The first time I saw Ray Charles was at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston about 1964, or so. I think I was sixteen, or seventeen. All us cats, and kittys from the neighborhood attended (not that it’s such a big deal, but our peach fuzz crowd were about the only white people there). I must have seen him three, or so times in Houston after that.
I’m not trying to split the few hairs on my head I have left, but since I do have a little history seeing this man, and if this issue has already been addressed, please forgive me, but Ray Charles was not a soul singer. He sang pure R&B.
Is there anybody out there who would try to tell me “I’m Busted’ is a soul song?
I saw Ray Charles live in New York in the early 1970s, and it was the most diverse crowd I had ever seen at a concert-- long-haired college kids, middle-aged white people, middle-aged and older black people... his music reached so many. RIP.