Ray Charles in Kentucky - 1955

from Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story, pages 185-186:

I was playing in Kentucky in 1955 when a promoter told me about a vocalist named Mary Ann Fisher who was gigging around Louisville and Fort Knox. I caught her act, liked her style, and decided… I asked her to join my band. Immediately I started writing some material for her. I remember doing a chart of Ellington's "I Got It Bad," and there was also "What Kind of Man Are You?"--a tune of mine which we recorded a couple of years later. I wrote another song--"This Little Girl of Mine"--and had Donald Wilkerson and Fathead form a vocal trio with Mary Ann. They sang backup to my lead, and …   more >>
cite as

David Ritz and Ray Charles, Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story (New York, 2003), p. 185-186. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1427809075430 accessed: 28 March, 2024

location of experience: Kentucky

Listeners

Ray Charles
Pianist, Singing, Songwriter, Writer
1930-2004

Listening to

hide composers
'I Got it Bad'
written by Ray Charles, Duke Ellington
performed by Mary Ann Fisher
'This Little Girl of Mine'
written by Ray Charles
performed by Ray Charles, Fathead, Mary Ann Fisher, Don Wilkerson
'What Kind of Man are You?'
written by Ray Charles
performed by Mary Ann Fisher
Female gospel singers performed by Albertina Walker and James Cleveland

Experience Information

Date/Time 1955
Medium live
Listening Environment indoors

Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Tue, 31 Mar 2015 14:37:55 +0100
Approved on Thu, 27 Aug 2015 14:43:58 +0100