Ray Charles (born Charles Raymond Offenberg; September 13, 1918April 6, 2015) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, vocal arranger and conductor who was best known as organizer and leader of the Ray Charles Singers who were featured on

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signin ...

's records and television shows for 35 years and were also known for a series of 30 choral record albums produced in the 1950s and 1960s for the

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

, MGM,

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

and

Command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards * ...

labels. As a vocalist, Charles, along with Julia Rinker Miller, sang the theme song to the television series ''

Three's Company ''Three's Company'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. It is based on the British sitcom '' Man About the House''. The story revolves around three single room ...

'' ("Come and Knock on Our Door"). As a songwriter, Charles was best known for the choral anthem "Fifty Nifty United States" in which he set the names of the states to music in alphabetical order. It was originally written for ''

The Perry Como Show Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signin ...

''. He is also known for "Letters, We Get Letters", also originally written for Como's show and later used on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production ...

''. In his later years, he continued to serve as a musical consultant to television programs, most notably for 31 years on the

Kennedy Center Honors The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in a gala celebrating five hono ...

. Charles was acknowledged as an authority on American

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

Biography

At the age of 13, Charles Raymond "Chuck" Offenberg (as he was known then) won a contest to sing on the radio in Chicago. At 16, while still at Hyde Park High School, he had his own 15minute radio program on WENR and won a vocal scholarship to the Chicago Musical College. After graduation, he attended Central YMCA College, where he met fellow future choral director Norman Luboff, who was to become a lifelong friend. In 1936, Offenberg joined the Federal Theater show ''O Say Can You Sing'', sharing a dressing room with the young

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...

. In 1942, Offenberg, with his wife, Bernice and son, Michael, came to New York City and he started getting work, singing on the radio for Lyn Murray, Ray Bloch and other choral directors. By 1944, he was doing 10 radio shows a week. At this time, close harmony singing was popular, and Charles became the arranger and

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

for the Double Daters, a vocal

quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

featured on ''Million Dollar Band''. In May 1944, Offenberg changed his name to Ray Charles. This was several years before the

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

singer

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

first recorded under the same name in the early 1950s. Drafted into the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

in 1944, Charles was assigned to

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admin ...

, where he created an entire new music library for the WAVE choruses and trained the "Singing Platoons", three choruses of 80 WAVES each, on six-week training cycles that sang on the radio, bond rallies and at local

veterans hospital Veterans' health care in the United States is separated geographically into 19 regions (numbered 1, 2, 4-10, 12 and 15–23) In January 2002, the Veterans Health Administration announced the merger of VISNs 13 and 14 to create a new, combined netw ...

s. He also conducted the band on their two CBS weekly shows. Discharged in 1946, Charles sang on New York radio ("Um Um Good" for

Campbell's Campbell Soup Company, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has grown to become ...

soups among other gigs) and on many record dates. In 1947, he was the conductor for the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

hit ''

Finian's Rainbow ''Finian's Rainbow'' is a musical with a book by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane, produced by Lee Sabinson. The original 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances, while a film version was r ...

'', and conducted the original cast recording. Charles initially became associated with

in 1948 through his arrangements for the vocal group the Satisfiers. The group performed on Como's ''

The Chesterfield Supper Club ''The Chesterfield Supper Club'' is an NBC Radio musical variety program (1944–1950), which was also telecast by NBC Television (1948–1950). Radio ''The Chesterfield Supper Club'' began on December 11, 1944, as a 15-minute radio program, ...

''. From 1949 to 1951, he was choral arranger-conductor on '' The Big Show'', the last big radio variety show with

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...

and Meredith Willson. Charles was also a soloist and sang in the choir on ''

Manhattan Merry-Go-Round ''Manhattan Merry-Go-Round'' is an NBC musical variety radio program that was broadcast from November 6, 1932, until April 17, 1949. The musical revue was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert. Sponsored by Dr. Lyons Tooth Powder, the radio series ...

'', ''Tuesday on Broadway'', ''The Prudential Family Hour'', ''The Celenese Hour'', ''The Schafer Beer Program'' and '' The American Melody Hour'', and he wrote the theme for

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and ...

's ''7-Up Radio Show''.

Early television

Before its relocation to Los Angeles, Charles did some singing on the radio show, '' Your Hit Parade''. In 1950, when the show returned to New York, he became the arranger and conductor of the Hit Paraders, the choral group on the show, first on radio and later when it went to television, for seven years. Charles never got screen credit for his work as arranger and choral director of the Hit Paraders because the sponsor of '' Your Hit Parade'' was Lucky Strike and he was already getting a choral-director credit on ''The Perry Como Chesterfield Show''. Lucky Strike and Chesterfield were competitors and Como's Chesterfield show aired three times a week on CBS. For the next 35 years the Ray Charles Singers became a fixture on the

television show. It was a busy time with television's top variety shows, records and commercial jingles. In 1955, the 15-minute '' Perry Como Show'' moved back to NBC and became an hour-long program. It was here where he met the "other" Ray Charles. The

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to me ...

normally does not allow two members to have the same name, but Charles the performer was registered as Ray Robinson though he performed as Ray Charles. Charles the composer also wrote special material and did the choral work on ''Caesar's Hour'' with

Sid Caesar Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950� ...

, the successor to '' Your Show of Shows''. In 1959, Charles produced the summer replacement for ''The Perry Como Show''.

Allan Sherman Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (Al ...

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich ...

"), a friend of Charles', was the head writer. Also on the staff was

Andy Rooney Andrew Aitken Rooney (January 14, 1919 – November 4, 2011) was an American radio and television writer who was best known for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney", a part of the CBS News program ''60 Minutes'' from 1978 to 2011 ...

. The stars were

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

(his first series), Teresa Brewer and

the Four Lads The Four Lads was a Canadian male singing quartet which, in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, earned many gold singles and albums. Its million-selling signature tunes include " Moments to Remember"; " Standing on the Corner"; " No, Not Much"; "Who Nee ...

The Ray Charles Singers

In June 1959, the Ray Charles Singers, a name bestowed on them by

, began recording a series of albums. Due to advances in recording technology, they were able to create a softer sound than had been heard before and this was the birth of what has been called "

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

". Record producer Jack Hansen used some of the singers to provide backing vocals for

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

's last songs, which Holly had composed and recorded shortly before his death in February 1959. The singers' close harmonies behind Holly's lead vocals simulated the sound of Holly's hit records with the Crickets. Six songs resulted from the Hansen sessions, led by the 45-rpm single " Peggy Sue Got Married"/" Crying, Waiting, Hoping". On a cruise in 1964, Charles heard a Mexican song called " Cuando Calienta el Sol". He liked it, recorded it, under the English title "Love Me with All Your Heart", and his recording became a hit, riding to No. 3 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'', #2 on '' Cashbox''. This was followed by "Al Di La", also a very popular recording. The Ray Charles Singers were not one group of vocalists. They were different combinations of singers on records, tours and TV shows. What made them the Ray Charles Singers was the conducting and arranging of Ray Charles. He generally recorded with 20 singers (12 men and eight women) and these vocalists appeared on Perry Como's television show. The Ray Charles Singers also were the voices behind many commercial jingles. Charles decided to produce a "live" performing group to send on the road with Perry Como. The group of 12 singers opened in Las Vegas at the International Hotel and also opened the show for Como at Harrah's in South Lake Tahoe. Charles wrote the music and lyrics for an album produced by the Continental Insurance Company for the New York World's Fair in 1964, titled ''Cinema '76''. It was a companion piece to a 30-minute show about unsung heroes of the American Revolution.

Films

Charles had also worked on film projects: '' Funny Lady'' and ''Racing With the Moon''.

West Coast television

After years working in television and writing hundreds of jingles, Charles started making trips to the West Coast to seek new employment opportunities. The television industry was changing and migrating to Los Angeles. After a couple of years commuting, in 1968 Charles and his family relocated to Los Angeles, where he produced a

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

special and worked on '' The Hollywood Palace''. By 1968, ''The Perry Como Show'' was doing specials, so Charles could continue working with Como while residing in California. Then Charles wrote and arranged for two seasons of the ''

Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' was an American music and comedy television variety show hosted by singer Glen Campbell from January 29, 1969, to June 13, 1972, on CBS. He was offered the show after he hosted a 1968 summer replacement for ' ...

''. In 1971, he suggested to the other

that he perform "America the Beautiful" when a guest on the Campbell show. Also that year Charles wrote special material for the first

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy F ...

TV special, with Andrews and

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

. Charles became the musical guru to '' Sha Na Na'' and guided that show through three seasons. His son, Jonathan, and daughter, Wendy, also worked on the show with their father. Charles, duetting with Julia Rinker, sang the title theme song for the long-running situation comedy ''

''.

The Muppets and Kennedy Center

Charles eventually went to London to help on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as ...

''. Writing special material for

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

and

Brooke Shields Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress and model. She was initially a child model and gained critical acclaim at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film '' Pretty Baby'' (1978). She continued to model into ...

, among others and working with Miss Piggy and

Kermit the Frog Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'', as well ...

, Charles shared an office with

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

, whom Charles considered "a genius". For 32 years, 1982 through 2014, Charles was the musical consultant of the

and for 14 years performed the same function for the "Fourth of July" and "Memorial Day" concerts on PBS. Ray Charles won two

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s for special musical material, music and

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

for two comedy specials: ''The Funny Side of Marriage'' and ''The First Nine Months''. His choral anthem, "Fifty Nifty United States", in which he set the names of the states to music in

alphabetical order Alphabetical order is a system whereby character strings are placed in order based on the position of the characters in the conventional ordering of an alphabet. It is one of the methods of collation. In mathematics, a lexicographical order is t ...

, is now a staple of school

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

s. He self-deprecatingly billed himself as "the other

" in a humorous tribute to the blues singer with whom he worked on several occasions. It was sometimes said that there were two Ray Charles'. One was blind and the other was deaf. For his 90th birthday, Ray gave a concert at the L.A. Jazz Bakery. With the help of female singer Lynn Roberts and an instrumental combo, Ray demonstrated his vocal longevity to a full house by singing his way through the songs of World War II.

Death

Charles died of cancer at the age of 96 on April 6, 2015, in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

. He was survived by two sons, Michael (born 1941) and Jonathan (born 1946). His wife Bernice (19162002) and daughter Wendy (19502004) predeceased him. Charles donated a collection of his personal papers, including his scripts and musical arrangements for the Kennedy Center Honors galas, to the Great American Songbook Foundation shortly before his death.

Awards

* 197071 Television Academy Award Lyrics and Special Material "The First Nine Months are the Hardest" * 197172 Television Academy Award Lyrics and Special Material "The Funny Side of Marriage" * 2004 Irwin Kostal Tribute Award from ASMAC. * 2012 Honored as a Broadcasting Legend by the Pacific Pioneers. * 2013 Foundation Life in Music Award from ASCAP.

Discography

Singles

Albums as the Ray Charles Singers

* ''I Love'' Essex ESLP 103 * ''Far Away Places'' Essex ESLP 110 * ''Spring Is Here'' MGM E3162 * ''Winter Wonderland'' MGM 3387 * ''Sing A Song of Paris'' MGM E3484 * ''Here We Come A-Caroling'' MGM E3467 * ''Here's to My Lady'' MGM E3568 * ''Autumn Moods'' MGM SE4163 * ''Summertime (Songs for a Lazy Afternoon) MGM E4164 * ''Love and Marriage'' Decca DL8787 * ''Sunrise Serenade'' Decca DL78835 * ''In the Evening By the Moonlight'' Decca DL78874 * ''We Gather Together'' Decca DL78940 * ''Deep Night'' Decca DL78988 * ''Something Wonderful'' Command RS 33 872 1961 * '' Something Special for Young Lovers'' Command RS 866 SD * ''Al-Di-La & Other Special Songs for Young Lovers'' Command RS 33–870 SD 1964 * ''Rome Revisited'' Command RS 839 SD * ''Songs for Lonesome Lovers'' Command RS 839 SD * ''Songs for Latin Lovers'' Command RS 886 SD 1965 * ''Paradise Islands'' Command SH-165 * ''Young Lovers on Broadway'' Command RS 890 SD 1965 * ''One of Those Songs'' Command RS 898 SD 1966 * ''What the World Needs Now is Love'' Command RS 903 SD * ''A Special Something...'' Command RS 914 SD 1967 * ''At the Movies'' Command RS 921 SD 1968 * ''MacArthur Park'' Command RS SD-936 1969 * ''Move Me, Oh Wondrous Music'' Command RS 949-5 * ''Take Me Along'' Command RS 526 SD * ''Slices of Life'' Command 9425 * ''Love Me With All Your Heart the command performance'' Varèse Sarabande VSD-5626 (CD collection) * 31 albums with Perry Como

Singles

* Command-4049Al-Di-La/'Til The End of Time1964 * Command-4090Don't Cry-There's No Place Like Rome1967

References

External links

* * * * * Ray Charles Papers at th
Great American Songbook Foundation

Ray Charles Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (1995) {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Ray 1918 births 2015 deaths American classical musicians American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) American male singers American male songwriters American music arrangers Aurora University alumni Classical musicians from Illinois Deaths from cancer in California Decca Records artists Easy listening musicians Emmy Award winners MGM Records artists RCA Victor artists Singers from Chicago Songwriters from Illinois United States Navy personnel of World War II