen, Ray Charles, Robert Plant, Björk, Neneh Cherry, All Saints, Sugababes and also worked as George Michael’s producer for a number of years.

Lent Festival

There are several sub festivals including the Otroški Lent (Children's Lent) which is organized to cater for the interests of children and the Lent International Jazz Festival which has attracted some of the world's most famous names including Ray Charles, B.B. King and Jose Feliciano, violinists such as Stéphane Grappelli and noted Slovene performers such as Vlado Kreslin and Zoran Predin.

Lovie Yancey

From the beginning, Yancey was a fixture at the original Fatburger, where customers, who included entertainers such as Redd Foxx and Ray Charles, could custom-order their burgers.

Montreal International Jazz Festival

With Ray Charles, Vic Vogel, Chick Corea and Gary Burton on the bill, and an attendance of 12,000, the event was deemed a success, and has continued to grow since then.

National Museum of Commercial Aviation

Most noteworthy in the collection include the world's only known Martin 404 Cockpit Procedures Trainer (CPT) in Southern Airways livery, TUG Technologies first TUG Tractor, and the cockpit of an ex Eastern Air Lines Martin 404, later owned by Ray Charles.

Orphan

Other notable orphans include entertainment greats such as Louis Armstrong, Marilyn Monroe, Babe Ruth, Ray Charles and Frances McDormand, and innumerable fictional characters in literature and comics.

Paul Trousdale

In 1954, he purchased the Doheny Ranch from Mrs Lucy Smith Doheny Battson, wife of Edward L. Doheny, Jr. (1893–1929), son of oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny (1856–1935), and developed it into Trousdale Estates, later home to Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Curtis and Ray Charles.

Ray Robinson

Ray Charles (1930–2004), American musician, born Raymond Charles Robinson

Ronnie Bird

Moreover, he wrote the lyrics of the song, Precious Things, sung by Dee Dee Bridgewater, in a duet with Ray Charles, which saw success in 1989.

South Nebraska

It was a hub for over 100 black stores and restaurants such as the Cotton Club where famous performers such as Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald came to perform.

The Riptide Movement

Colton, who is highly regarded for his work with Rory Gallagher, Ray Charles, Yes and Heads, Hands and Feet, would later produce their début album, "What About The Tip Jars?"

We're Gonna Win Twins

"We're Gonna Win Twins" is a collaboration between Ray Charles (not to be confused with Ray Charles) and Dick Wilson (not to be confused with Dick Wilson).

WLIF

The station played four vocal selections per hour and they were only smooth vocal stylings of artists like Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Neil Diamond, Tony Bennett, Patti Page, Dionne Warwick, Barbra Streisand, and others.


Bigger and Blackerer

The album's title plays on Chris Rock's comedy album, Bigger & Blacker, and the cover plays off of the popular art form of painting on black velvet, such as Velvet Elvis (and is reminiscent of the Ray Charles album "Ray Charles Greatest Hits").

Bob Gulla

In his book Icons of R&B and Soul he wrote biographical pieces on artists including Ray Charles, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Etta James, Ike Turner, Tina Turner, The Isley Brothers, James Brown, and Otis Redding.

Canton Jones

The club performed for celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, Dr. Bobby Jones and Ray Charles, as well as performing at high profile events such as the opening ceremony of the 1996 Olympic Games and at the first gospel concert ever held at the US Pentagon.

Charanga Habanera

During this time they shared stage with such famous artists as Donna Summer, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Barry White, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis, Whitney Houston, and Kool and the Gang.

Charles Calello

He has worked with such diverse artists as Nancy Sinatra, Roberto Carlos, Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Al Kooper, Bruce Springsteen, Laura Nyro, Barbra Streisand, Engelbert Humperdinck, Ray Charles, Bobby Vinton, Janis Ian, Barry Manilow, Juice Newton, and many others.

Cow Cow Davenport

In 1953, "Cow Cow Blues" was an influence on the Ahmet Ertegün-written "Mess Around" by Ray Charles' which was Charles' first step away from his Nat "King" Cole-esque style, and into the style he would employ throughout the 1950s for Atlantic Records.

Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

Since opening its doors in January 1992 with three sold-out performances of Cats, the Phillips Center has hosted performers as diverse as Tony Bennett, Itzhak Perlman, Riverdance, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Ray Charles, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Alison Krauss, Stomp, Yo-Yo Ma, David Sedaris, Bolshoi Ballet, Wynton Marsalis, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Capitol Steps.

Dr. Music

He collaborated on more than 300 recordings with musicians such as Moe Koffman, Anne Murray, David Clayton-Thomas, Gordon Lightfoot, the Brecker Brothers, Bob Seger, Ray Charles, Molly Johnson, and Natalie MacMaster.

Dunbar Hotel

Other noteworthy people who stayed at the Dunbar include W. E. B. Du Bois, Joe Louis, Ray Charles, and Thurgood Marshall.

Eric Gorfain

In 1996, he toured with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant on their Unledded Tour and has since worked studio wise with Live, Sinéad O'Connor, Ryan Adams, Maria McKee, Dr. Dre, Clint Black, Eric Clapton, and Ray Charles.

Heaven Help Us All

Ray Charles also covered the song on his 1972 album A Message From the People, and with Gladys Knight on his 2004 duets album, Genius Loves Company.

I'll Be Good to You

Thirteen years later in 1989, it became a number one R&B hit again, with Chaka Khan and Ray Charles doing the lead vocals on Quincy Jones' Back on the Block album, and went to number eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.

J. Remington Wilde

His songs have been recorded by many country and pop artists, including Ray Charles, Gary Allan, Juice Newton, Conway Twitty, Clint Eastwood, Tommy Overstreet, Randy Travis and more, earning numerous RIAA certified gold and platinum discs.

Kevin Toney

He has also recorded and/or performed with Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Seal, Annie Lennox, Shirley Caesar, Ray Charles, Ray Parker Jr., Pink, Kenny Burrell, Nancy Wilson and O.C. Smith to name a few.

Larry Newton

He oversaw what became a major multimarket, multi-label company, which, for its jazz subsidiary Impulse!, included Ray Charles, Oliver Nelson, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, and John Coltrane.

Litchfield Jazz Festival

Over the years the Litchfield Jazz Festival has presented legends like Dave Brubeck, Tito Puente, Ray Charles, Dr. John, the Heath Brothers, and Slide Hampton as well as introduced new talent and fostered the careers of Diana Krall, Brad Mehldau, Jane Monheit, Matt Wilson, Don Braden, Robert Glasper and many others.

Liz McComb

While regularly touring in Germany, Spain, France and Switzerland, she was in constant contact with the “greats”, doing the first part of their concerts, such as Bessie Griffin, Helen Humes, Luther Allison, B.B. King, James Brown, Ray Charles, Memphis Slim, Taj Mahal, Randy Weston, etc.

Memphis Slim

It has become famous as "Every Day I Have the Blues." The tune was recorded in 1950 by Lowell Fulson, and subsequently by a raft of artists including B. B. King, Elmore James, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Natalie Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix, Mahalia Jackson, Sarah Vaughan, Carlos Santana, John Mayer and Lou Rawls.

Pinetop Smith

Similar lyrics are heard in many later songs, including "Mess Around" and "What'd I Say" by Ray Charles.

Randy Waldman

Waldman played piano (and occasionally trumpet) on a wide variety of recordings by high-profile artists such as Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Olivia Newton-John, Barry Manilow, Ray Charles, Michael Bublé, Quincy Jones, Johnny Mathis, Stevie Wonder, Andrea Bocelli and countless others.

Savannah Churchill

From 1949 she recorded with Regal, RCA Victor and Decca Records, recording the original version of "Shake A Hand", later a big hit for Faye Adams, and also recording with the Ray Charles Singers.

Silvan Zingg

Silvan Zingg has played with such other Blues artists as Ray Charles, Memphis Slim, Sammy Price, Champion Jack Dupree, Katie Webster, Michel Petrucciani and Jimmy Walker.

Stuff Like That

This time vocals were provided by Ashford & Simpson, Khan, Brandy, Charlie Wilson and Ray Charles while Greg Phillinganes was playing keyboards.

The Hurricanes

The band play 1950s rock and roll and 1960s rhythm and blues with a modern twist covering various artists including Ray Charles, Dale Hawkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Solomon Burke, The Coasters and Muddy Waters.

Tim Janis

Janis has worked with some of the top artists in the music and entertainment business including Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Ray Charles, George Clooney, Jackie Evancho, and James Earl Jones.

Toto Cutugno

He then won in 1980 with the song "Solo noi", and subsequently finished second in six editions: in 1984 with the song "Serenata" ("Serenade"), in 1987 with "Figli" ("Sons" or "Children"), in 1988 with "Emozioni" ("Emotions"), in 1989 with the song "Le mamme" ("The Mamas"), in 1990 with Ray Charles with the song "Gli amori" ("Loves", but entitled "Good Love Gone Bad" in Charles' version) and in 2005 with Annalisa Minetti with the song "Come noi nessuno al mondo" ("No One Else in the World Like Us").

Try!

The CD includes two cover songs, "Wait Until Tomorrow" by Jimi Hendrix, and "I Got a Woman" by Ray Charles; two of Mayer's previous album, Heavier Things's songs, "Daughters" and "Something's Missing"; and also showcased two songs from Mayer's then forthcoming album, Continuum, "Vultures" and "Gravity".

Unhappily Ever After

Beginning with the second season, the series' theme song was "Hit the Road Jack" by Ray Charles; the song is a reference to Jennie kicking Jack out of the house.

Valley Music Theater

Among the performers who appeared at the Valley Music Theater were Sammy Davis Jr., Johnny Carson, Don Rickles, Woody Allen, Ray Charles, Art Linkletter, Robert Goulet, Mitzi Gaynor, Ike & Tina Turner, Peter, Paul & Mary, B.B. King, Lou Rawls, Three Dog Night, Jim Croce, and the Spiral Staircase.

WAMC

It has been a custom on WAMC to play two songs to mark the end of every fund drive: Kate Smith's "God Bless America" and Ray Charles' rendition of "America the Beautiful".