Joe Cocker Tribute to Ray Charles- American Black History Month

I’m reminded of the definition of rock and roll as told to me by Mr. “Blue Suede Shoes” himself, the late Carl Perkins: ” The Blues and Country and Western had a baby, and they called it Rock’n’Roll.” Seeing as we were in Nashville at the time, Perkins could easily have laid it all at the toe-tapping feet of Hank Williams, a rebel Nashville outsider without whom rock simply would not exist. But no one knew  better than Carl Perkins that  without Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Muddy Waters, Duke Ellington, Sam Cooke, Bo Diddley, Howlin’ Wolf, Louis Armstrong, and Robert Johnson, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Here is an excerpt of my interview with the dearly missed Joe Cocker about the influence (and Cocker’s adoration) of American music giant Ray Charles. – Redbeard