Concert #52 - Ray Charles at the Manhattan Country Club (August 1989)

 

My second and final time to see Ray Charles. The concert took place in Manhattan Beach, on the main tennis court of this exclusive club. I had a decent seat, just right of the stage. There was no opening act. Brother Ray was accompanied by a full-size orchestra conducted by long-time collaborator Sid Feller.

The audience was predominantly white, something that definitely intrigued me. "Georgia On My Mind" is the only song I positively remember from the show. I'm 99% sure he did "America The Beautiful" as well.

Here's the poster that was used to advertise the concert

Manhattan Country Club

Concert #7 - Ray Charles at the LA County Fair (September 1983)

Located not too many miles from our house, the LA County Fair presents lots of concerts, year after year, but a typical line-up consists of mostly "has beens" of all genres. Every now and then, though, you can catch there something truly big. Like Ray Charles, for instance. 

We arrived a few hours early, and in this case, "we" meant my father, my friend Peter and myself. Our fair admission included the concert, with grandstand seating on a first-come-first-served basis. We had decent seats, obtained after standing in line for close to an hour.

Brother Ray was in good vocal form. Accompanied by a big band, he went through many of his standards, "Georgia On My Mind" among them, but what impacted me the most was a seldom-heard song called "Keep Me Singing", essentially a call to God for continued vocal prowess. My father was totally taken by the performance and so was I. Peter was less impressed.