Or Mt. Rushmore.
Jayne: Here's a little concept I been workin' on. Why don't we shoot her first? Wash: It is her turn.
'Serenity'
Buffista Music II: Wrath of Chaka Khan
There's a lady plays her fav'rite records/On the jukebox ev'ry day/All day long she plays the same old songs/And she believes the things that they say/She sings along with all the saddest songs/And she believes the stories are real/She lets the music dictate the way that she feels.
Steph L. - Jun 10, 2004 10:58:53 am PDT #3053 of 10003
I look more rad than Lutheranism
victor infante - Jun 10, 2004 10:59:26 am PDT #3054 of 10003
To understand what happened at the diner, we shall use Mr. Papaya! This is upsetting because he's the friendliest of fruits.
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.
DavidS - Jun 10, 2004 10:59:34 am PDT #3055 of 10003
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
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.
Jesse - Jun 10, 2004 11:00:05 am PDT #3056 of 10003
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
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.
Lilty Cash - Jun 10, 2004 11:03:19 am PDT #3057 of 10003
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
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.
Hayden - Jun 10, 2004 11:08:00 am PDT #3058 of 10003
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
Aw, Ray Charles & Bob Quine in the same week.
joe boucher - Jun 10, 2004 12:58:43 pm PDT #3059 of 10003
I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve. - John Prine
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.
DavidS - Jun 10, 2004 1:12:43 pm PDT #3060 of 10003
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
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.
Daisy Jane - Jun 10, 2004 1:15:01 pm PDT #3061 of 10003
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
Yep. Way back when I worked the Detroit auto show he drove out one of the new (then) Thunderbirds.
Rick - Jun 10, 2004 4:25:39 pm PDT #3062 of 10003
Our little airport has a 'Ray Charles runway.' Apparently back in the 80's he was flying in to do a concert at the university when his private jet skidded off the tiny and inadequate runway, damaging the plane and scaring everyone on board half to death. No, Ray was not the pilot.
Anyway, he could have gotten pissed and sued the airport, but instead he gave a killer concert (noting 'Since I almost died today I'm going to take things up-tempo') and then donated enough money so the airport could build a decent runway. Damn fine gentleman, according to the folks here.