Just heard that Ray Charles has died.
Little did he know it at the time but Ray played a key role in the courtship of SWMBO and myself many moons ago. Not long after we started seeing each other, I was very keen to get hold of a copy of Ray Charles’ version of the classic ‘I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now’. SWMBO had never heard it so, as we walked through Covent Garden heading for the then new Tower Records megastore at Piccadilly Circus, I sang it to her in my own inimitable style. To this day, she refers to the occasion during which, in an eclectic set, I also busked my way through several numbers from Sinatra’s Songs For Swinging Lovers. Whilst I heard every soaring note of Nelson Riddle’s orchestration of the Capitol Records classic, I suspect the theatregoer’s in St. Martins Lane thought someone was strangling cats. For younger readers who are not familiar with Ray Charles, he’s the blind music store guy who does a great musical cameo in John Landis’ movie, ‘The Blues Brothers‘. If you haven’t heard of The Blues Brothers, you won’t get much else on this blog.
