Ray Charles' Funeral
Bill Schenley
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/06/19/MNGVD78VE61.DTL
Willie Nelson sang "Georgia on My Mind." Stevie Wonder
brought down the house with impassioned gospel. B.B. King
kept wiping away tears as he recalled his lifelong friend.
Wynton Marsalis played on trumpet a one-man New Orleans jazz
funeral, walking back and forth in front of the rose-covered
casket.
The elite of the music world gathered Friday to bury Ray
Charles, the American musical giant who died last week but
whose music will live forever.
Mourners alighted from limousines on a sunny cul de sac at
the top of a central Los Angeles hill to attend the services
at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. Police kept
crowds across the street, where they could hear the
proceedings broadcast on speakers.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson read from Corinthians ("O death,
where is thy sting''). "Ray, before you meet the Count and
the Duke,'' he said, "there's a man across the river giving
sight to the blind.''
Revered by his colleagues in the world of music, who were
perhaps in a special position to appreciate his rare gifts,
Charles was the voice of a generation. A tape of his music
greeted the 1,500 friends and family who filled the church
to capacity, and a new duet with Johnny Mathis of "Somewhere
Over the Rainbow," the last song Charles ever recorded,
played as the congregation filed past his coffin once it was
opened for a last look at the familiar face and dark
glasses.
"I never imagined in my life that I would meet Ray Charles,"
said Stevie Wonder, whose first album was all Ray Charles
songs.
"But God knows more. I never imagined in my life that I
would write a song that Ray Charles would sing."
Wonder belongs to a generation of black musicians who grew
up with Ray Charles looming over their musical universe. But
Charles' reach was not limited by such boundaries as race or
musical genre.
Country music star Glen Campbell strummed guitar and sang an
old hillbilly gospel song, and Willie Nelson, dressed
somberly in black suit and crew neck, stood behind the
podium and sang the Hoagy Carmichael classic that he, too,
has recorded, but that is primarily associated with Charles.
Nelson, who now holds the "Georgia on My Mind" franchise by
himself, recalled playing chess with Charles and finally
figuring out how Charles beat him every time.
"I asked him, 'Next time we play, can we turn the lights
on?' " he said.
The life of Ray Charles was that of an American classic.
Born into poverty in the Depression-era South, Charles lost
his sight at age 7.
His mother sent him to a segregated school for black, blind
children in Florida, where he learned to read, write and
play music. She died when he was 15, and Charles was on his
own.
His career went from the most miserable backwoods shacks of
Mississippi to the greatest concert halls of Europe. Long
before he died of liver disease at age 73, he was probably
the most famous black entertainer of his time, a man who
knew no barriers, who sang for kings and presidents but
never forgot where he came from. He was an inspiration to
all who knew him.
"We can't stop loving you," Jackson thundered in full voice,
echoing the title of one of Charles' most famous hits. "No,
we can't stop loving you."
The funeral mixed his famous friends with people such as
David "Fathead" Newman, who played saxophone on Charles'
classic '50s hits and traveled the world with his band, and
Susaye Greene, a former member of the Raylettes, his backup
singers, who raised lusty amens from the crowd with a fiery
version of "The Lord's Prayer."
Joe Adams, Charles' manager for 46 years, acted as emcee,
making little jokes as he introduced speakers, such as Clint
Eastwood: "You look at him, and you'd think he was kind of
square," he said.
In blue and gold robes behind the stage, the 60-voice
Crenshaw High School Choir, whose tour of Japan last year
was underwritten by Charles, kept the spirit in the room,
clapping hands, shouting and raising the roof when they put
their voices together.
The Rev. Robert Robinson, one of Charles' 12 children,
showed some of his father's flash and fire in shouting out
the 23rd Psalm. All his children attended the event and were
represented by a dozen floral treble clefs along the sides
of the church wall.
In addition to the artists who actually performed, actress
Cicely Tyson greeted a long list of local politicians and
show business celebrities that included Johnny Mathis,
Little Richard, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Motown Records
founder Berry Gordy.
Billy Preston, onetime organist in the Charles band who was
scheduled to perform at the funeral, was under doctor's
orders not to leave his hospital room. Quincy Jones,
Charles' best friend since they were teenagers in Seattle,
sent his regrets from Russia. Former President Bill Clinton
wrote a letter.
"He leaves behind an incredible legacy as a singer, musician
and piano player," Clinton wrote. "His soulful voice will
forever live in our hearts and minds."
Bespectacled, gray-haired B.B. King apologized for sitting
down ("I have bad knees") and gently stroked a black
electric guitar while he spoke, breaking down and lapsing
into a long, uncomfortable silence.
"Take your time, B.B.," a voice shouted out.
"I don't feel worthy sitting up here trying to sing," the
great bluesman said. "But I'll do it for my brother Ray."
He sang an old, little-known blues song he recorded many
years ago, "Please Accept My Love," which ends with the
lines, "If you should die before I do, I'll end my life to
be with you."
The Rev. Cecil L. Murray, pastor of the First AME Church,
pounded the lectern and forcefully delivered the final words
of comfort before the family filed into 10 waiting
limousines. The procession later followed the hearse
carrying Charles' casket, passing his old recording studio
headquarters on its way to Inglewood Park Cemetery.
Murray quoted Charles as telling him, "I don't feel sorry
for people who can't see -- I see more than most people -- I
feel sorry for people who can't hear."
"Sing your song with joyous mirth," Murray said. "You are
only lost when you lose your song. ... Ray Charles always
saw the objectives, not the obstacles. ... I don't know
about you, says Ray, but I saw the light."
Terrymelin
friend's funeral? What could be more important?
Terry Ellsworth
The Kentucky Wizard
Uh oh, it_is_alive...........
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Bob Feigel
wrote:
<snipped>
>Billy Preston, onetime organist in the Charles band who was
>scheduled to perform at the funeral, was under doctor's
>orders not to leave his hospital room. Quincy Jones,
>Charles' best friend since they were teenagers in Seattle,
>sent his regrets from Russia. Former President Bill Clinton
>wrote a letter.
>
>"He leaves behind an incredible legacy as a singer, musician
>and piano player," Clinton wrote. "His soulful voice will
>forever live in our hearts and minds."
Bill Clinton just took a giant step backwards in my estimation.
>Bespectacled, gray-haired B.B. King apologized for sitting
>down ("I have bad knees") and gently stroked a black
>electric guitar while he spoke, breaking down and lapsing
>into a long, uncomfortable silence.
>
>"Take your time, B.B.," a voice shouted out.
>
>"I don't feel worthy sitting up here trying to sing," the
>great bluesman said. "But I'll do it for my brother Ray."
"Until death, it is all life." - Cervantes
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