# What was yout first exposure to Ray Charles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654 "2016-01-30T16:00:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/21 "2016-01-30T21:53:44Z")
> [@justmeetee](#): > > I hadn’t ever thought about it until I saw this thread and I can’t think of when I " became aware" , he just always was “there”. I’m guessing that an older aunt, uncle or cousin exposed me to him from very early on. The first artist I can remember becoming instantly aware of would be the first appearance of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Until that time music was always just something that was there. After that night I paid attention to it and learned what was good music and what was just filling empty air. Ray fell into the good catagory. These days there seems to be a lot of the filling empty air variety. Your comments help persuade me that we need a topic/thread to deal with “the day the music died” moments. Ray was definitely one of those whose absence was immediately felt (by me anyway). Following Don McLean’s lead from _American Pie_ who all needs to be listed as music immortals who were so important that they will never be replaced or equaled? A starter list: Buddy Holly Elvis Sinatra Michael Jackson ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/22 "2016-01-30T22:12:26Z")
I’ve ALWAYS know about Ray Charles it seems. It would be like asking me when I first heard about Elvis or Marilyn Monroe. It’s just not possible to answer the question. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/23 "2016-01-30T22:14:41Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’ve ALWAYS know about Ray Charles it seems. It would be like asking me when I first heard about Elvis or Marilyn Monroe. It’s just not possible to answer the question. Not to be picky, but did you know about Ray Charles at, or soon after, your birth? (Sorry, I don’t remember your age.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/24 "2016-01-30T22:18:41Z")
The [Blues Brothers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdbrIrFxas0) movie, probably in 1982 or so, on TV. Not sure if I’d call myself a fan, I generally don’t like music all that much. I appreciate him, though. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/25 "2016-01-30T22:38:57Z")
As stated above, I can’t think of a time when I wasn’t aware of him. That said, I was born in 1973, and my first time _listening_ to Ray of my own choosing was his duet with Billy Joel, [Baby Grand.](http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUNOmN3YVL0) I have a friend that used to work with touring productions of Broadway shows when they would come to town. She called me out of the blue several years ago, and explained that her “connections” with the different performance venues in the city had managed to get her 2 free tickets to see Ray Charles live in concert, and that I was going with her. It was fantastic. Just him and a piano. This would have been late 2002/early 2003, and it was his last stop in Louisville, KY before he died. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/26 "2016-01-30T22:44:14Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > … > It was fantastic. Just him and a piano. This would have been late 2002/early 2003, and it was his last stop in Louisville, KY before he died. That places the approximate time we saw him at Opryland. His voice was about gone and his piano licks were a little sloppy but it was great to see him after all the years I had been a fan. He still had the power to hold an audience enthralled. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/27 "2016-01-30T22:49:54Z")
_The Flip Wilson Show_, circa 1972. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/28 "2016-01-30T22:56:02Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Not to be picky, but did you know about Ray Charles at, or soon after, your birth? (Sorry, I don’t remember your age.) I’m 53 and I get what you’re asking. All I’m saying is that I don’t recall NOT knowing of Ray Charles. I didn’t discover him in the 80s or anything, he’s just always been there, like Julie Andrews, or Bing Crosby, or Elvis, and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/29 "2016-01-30T22:59:44Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’m 53 and I get what you’re asking. All I’m saying is that I don’t recall NOT knowing of Ray Charles. I didn’t discover him in the 80s or anything, he’s just always been there, like Julie Andrews, or Bing Crosby, or Elvis, and the like. Cool enough. Sorry for being snotty! 🙂 Of the ones you mentioned only Der Bingle was always there for me. I remember his voice from the radio not long after I was able to sit up by myself. Sinatra and George Shearing were the most impressive early sounds for me. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/30 "2016-01-30T23:19:21Z")
[The old analog Georgia Public Broadcasting sign off](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R0i3aHoSgs) (I assume I would have seen/heard it sometime in the 80s, but I can’t tell you exactly when) ---
**Author:** ![Graymalkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@Graymalkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graymalkin)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/31 "2016-01-31T02:14:36Z")
Hit the Road Jack as a hit on the radio in the 60s. Then awareness of What’d I Say. Then the strange fact that he was blind and was supposedly addicted to heroin. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/32 "2016-01-31T03:56:21Z")
I’m another guy who can’t remember my first exposure to Ray Charles. The closest thing I can tell you is that I already knew who he was when he hosted _Saturday Night Live_ in 1977. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/33 "2016-01-31T04:17:38Z")
I remember on SNL, I would have been 10, or 11. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2016, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/34 "2016-01-31T04:43:19Z")
Seems like he was always around, but I guess the first song that had any impact on me was most likely “I Got A Woman” in the late 50s. I got to see him a couple of times in my life, but my favorite was at Wolf Trap in Virginia in about 1993. He totally faked out the audience as he shuffled out onto the stage looking like a tired old man, shoulders slumped as he sat down at the piano, and plunked out a couple of riffs. I thought “Ah shit, this can’t be good.” He started into “I Got A Woman” kind of tentatively and by the end of the song was pounding the keyboard, leaning over backward, and moaning “Heyyyy, hunnhhh. . .” Great concert. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/35 "2016-01-31T06:41:06Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Like Smapti I remember Ray Charles’s Diet Pepsi commercials beginning in 1991, and at about the same time he appeared (in person) in the new title sequence for the sitcom _Designing Women_ performing “[Georgia On My Mind](https://youtu.be/xooi4AJOxWU?t=6s)”. > > I think I was aware of “Hit the Road, Jack” before this time when I was a pretty young kid, although I’m not sure when I first heard it or if I knew who sang it. I was born in 1980, so this is similar to my experience. I am sure that I heard his songs before then, as I was exposed to a wide variety of music, but that’s close to when I was really aware of who he was. However, I do remember the Quincy Jones version of the Brother’s Johnson hit “I’ll be Good to You”- which was a Chaka Khan and Ray Charles duet as being a big hit on the radio I listened to at the time. Wikipedia tells me it was released in 1989 and #18 on the Hot 100 and #1 Black Singles and Dance Club Play. I wasn’t going to any dance clubs but I listened to a lot of Top 40 at the time. My local Top 40 station was heavy on R&B hits. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/36 "2016-01-31T08:52:34Z")
[It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5rceMe-kt4) ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/37 "2016-01-31T10:52:56Z")
For me, Ray Charles was one of those performers who seemed to have been always around. Of course, I was born in 1965 and Charles’ breakout recordings were in the 50s so it would be natural for me to think that. Unfortunately, I think that made me take him for granted to a certain degree which is why it took me awhile to really start appreciating him. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/38 "2016-02-01T00:30:18Z")
Probably in the '70s; could have been the '60s. Couldn’t tell you any of the songs he sang, though. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/39 "2016-02-01T17:07:01Z")
In the 1950s, I was a DJ at southern stations, we had some early Ray releases in the library, but we weren’t allowed to play them, they were too “racy”. “I Got a Woman” was one of them I was familiar with. His airplay was restricted to R&B ( = “colored”) stations until “What’d I Say” crossed over in 1959. I think “I Got a Woman” was re-released and maybe remixed later on. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654/40 "2016-02-01T17:31:23Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > For me, Ray Charles was one of those performers who seemed to have been always around. Of course, I was born in 1965 and Charles’ breakout recordings were in the 50s so it would be natural for me to think that. Unfortunately, I think that made me take him for granted to a certain degree which is why it took me awhile to really start appreciating him. Similar to me. I remember, as a kid, hearing him sing America The Beautiful and really noticing how long he would hold off on delivering the lyric. There was the choir singing the normal phrasing and he would how up, like, 17 minutes later, and nail it. But that was part of Ray Charles being part of the cultural fabric I grew up with. I didn’t start to really get into him until after I got into music as a teen and young adult. ETA: But when I heard **Lonely Avenue** , that was it: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5s0l2igFOLw](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5s0l2igFOLw) I just love that song. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-yout-first-exposure-to-ray-charles/744654.md?page=3)