June 10, 2004

• My first (and one of the fondest) memories of Ray Charles was him singing "It's not easy being green" on Sesame Street. I'm sad he's not around any more.
• I was really sad to hear about this, I grew up listening to Ray. I still plan to dance to his version of Come Rain Or Come Shine at my (eventual) wedding.
• p.s. I totally didn't yoink this from MeFi, I just saw it there now. I guess we're all on the same wavelength with this one :)
• Wow. That's really sad. His rendition of Georgia on My Mind makes me smile everytime I hear it. Don't even get me started on America the Beautiful or It's Not Easy Being Green.
• MonkeyFilter: totally didn't yoink this from MeFi
• Well, I know what I'm going to be doing tonight. My boxed set and a glass of scotch. Damn it. This is the worst since John Lee Hooker passed.
• I loved the scene in "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" where John Candy is playing air piano to Ray Charles' "Mess Around" while driving. Classic. RIP 'Brother Ray'.
• R.I.P. brother. You'll be missed!
• sigh. i'm with you middleclasstool.
• The local jazz station in LA is playing Georgia on My Mind right now.
• I'll raise a martini glass to him tonight as well... My favorite? Hard to say. Though it may be sacreligious to say, the version of Georgia On My Mind that he did for the opening credits of a couple of the later seasons of "Designing Women". "You Don't Know Me" has been summing up my life lately though, so that one's kinda up there too.
• One of my earlist childhood learning moments was asking my dad why he was laughing at Ray Charles shooting at that kid. "Because he's blind."
• I love his older songs: "Greenbacks", "Kissa Me Baby", "It Should've Been Me", "What'd I Say 1&2" etc. Thanks for the soul, Mr. Charles. *salutes with One Mint Julep*
• Oh man, I didn't know this until just now. Jesus, I hate to hear this. He was one of the best.
• If you've not heard his live recording of "Makin' Whoopee," then you have not heard "Makin' Whoopee."
• .
• Genius + Soul = Jazz.
• I'll bet he never saw that coming!
• Not funny.
• The death of Reagan is as nothing, of course, to the death of Ray Charles. Ray Charles touched more human souls and inspired more love, more beauty - lived & represented a true human life in both ups & downs - more than any politician ever could. Peace to the Soul of Ray Charles.
• Goodnight Ray. There will never be another like you.
• Godspeed and Good Will, Ray. You ALWAYS delivered. ALWAYS.
• It's a big old world and we all have to live out our lives And one thing's for sure ain't none of gonna get out alive (uhuh,sorry)
• Two that haven't been mentioned: "Hit the Road Jack" (popular the semester my roomie and I ran away from college life on weekends to go rodeo hopping. It was always on the radio, and, since her car wouldn't go more than 45 mph, a two or three hundred mile trip took for.ever. Never got tired of the song, though) and,"I Can't Stop Loving You" (the perfect song for someone (me) mooning over a guy who would never love her. Driving though the Sierra Nevada foothills at night with the blossoming orange groves filling the air with nostalgia and the cool breeze sending shivers down my back when it licked at the nape of my neck, and singin' along with Ray - it was so much fun!) Thank you, Ray.
• Early days in NYC, by myself in a bar I'd never been to before, sitting on a radiator or something (I was drunk, OK? I don't remember what it was, but it was a raised thing on which people don't normally sit) because the place was packed, "What'd I Say" comes on the juke, the entire place starts swaying and hollering and becoming as one, sort of like a prequel to MonkeyFilter. It was a sublime five minutes or so. Thanks, Ray, and goodbye.
• .
• I guess i'll be the first to mention his Diet Pepsi commercials. They were one of my favorite commercials in my youngerish years, even though I never drank the stuff.
• ::sigh:: He was a great one and will certainly be missed. I got to see him perform a couple of years ago and he was absolutely amazing. I'm torn between "What'd I say" and "Hit the Road, Jack" as my favorites, but oddly enough, I can't get "America the Beautiful" out of my mind tonight. Goodnight, Brother Ray - .
• Night Time is the Right Time is a sexy sexy tune. Also, I've Got a Woman, great vocal strains from Ray and great sax solo.
• I saw his pic on the late night news during the Pistons game and my jaw dropped. Truly truly sad. Ray's in my ear as I type and I regret never getting to see him live. Baby It's Cold Outside; Fool for You; Let's Go Get Stoned; Come Rain or Come Shine; Shake a Tail Feather; Booty Butt; Understanding and most everything everyone else listed come to mind immediately. That old heroin fiend was always good for a story. I remember reading about him taking terrified assistants out for drives on his property. The apocryphal origin of his backup band, the Do-Rays, was that to get in the band you had to "do Ray". Jamie Foxx to play Ray in October biopic. Ray should be on the ten dollar bill.
• Close, forks. It was actually his backup singers, the Raylettes. To be a Raylette, you had to let Ray.
• Long as I'm feelin' pedantic, I'll note that 'twas the Raelettes and that the Do-Rays were his earlier back up band. But, yeah; I heard it both ways too.
• Let's Go Get Stoned. .