[cyclotic]

I recently watched a TV documentary about Motown. Barry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, among others talked a lot about how music is truly colorblind and how they were able to use their music to blur the racial lines.

I agree wholeheartedly. I love 70’s R&B and how radio stations made it a point to play crossover music.

I once read a story where Wilson Picket called a music studio and told the owner he wanted those funky black brothers to back him up. The owner said those funky black brothers are awfully white but would be glad to play the sessions.

Then there’s Stevie Wonder. All race all the time. “Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand” Apparently he doesn’t believe his own words.

Well, bye

[Albion Wilde]

Barry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, among others talked a lot about how music is truly colorblind and how they were able to use their music to blur the racial lines.

That was one of the shining points made in the biopic about Ray Charles that Jamie Foxx won an Oscar for. Because he couldn't see, he was not aware, perhaps, of racial body language; and when he reached the top of the charts in the U.S., he wanted to make an international tour. His white managers were hesitant, but Ray Charles pressed on, and his tour was very successful in Europe.

The comparison between these two blind musicians is stark. Ray Charles was a patriot. Love his version of "America."