# Let's stop fellating Ray Charles's corpse, shall we?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-stop-fellating-ray-charless-corpse-shall-we/290154>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [February 15, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-stop-fellating-ray-charless-corpse-shall-we/290154 "2005-02-15T04:31:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-stop-fellating-ray-charless-corpse-shall-we/290154/81 "2005-02-16T10:49:13Z")

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> [@pasunejen](#):
>
> I’ve seen this kind of disdain a couple places in this thread, and I’m just wondering…why isn’t it allowed to discover that you like a musician’s work through a biopic or because you hear a lot of it when they die? Obviously it’s annoying when people do it because it’s the Cool Thing ™, but, for instance…I really hadn’t been exposed to that much of Ray Charles’ stuff before seeing _Ray_. Is my new-found appreciation of his music in some way illegitimate because I didn’t discover it through music geek-sanctioned channels?
> 
> Sorry for the hijack, but this attitude sticks in my craw. I do my own fair share of discovery by reading reviews and finding out who influenced or sounds like the bands and artists I like, but sometimes a movie soundtrack gets around to me first, often with things I never would have thought to look at otherwise. People can’t always help coming upon things late in the game, or choose how it happens.
> 
> As for all the constant praise: yeah, it’s annoying, but from what I can tell, the man did deserve it. It’ll pass and someone else’ll die and we’ll start in on them instead.

Since you quoted me, I guess I’ll answer this one. My reference to “bandwagon jumpers” in this case had nothing to do with disdain. I was using it in reference to the remark from _woodstockbirdybird_ that in his experience, Louis Armstrong outsold Ray Charles 20 to 1 in the time he worked at a record store. I was objecting to the implication that Louis was therefore 20 times more important. (Although I don’t think _woodstockbirdybird_ really intended for it to be taken that way.) I was bringing up the fact that there was an upsurge at that time due to the film “Jazz” by Ken Burns.

(And I do think that Louis is more important, but not by a 20 to 1 ratio.)

I have no disdain whatsoever for any means by which great artists are discovered, and am extremely grateful for “Jazz” and “Ray” both for bringing in appreciative listeners. After all, the more popular an artist is, the more care is taken in preserving their recorded output, and the more likely it is to be released or re-released.

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**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-stop-fellating-ray-charless-corpse-shall-we/290154/82 "2005-02-16T11:21:19Z")

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**Greg Charles** , 🆒

**John Carter of Mars** , one mint julep was the cause of it all…

(Posted as I sit here in my burnt orange 2005 Nokia Sugar Bowl Champions Auburn Tigers - The Perfect Season - 13 WINS - NO LOSSES - t-shirt)

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