compared to what

July 27th, 2007

i’ve been travelling all around the world

Yes I have. With the Taylor Hicks Band. Aw, play it.

categories: Uncategorized, live, music, oddities
tags: animatronic doll, Ray Charles, Ray Charles doll, taylor hicks

posted by asstral at 04:00 am

28 responses to “i’ve been travelling all around the world”

on 27 Jul 2007 at 5:45 am 1cath

Live in Tokyo!!! Too cool, too short! Fine find, gold mine!
on 27 Jul 2007 at 6:22 am 2Freaky Freddy

Pretty cool to wake up to on a Friday morning..
on 27 Jul 2007 at 6:34 am 3AH

Shortage of time has had me doing a quick read only lately but had to say thank you for getting this TGIF off to a great start !
on 27 Jul 2007 at 6:38 am 4Meg Collins

WOW!!! A post from the Oracle ‘ and what a little gem it is. Asstral, we love you — group hug. Sometimes begging is worth every degrading minute of it.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 6:58 am 5Jazzybug

Waahahha whoooo. Far out. Glad to be suckin air this morning cuz that is way cool.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 7:35 am 6Assonance

From what I’ve been reading in my cash course about Taylor Hicks is he has this original tape from Ray Charles archives. He picked it out without knowing what he was reaching for because the labels were in braille. The one he pulled out (this one) is one of his 2 most favorites concerts by RC. Since TH is more new to me than he is to most of you I am sure the diehards here knew this history already but maybe someone is newer to his music like I am and would find it of interest.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 7:52 am 7Calypsotune

Ah, you’re Taylor Hicks ~~indoctrination~~ education is coming along well grAsshopper.

Havin trouble sayin anything but

Cool.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 8:11 am 8what

Thanks, Ass. Your talent for begging is one of my favorite things about you. Wonder if there’s any chance of the Ray doll tagging in on Heaven Knows some day. I’ll have to check keys when I get home.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 8:12 am 9premeditated goo

Well this is definitely more interesting than your average fare -
.
Thank you to the annonymous donor. Thank you to the begging Ass.
.
.
Is it just me or does that look like the inside of a cruise ship cabin with Toby Lightman’s name on the wall across the hall?
on 27 Jul 2007 at 10:12 am 104Tay

Thanks for that wonderful piece of memorabilia. I love little things like this.

4Tay
on 27 Jul 2007 at 10:41 am 11Meg Collins

Goo! Yes to both cruise ship and Toby. It looks like that to me too.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 10:48 am 12Calypsotune

I’ve not been on a cruiseship, but I’m betting that dressing rooms in some northeastern venues are just as stark as some cruiseship cabins.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 10:55 am 13Robin

I’ll bet it took some real Ass-kissing to get that litte treasure. Hee. Very cool. And good catch, Goo, on the Toby Lightman nameplate.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 11:08 am 14Assonance

It’s nice to be grASShopper again. Seems like any time I’m a snob and don’t listen to someone I trust’s suggestion for music I get burned. My daughter told me I’d love Taylor Hicks after she watched that ‘famous’ audition. I never listened. Then my clerical assistant was playing a tape she had of the workplay stuff and I was hooked before I knew who it was. Moral. Never get too old to be grASShopper.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 11:13 am 15premeditated goo

Meg! I think we’ve nailed it with the T.L. thing. So one of the NE spring tour dates, I surmise, at a venue where the backstage area is done in ‘early cruise ship’…
.
Assonance, those new to Hicks (or even those who aren’t) might want to check out the recently added Bio (sidebar link) - it focuses on Hicks’ musical journey and includes embedded links to his music, which makes for an interesting multi-media read/listen. Different than any other bio out there.
.
And for those still looking for the perfect birthday present for me …
live in japan
on 27 Jul 2007 at 12:02 pm 16asstral

Group hug, group hug. Man’s ego is the cause of most of his idiocy. Ain’t too dumb to beg.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 12:14 pm 17Meg Collins

A malady that effects too much of humankind, Asstral. I agree.
Plus sometimes begging is cathartic. ha.. but other times its degrading. Still I beg.Now I’ll begoff
on 27 Jul 2007 at 2:23 pm 18what

btw, welcome cath and 4tay. don’t mind the weirdness
on 27 Jul 2007 at 4:28 pm 19Assonance

I feel constrained to correct an error I unwittingly made today. Jil, my clerical assistant and Taylor Hicks mentor, lurks on this blog {maybe one day she will leave a comment-hint Jil, hint}. Jil left me a voice mail that the first Georgia I heard her playing at her desk was not from Live at the Workplay Theatre but rather from his first CD, In Your Time. This grAsshopper still has a lot to learn. Where it came from is not as important to me as the “Holy Sh-t! Who is that?” reaction I had. But still I wanted to log in my correction.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 5:20 pm 20Jazzybug

Premeditated goo, love your name. I checked out the biography on the blog like you said to do. I know more about him now. He’s got a love for music that’s so big he wasn’t going to let anything make him quit. He’s a jam guy in Idol clothes ha. I mean he’s soul is jam the other was like a costume. He pulls out tags that nobody would because they wouldn’t have thought of them. I’d be a fan if just for his tags. Garcia would have dug Hicks. Who knows maybe Jerry and Ray are watching him right now.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 6:00 pm 21Top Posts « WordPress.com

[...] i’ve been travelling all around the world Yes I have. With the Taylor Hicks Band. Aw, play it. [YouTube] [...]
on 27 Jul 2007 at 6:08 pm 22what

^^^^^ in case you’re wondering, that just means that some mysterious formula that tracks views and comments has decided that this post was interesting, in particular, it’s the 69th most interesting post in wordpress land today.

Assonance, I know just what you mean about that version of Georgia - it was a jaw-dropper. The audition got me curious, but that sealed the deal.

Love that people are finding and digging the bio, written by one of our loyal commentors here. Really caught the point of who he is and how he got to this place - and that’s exactly why we’re here. To get this cool piece to you guys as soon as possible, I basically (and selfishly) went with my own choices for audio and video (though the final pic is a definate nod to the author) but I thought it’d be cool to swap out the multi-media bits from time to time. So feel free to give requests, if there’s something that you think is a must see or listen.

I guess that goes likewise for the audio and video pages. I hustled to get things in when we went live last month, but it’d be easy for me to miss some real gold, so again, feel free to give me a heads-up. I guess the subject of this post needs to wander over to the video page at some point before the post flows over the edge.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 7:42 pm 23Robin

He’s got a love for music that’s so big he wasn’t going to let anything make him quit.

Jazzybug, ^^that’s perfect.

What - very cool about the “top post” designation.

Assoanance and what — Georgia from IYT did it for me too. I remember my mouth was litterally hanging open. I remember playing it over and over. Couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

What — your multi-media choices on the bio bring it to life.
on 27 Jul 2007 at 8:10 pm 24BluesyChic

Taylor Hicks is such a gem. We will be digging more and more Taylor Hicks gems in the future. The bio is an absolute gem. What…. this is an awesome place. ROck on and Congrats!!! I know where I’ll be hanging out…
on 27 Jul 2007 at 9:32 pm 25asstral

Gem. Three is simply not enough!
on 28 Jul 2007 at 12:29 am 26what

dude.
on 30 Jul 2007 at 12:45 am 27Curious Joe

I’ve found some cool background and detail on the doll, including a few words from Ray about it.

Notable Chicago based design firm Beyond Design, Inc. was asked to create the animatronic Ray Charles Doll, [nicknamed] “Little Ray.”
The mechanical doll sings and sways along to two of Ray Charles’ classic hits; “America the Beautiful” and “What’d I Say”.

For Beyond Design, the project required a great deal of research including studying hundreds of photos and videos of Ray Charles in concert. Designers also spoke with a variety of people who are close to Ray to gain a full understanding of his signature moves and expressions. Key design elements developed using this research included the electronic keyboard, custom piano bench, Bally shoes with special attention to size and shape, signature clothing and facial expressions. Designers approached each part of the process with an aesthetic interpretation; realistic, but an overall impressionistic take on Ray’s character and personality. The team worked around the clock for four straight weeks, and the prototype came together on the coffee table in Ray’s dressing room at the Arie Crowne Theatre [Chicago] one hour before the show.

Presenting Ray Charles a working prototype during his visit to Chicago this year was a major achievement, “…and to see him use it was simply a thrill!”, exclaimed the design team. After meeting “Little Ray” for the first time, Ray Charles had these things to say about the designers:

Those cats! … they are good! And I don’t mean just good. I mean good! I just don’t understand how somebody could do that! I have never been more impressed with anything in my life. And that means a lot coming from me. Those guys have passion for what they do, and there’s not enough passion in the world today . . .
on 31 Jul 2007 at 1:23 am 28asstral

who knew? until now i think i was taking this doll for granted

i’ve been travelling all around the world

28 responses to “i’ve been travelling all around the world”

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