Willie Nelson and Ray Charles' longtime manager Joe Adams gave mourners something to laugh about at the crooner's funeral in Los Angeles on Friday (18JUN04) with a chess anecdote.
The country legend performed a tearful rendition of the blind soul star's classic GEORGIA ON MY MIND at the service at the FIRST AME CHURCH and then joked with Adams about his late pal's chess skills.
Adams told the congregation, "Willie, I think this is a good time to tell the people that you're in a good position now to beat Ray in a chess game."
Nelson laughed and said, "I sure couldn't do it before."
Adams continued, "Ray and Willie are both avid chess players and they would play between shows... Ray seemed to always win and then one night, Willie figured it out. What did you tell him Willie?"
To which, the singer recalled, "I said, 'The next time we play, can we turn the lights on?'
Blues great Bb King had a similar story to share - recalling how Charles always beat him at cards.
He recalled, "I finally got wise to that - he'd fix the cards with his braille."
Stevie Wonder had mourners dancing in the aisles minutes later when he performed an uplifting version of gospel tune THANK YOU LORD.
The fellow blind soul star, who once recorded an album of Charles tunes, said, "I didn't know that Ray Charles was blind and when they said, 'You should do this album about Ray Charles,' I said, 'Why.' They said, 'Because he's blind.' I said, 'No, he's just great.'"
21/06/2004 14:57In 2002, Woody Harrelson was arrested by police in London following a chase after an...
'Rock The Kasbah' screenwriter Mitch Glazer introduces himself as a reporter for Crawdaddy! magazine (which...
Christmas is a time for family, although there are those who would argue it is...
For his lively film directing debut, Mike Myers (aka Austin Powers) traces the remarkable life...
Shep Gordon may not be as famous as some of the biggest celebrities in the...
Watch the trailer for Surfer, Dude. Steve Addington is a pro surfer, his life is...
Action Comedy based on the hit television series that ran from 1979-85. Set in present...
I have no problem admitting that the main reason I wanted to review The Dukes...
Once the largely inept and uncouth cast shuts the heckup (i.e. stops trying to act)...
Motivated solely by corporate greed, Disney has recently begun cranking out low-ambition, high-profit margin throwaway...