Mystic River

[taylor]

Ray ... what an absolutely amazing SOUL.

I was 22... and had been bookin major shows for UF Concerts for a year or two when Jeff Meldon and Peter Laird opened Great Southern (Southeast) Music Hall in the Old Florida Theater.

For those of you who remember Peter... found out he is one of the Premier entainment lawyers in the country, now working out of L.A. Great to hear... he is a great guy.

Peter asked me to come on board and book some shows. The first one ... I managed to get Ray and his REVUE!!!

I was ecstatic. Ray had been RELATIVELY
out of circulation and popularity for a while and I JUST KNEW that he could turn
on the folks in Gainesville to what MUSIC
was really about.

Date rolled round.

I woke up excited... very EARLY ...ready
to PREP for the big night. I looked outside and it was raining buckets. OK ..
no problem i thought, being the OPTIMIST i generally am... just a nice summer shower. 6 hours later it was still pouring at the same velocity and streets all over the county were impassable.

I was at the HALL... watching the rain on
University pouring over the Sidewalk and starting to climb the RAMP that slants UP
coming into the theater.

I don't know how but Ray's tour bus pulled up.

After sittin there for an hour or two ...
waiting for rain to let up before they came in...they just came in...Ray and his entire REVUE.

It was only an hour before SHOWTIME. There
were 3 people in the audience.

To make a long story short... an hour later there were 7 people. I went backstage and told Ray the NEWS....
and that I was gonna call the date a Rain Out but that I would pay him anyway.

Ray said..."We're here...it's raining outside...we ain't goin nowhere anyhow...
let's put on A SHOW!"

The 7 people in the audience were actually
astonished when Ray and the Raylettes and
all his backing musicians came on stage
and played a JAMMIN 2 hour concert.

He called everyone up around the stage
and I am certain that for myself and the
7 people who were there... there could
never have been a greater testament to
GENIUS then to what we witnessed with the absolute LOVE of MUSIC AND PERFORMING
from the ULTIMATE PERFORMER-MUSICIAN-SINGER-SONGWRITER-ARRANGER...Ray Charles!

We miss U Ray... we Love U! Your music
is always with us.

....taylor

[key]

We are looking forward to Taylor's famous guitar story. Or what about the 7 million dollar contract gone bad.
_________________
"Music is Love"

key