Based on an entry in my 10 Songs series, this (unfinished) piece was intended to be a part of an earlier draft of my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), but was removed in subsequent plans.
Written by Percy Mayfield
Supervised by Sid Feller
Single, ABC-Paramount Records, 1961
While I'm pleased that my concert-goin' resumé includes that one time I got to see Ray Charles perform live, I've gotta admit I wish his set had included my single favorite Ray Charles tune, "Hit The Road Jack."
Yeah. I was surprised he didn't play it either.
But he did play "What'd I Say" and "Georgia On My Mind," among many others, and it was Ray friggin' Charles, so you won't hear a peep of a complaint from me. It was an outdoor show at the New York State Fair, either late '80s or early '90s, the same free-with-Fair-admission concert series that gave me opportunities to see Brian Wilson, the Everly Brothers, Don McLean, Gene Pitney, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Chicago, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Little Big Town, Lady Antebellum, various oldies package shows (featuring performers from Bo Diddley to Cub Koda to Alex Chilton), and Earth, Wind and Fire over a span of decades. This is not a complete list.
I'm not sure, but I think--I think--my one Ray Charles show occurred prior to the early '90s Diet Pepsi commercials that earned Charles another notch on his pop culture c.v. You've got the right one, baby. Ray friggin' Charles. I'm okay with him skipping "Hit The Road Jack."
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
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