# RIP Ray Charles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687 "2004-06-10T19:44:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/21 "2004-06-11T00:56:42Z")
I’d heard the song from time to time when I was growing up, of course; but as a kid I listened to rock. I never really knew who Ray Charles was. Maybe I caught him on a variety show; but I never really paid any attention. Then I saw a claymation film at a school assempbly. It was Jimmy Carter sitting at his desk in the Oval Office. As he worked into the wee hours, he looked up and Ray Charles started singing _Georgia On My Mind_. The clay Carter lip-synched, as it were. From that point on, I realised who Ray Charles was. He had a magnificent, down-to-Earth voice. Truly one of the greatest performers who ever lived. Goodbye, Ray. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/22 "2004-06-11T00:58:23Z")
Dave Barry once made a joke about the perfect radio station: KRAY, the station that plays nothing but Ray Charles songs twenty four hours a day. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/23 "2004-06-11T02:27:49Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > The last time I saw Ray was at a free concert in Chicago’s Grant Park, that was about 5 years ago. You could look around in the crowd and see people from 8 to 80 tapping there toe and swaying back and forth to Ray’s music. We’re going to miss you Ray. > > And when my life is over, > remember when we were together, > we were alone and I was singing my song to you. I too love Ray Charles. And, I just wanted to say too that I love the Leon Russel tune quoted here, **ccwaterback**. ---
**Author:** ![DrMemory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DrMemory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMemory)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/24 "2004-06-11T02:59:16Z")
Blind at 7, Orphaned at 15… we Love you Brother Ray… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/25 "2004-06-11T03:15:49Z")
Jack has finally hit the road. ☹ Farewell, Ray, you _were_ American music like no one before or after. The true voice of America. His passing means far more than any politician, because Ray Charles sang America’s very soul. One of the best tributes to him ever was by Flip Wilson doing a skit about Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus. — You gonna discover America? What you gonna discover in America? — Well, for one thing, Ray Charles. — You gonna discover Ray Charles? Honey, get this man a _boat!_ ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/26 "2004-06-11T03:29:58Z")
\ Some little twerp editor working for CNN has this as the current link from the CNN home page … “Pop music legend Ray Charles dies at 73” Pop music? _Pop_ music??? Sheeesh!! \ I’m sure gonna miss that Cheshire cat smile of the man. ---
**Author:** ![gooti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gooti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooti)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/27 "2004-06-11T03:31:29Z")
We’ll miss you Ray…from one native Georgian to another. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/28 "2004-06-11T04:14:13Z")
Ray Charles was truly one of the greats. If you had to make a list of the greatest musical artists in the last 100 years, I think he’d be way up toward the top by anyone’s estimate. My wife gave me a 5 CD Ray Charles box set for Christmas two years ago called “50 years of Genius”, and it chronicles his career since he started in the 1940’s. Amazing stuff. You can’t listen to without realizing he was a true genius in his profession. I’ll be playing it through again tonight. Goodnight Ray, we’re all gonna miss you. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/29 "2004-06-11T05:47:07Z")
Crap, I screwed up the name of the boxed set. It’s “Genius And Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection”. If you’re a Ray Charles fan, you must have this set. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/30 "2004-06-11T06:21:42Z")
Man, I’ve having trouble with this loss. I might as well play my Ray CDs and let it all out. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/31 "2004-06-11T07:07:32Z")
Very few truly greats, and he was a big one. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/32 "2004-06-11T14:04:04Z")
Earlier this year I lost Warren Zevon and Johnny Cash, both in one week. And now Ray’s gone. Damn. All I can say is just – damn. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/33 "2004-06-11T14:19:36Z")
My favorite line from the appreciation that appears in today’s WP: “Estimates of his surviving children varied. He is believed to have had 12.” ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/34 "2004-06-11T14:37:05Z")
A few months back, I saw Brother Ray on a CMT Special. He was performing Charlie Rich’s **“Behind Closed Doors”** , and it was smack-yo-mama amazing. One of his many gifts that always impressed me was his ability to take just about any song and put his specialized custom stamp on it. Not just the voice, not just the piano, but the whole package he was. If you don’t own it already, go out right now and buy **Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music**. This album is one of the greatest Country Music pieces every released. Oh, and I hear that Ray dabbled in a little soul and R&B music, too. 😃 Talk about transcending your boundaries! He will be greatly missed. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/35 "2004-06-11T14:48:40Z")
His musical genius aside, Ray Charles was also a genuinely nice guy. Always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. Brother Ray had his foibles, but he was just so likeable you forgave them. The Atlanta paper today reports that when the Georgia Legislature named Ray Charles’s version of “Georgia on My Mind” the official state song in 1979, they rose as one and gave Ray an extended standing ovation. Ray Charles was so touched that he wept. How can you not love the guy? And speaking of weeping, I will admit to shedding a manly tear when I heard this awful news. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/36 "2004-06-11T15:52:59Z")
RIP Ray. You will be sorely missed. Back in high school logic class the teacher used this as an example of a flawed syllogism: 1. God is love. 2. Love is blind. 3. Therefore, Ray Charles is God. To this day I can’t find the flaw in this argument. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/37 "2004-06-11T16:11:47Z")
What a true American original. If anyone can make heaven a happier place, it would be him. Godspeed, Mr. Charles. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/38 "2004-06-11T16:19:37Z")
Ray is in nine halls of fame. Nine halls of fame. Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/39 "2004-06-11T16:34:08Z")
We saw the man at Wolf Trap about ten years ago. He played a bit of a joke on the audience by coming on stage looking somewhat feeble. He sat down at the piano, sort of slouched over, and I thought “Oh, no…he’s on a downhill slide.” Not to mention that I thought I probably wasted big bucks for those orchestra seats. Even his playing was tentative when he started out. It was all a put-on. After the first number, he launched into “What’d I say?” and tore that place apart, doing his usual gymnastics at the keyboard and vocally. Great show. Great man. Greatly missed. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687/40 "2004-06-11T17:25:59Z")
Gospel + Soul + Blues + Jazz + Rock = Genius Rest in peace, Brother Ray. You’ll never be forgotten. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ray-charles/249687.md?page=3)