Ray Charles, vocals and piano Aretha Franklin, vocals King Curtis (who was stabbed to death just 6 months later), sax Bernard Perdie, drums Billy Preston, organ Cornell Dupree, guitar Pancho Morales, congas Jerry Jemmott, bass Truman Thomas, piano Memphis Horns Brenda Bryant, Margaret Branch (Aretha's cousins) and Pat Smith - backing vocals
"That live recording by Aretha Franklin that I joined in on recently? It was a true accident. I just happened to be in a club in San Francisco, and somebody said to me: 'Hey, Ray, Aretha's working at Basin Street West' or wherever it was, and I said: 'I didn't know that. So why don't we go by and catch her?' So we all went by, and I was sitting out there. Evidently somebody told her, and before I knew it she'd left the stage and come up and snatched me. I mean, I can't argue with a woman - it's very difficult for me! She said: 'Come on up and do something'. but I didn't know what to do. I'm sure, if you listen to the song we did, the Spirit In The Dark, you could tell I don't even know the thing. I'd heard her sing it, but I think when Aretha sings something, after that everybody else should forget about it. You know nothing else can be done to it. So I didn't know it, but I figured: okay, since I'm here we might as well fake it the best we can. And the thing wound up selling over a million records."
by stickdog99 » Thu May 21, 2020 2:07 pm 
