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Fashions by
Ann Johnson
Fashion designer Ann
Nealous Johnson exhibited
her creations Sunday at an
outdoor fashion ex
travaganza at the home of
Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Weston
in Clearwater, S.C.
The affair was sponsored
by The Top Ladies of
Distinction, Inc. Ollie Lee
was coordinator and
choreographer. Audrey
Jones Wood was the
moderator.
The Models were: Alesia
G. Johnson, Rose Williams,
Ollie W. Lee, Yvonne
Lanham, Vanessa Perrin,
Gloria Avery, Dave John
son, Leonard Hastings,
Tracie Latson, Jeanette
Hall, Rickey Collins and
Robert Culbreath.
Guest models were Kelvin
Griffin, Michael Franklin,
Geoffrey Anderson, Sara
P. Hatcher, Beah J. Hat
cher and Neta I. Weston.
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Ray Charles
From page 1
night to get their facts
Itraight,” he said.
‘There was no
Segregation in the seating
t my shows. The audien
es were 75-80 percent
hack...lt was a Jewish
Organization I went for. I
rent out and talked to
leople and you know
rhat they said?
I “They ‘Thank
tod you came.’ ”
I The way Charles feels
I, music should make the
lorld go around and it
Wouldn’t become a part
r any dispute, racial or
lherwise. But he knows
■The blues won’t go out
[ style until people stop
lirting each other’’ so
le music is a form of
Htharsis, he says, and the
■rformer has to feel it
Hr it to work.
■“Some nights I sing the
Les and I’m under con-
Bl,” he says. “Other
Bhts I sing the same
■ngs and I can hardly
■ep the tears from
■ling down my face.”
■That’s “soul,” of
Birse. “Soul is when
Bi can take a song and
Bke it a part of you—a
Bt that’s so true, so
81, people think it must
Ke happened to you,”
Kays.
Ko Charles—poor as
Kost any Southern
Kck for the first 20 of
gl 52 years, and blind
Ke the age of 6—deals
Kh the blues out of
Kesty and experience.
Khat’s why all the
Kic he does is a form of
K blues. His current
Him, which is his first
■four years, is titled
Kish You Were Here
Kight,” and while it
Kures the work of
Khville songwriters and
Ksicians, Charles
Ksn’t consider it a
K ntr y album regar-
Ks of how many coun-
Kadio stations play it.
K’m certainly not a
Krley Pride or a John
-a i -
Conlee,” he says. “I
don’t have that country
sound, but I love singing
country songs.”
That was obvious in
1962, when Charles
recorded ‘‘Modern
Sounds In Country And
Western” also an album
of country songs and one
that helped make possible
the emergence of Black
country artists such as
Pride. He denies,
however, that he’s
covering the same
musical territory again
because he wants to boost
a sagging career.
“This is not a commer
cial venture with me,” he
says. “I love country
music.”
He heard it growing up
in Albany, Ga., where he
was born, and Florida,
where the family moved
when he was six and
where he attended a
school for the blind. But
no matter whether he’s
doing a country song, a
blues song, a rhythm and
blues song or a pop stan
dard, Charles’ music
remains distinct and
readily identifiable. It’s
not just the voice or the
piano playing that gives
his music its character.
As Charles says, it’s
soul—and soul, to him, is
“like electricity, like a
spirit, a drive, a power.”
He isn’t certain what
gave it to him. But he
does have an often
quoted explanation for
why he’s been
profitably—rather than
hopelessly—immersed in
the blues despite blin
dness, poverty and even a
19-year addiction to
heroin (which he gave up
in 1965).
The words were spoken
by his mother when he
lost his sight: “You’re
blind, not stupid. You
lost your sight, not you
mind.”
Or—as the years and
his music have
shown—his vision.
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The Augusta News-Review April 30,1983
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Page 7