Sketch o’the Week- Ray Charles!

We continue our new “famous blind black musicians” series this week with the late, great Ray Charles! Actually we really could do a series of famous blind black musicians if we wanted to. Ronnie Milsap, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Willie Johnson, Blind John Davis, Art Tatum, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Blind Boys of Mississippi… that would keep me busy for a couple of months! I think we’ll cap it off with Brother Ray, though.

This sketch is based on a caricature of him in one of the panels from “The Blues Brothers” parody in CLAPTRAP, and was one of my favorites from the book. Ray Charles was a genuine musical genius who combined elements of jazz, rhythm & blues, gospel, rock, country, and pop music to create multiple unique sounds and write many classic hit songs over a long career.