One night in 1957 I happened to be playing Philadelphia and, after my gig, decided to catch the Lionel Hampton band at the Uptown Theatre... Chuck Willis--the cat who did "What Am I Living For?" and "C. C. Rider"--also happened to be on the bill. He had these three girls backing him up, and right away their singing got to me. They were called the Cookies. They blended so tightly together that I couldn't help but sit up and take notice. They used just one mike, and yet I could hear every part clearly, without any one of the chicks sticking out and drowning out the others. They had their program together… [Ray Charles auditioned The Cookies in New York] Two of them said yes-- Margie Hendrix and Darlene MacRae. The third lady couldn't leave New York, but Margie knew another young girl by the name of Pat Mosley which gave me three… The Cookies were no longer the Cookies; now they were the Raeletts. I was very pleased. I had put together my own band and molded the sound I wanted; now I could do the same with the girls… I liked that male/female friction, and once I had it, I never let it go. Margie [Hendrix] was really something. She sang even better than I had guessed… Had that growling, churchy feeling in her voice that I couldn't resist. << less