Ray Charles passed away today. In memory of him, let's discuss Prince's Ray Charles covers.

I know he's done What'd I Say at least once (back in 1994), and Georgia On My Mind at soundchecks (back when soundchecks really were soundchecks) in 1992.

Has he done any others? Which Ray Charles songs would you like Prince to play live or in the studio?

booyah said:

Prince also did "What's I Say" at a Lovesexy show at The Nassau Coliseum on October 24, 1988. He also did a soundcheck medley of Ray's version of "America" sung to the music of GOD!! Awesome!! I'm trying to think of some others!!

booyah said:

Now that's a damn shame...
Gonna blast some classic Ray Charles in the studio and smoke a phat one just for him...

Neversin.

remember the pepsi commercial... uh huh...U got the right one baby

dennis said:

True that Prince wrote that?

booyah said:

Today, I am truly sad. My heart sunk when I heard this. Thanks for being here, Ray.

booyah said:

May the man R.I.P

R. I. P MR CHARLES

I can't stop loving U, is my all time fav. and makes me tear up when I get lost in a certain moment from my past...

jfs said:

I second this question!

manray10 said:

Oh GOD yeah - his take on 'America The Beautiful' during that Purple Rain soundcheck is absolutely awesome!

BobGeorge999 said:

[This message was edited Thu Jun 10 17:21:15 2004 by bananacologne]

check out this link and feel the power of music and pictures

http://www.raycharles.com...merica.swf

RIP

Ray Charles really is a legend. Rest in peace, sir.

As for Prince covers, I've always wanted him to do these-

"(Night Time Is) The Right Time"...I can just hear the band really tearing this one up and those Prince harmonies in there.

"What'd I Say" -Adding it to the setlist sometime, I guarantee this would get the crowd moving. We know he knows it, it'd be great to pay respect to the man.

"Gimme Some Lovin" -In my head I hear this more as one that would've been great during the Revolution era, but still, another great track Prince could really add his own element to.

"Shake Yo Tailfeather" -This one you can see in Blues Brothers, and would be a great one to do live or studio-especially live-he could really get a jam going!

There are so many great Ray tracks it's hard to choose from-and definitely an artist to check out if you somehow haven't yet. Prince is one of the few artists I think that would pay respect to Ray's music without going too far off course. The music always will live on.

jfs said:

yes

johnnyj said:

US Copyright Office:
Registered Works Database
Registration Number: PAu-1-570-584
Title: Uh huh / Prince Rogers Nelson.
Note: Words & music.
Claimant: Controversy Music
Created: 1991
Registered: 15Oct91

subhuman09 said:

That song was by Traffic, not ray Charles.

cloudguitars said:

the original Prince version is available on the Revelations DVD amongst other boots.

Yes.
Prince wrote "Uh Huh!" for Ray Charles for use in the Pepsi Light Commercials in 1991.
Prince received $7 million for the song...

It is on my very first boot called "Yellow".
I like Prince's version very much. It's a really cool song when you hear it all the way through.



...
[This message was edited Fri Jun 11 10:11:30 2004 by NFO]

mrdespues said:

My bad. Meant to say it was Traffic, but forgot to label it as not by Ray, but still a good song to cover. Oh well. The influence is obvious from Ray anyway

Replace it with "Sticks and Stones" then.

Thanks for the catch/reminder, mrdespues.

subhuman09 said:

no worries.

booyah said:

I never knew that Prince did covers of Ray Charles.

He's (Ray Charles) definitely a legend and will be missed.

I actually took this one much harder than Reagan's passing.

I hope God has a special place for Mr. Charles in heaven.

prince wrote a song called "You got the Right One Baby" and he sold it to PEPSI for $7 million. It became the PEPSI commercials featuring Ray Charles singing "You Got the Right One." I have a copy of the song with Prince singing. The first time I heard the Prince version of the song, I couldn't figure out why Prince would be singing a PEPSI comercial until I found out He wrote it. I was impressed because those Ray Charles Commercials became some of the most popular PEPSI commercials.

love princes version of uh huh - it rocks

Prince should release it as a tribute to Ray.....his vocals are fantastic on that song

Gimme Some Lovin' wasnt even sung by Traffic!! It was sung by The Spencer Davis Group, way back in the 60s!! The Spencer Davis group spawned the group Traffic, by way of Steve Winwood!!

Gold319 said:

oh whoops.

well, close.

i knew it wasn't ray charles though.

I couldn't believe it when my mother phoned me w/ this news today RIP

Another soulbrother gone to heaven ...

Was fortuned enough to see him perform live at the North Sea Jazz festival in Holland as a little kid. From that moment on I knew how SOUL was meant to be. I could feel his music. Therefore I was delighted to see Prince do a cover of this great legend.

I believe that Prince was sponsored by Coca-Cola and then wrote the song for a Pepsi-commmercial sung by Ray Charles. How hilarious!!!

"Georgia on my mind" was always a big favorite to me as I still get moved whenever I heard this song.

Rest in peace Ray Charles. God bless him.

jstar69 said:

Anybody catch Nightline tonight? It was all about Ray...very cool. They showed him doing What'd I Say at the Montreaux (sp?) Jazz Festival...and in one of the call backs he did the Prince call! Thank God I was on the phone w/my girl who I've known since 4th grade and we went to opening and closing nights in L.A. I heard it and my jaw dropped. She said, "Now we know."

Now we know why Ray got that song...I always wondered why because it was the only commercial done.

Watching Nightline tonight, Ray was working with jr high, high school aged kids doing music. And when he heard something good, he was sooo into it. His joy was amazing. His working with all those buttons in the recording booth was something else too!

I had forgotten about the Pepsi commercial...but watching this special brought to mind that true musicians LOVE music. They love playing it, sharing it, learning from it. And that love shows in them. Thank you, Brotha Ray...you are an inspiration.

mrdespues said:

But it does show Ray's (and gospel music via Hammond Organ) influence. Stevie Winwood "sounds black" on that record. My mom was high school-college aged then and they used to PARTAY

TheBoostress said:

I missed it, only caught the last clip they showed