Heh. He's in a newsroom.

Um. Oh. Turns red.

But that's really sad. And I'd much rather have a Ray Charles ten dollar bill.

Or Mt. Rushmore.

Heh. He's in a newsroom.

Um. Oh. Turns red.

No need. I'm actually home. But I am working, which means I'm plugged into just about all the same wires as I am at work.

Um. Oh. Turns red.

How would you know?

But that's really sad. And I'd much rather have a Ray Charles ten dollar bill.

In Ireland they've got Yeats on the 20 pound note.

Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I like it -- we could just continue this thing with the back of the quarter, beyond the states. Coins would be like stamps.

we could just continue this thing with the back of the quarter, beyond the states. Coins would be like stamps.

I would enjoy it. Except that I'd have even more collector people at the shop asking me to poke through all the quarters for the one that they need.

No need. I'm actually home. But I am working, which means I'm plugged into just about all the same wires as I am at work.

Well, that's just neat.

Aw, Ray Charles & Bob Quine in the same week.

Subjectively, he was one of my absolute faves. Objectively, Ray Charles was a giant of American music. All the raves and big claims you'll hear in the coming days are, if not true, at least defensible: he was a titan, perhaps THE great American popular singer. His legacy is vast in intrinsic value and influence. His discography is also vast and can be intimidating to a newcomer. I'll put some thought into it and make some recommendations tomorrow. At one point I thought that he didn't make a bad record from roughly 1954 to 1965 or 1966 (the Atlantic and ABC years.) I have since delved into his catalog deeply enough to know that isn't true -- I find Have a Smile with Me almost unlistenable, and I think the Betty Carter duet is really overrated (although I blame most of that on her) -- but the ratio of good to bad astonishing, especially considering how prolific he was. The Genius of Ray Charles, Ray Charles Live, The Genius Sings the Blues (all Atlantic) and Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul are particularly good. And that leaves out most of his biggest and best hits.

I'm a huge Ray fan too. He bent every genre to his own profoundly individual style so that country songs became Ray Charles songs, and jazz instrumentals became Ray Charles songs. He was his own genre.

I think he's better on uptempo and salty numbers than he is on crying ballads (though he's famous for those as well. Take this note with the qualifier that I own and love his LP Crying Time ). I just think he's a little too vital, a little too freakin' ALIVE to ever sound completely desolate. But sexy? Funny? Rockin'? Cool? Unbearably jumping grooves? That's Ray for me. Even through the mid-sixties he could crank out a rocker like "I Don't Need No Doctor" that made the Stones sound like British schoolboys.

Don't get sucked in by the geniality of his public image. Ray was a very tough bandleader, arrogant, egotistical, horny bastard at times - and knew exactly how much talent he had. As the joke went...

How do you get to be a member of (his backup singers) The Raelettes?

You let Ray.

One writer talked about riding on the back of a motor scooter while Ray drove listening to the sound of the scooter in front of him. He was also an airplane pilot - he didn't let much stop him or slow him down.

He was a junkie for 20 years too - so I guess he did know a thing or two about hard times. But like I said, I always got the feeling that even at his lowest Ray knew he could bend the world to his will.

Yep. Way back when I worked the Detroit auto show he drove out one of the new (then) Thunderbirds.