well, he wasn't folk, but he sure had soul!

goodbye to Ray Charles!

Back around 1960 my girlfriends and I celebrated turning 16 and getting our driver's licences' by driving to our first concert. It was held in a rural Illinois dancehall not far from where we lived and in the part of Illinois near St Louis Mo. I think we were the only white people there. The performer was our absolute favorite -- Ray Charles. We sat in the upstairs balcony area overlooking the dance floor, sipping our cokes, completely absorbed in the music but not able to see very well. Near the end of the evening there were fewer people dancing and the area near the stage started to clear out. We worked our way down to directly in front of the stage standing just below Ray and his piano and got to hear the final songs as if he were there playing just for us. A few years later when I was in college, the start of weekends were always announced with Ray Charles music playing loudly from frat houses and dorm rooms all across campus. Over the years Ray's music was always there somewhere easing life's journey. He will truly be missed.

The opening line of the opening verse of "Let's Go Get Stoned," a Nick Ashford/Valerie Simpson tune, is, to my ears, the sweetest popular vocal performance I've ever heard. This planet is a bit poorer without Brother Ray on it. You're right, Ray, blues is truth.

Jimmy Pollard
Lowell, USA

Sure he was folk, Arnie! Big Bill Broonzy once said, "It's all folk music! I never heard a cow sing!"

I have the only 13-year-old in the world who wanted Ray Charles CD's for Christmas. It began last Nov, when he raided my record collection & was listening to Ray.

"This is sooooo cool," he said. "He plays the piano & sings!"

"What a novel concept!" I said.

RIP, Ray.

So sorry to hear about him. Mike recently bought a boxed set of him...

Not the first blind musician and not the last, but it never ceased to amaze me that when this blind guy sat down at the piano, there was no handicap or impaired senses. Talk about seeing through the eyes of the soul! Wow! What a genius. Rest in peace, Mr. Charles as your music lives on.
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janet, thanks for sharing that neat story. BTW, you're a brave gal for tossing numbers out there, but I'm not very good at math and according to my celery calculator anyways, you're somewhere in your late 30's.

Nothing ambiguous or inexplicable about what folk music is or isn't suggested here....
".... Folk music should include any kind of music that folks sings or like. If you grew up listening to Beethoven, and whistling his tunes, that should be considered folk music as well..."
~ Arlo Guthrie, American Folk Performer, (1977)

When Ray Charles died a few years ago I was reminded of the time I saw him perform at a rural venue in southwestern Illinois in 1960 (see above post by me in June 2004). This week I spent a few days in Illinois visiting with family and the topic of the venue where I saw Ray Charles perform in 1960 came up. I had forgotten the name and exact location of the venue but my family knew where it was so drove me by there. I instantly recognized it when we drove up. Looked the same as it did 47 years ago. Here's some info about this historical venue:
Coliseum in Benld Is For Sale
http://rwarn17588.wordpress.com/2006/04 ... -for-sale/
Town of Benld:
http://rwarn17588.wordpress.com/2005/11 ... -in-benld/
Route 66 (scroll down to blurb on Gillespie/Benld):
http://www.illinoisroute66.org/template.cfm?page_id=11
A Dream and a Dance:
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stor ... rial6.html