yesterday.
ABC? Who told you
to do that, huh?
And you know,
Atlantic is family,
just like the Shaw Agency.
Ray, my job is to get you
the best deal possible.
ABC is very interested.
No.
How interested?
How about
a $50,000 advance
each year for three years?
You produce
your own records.
They'll deduct recording costs
and give you
75 percent.
Ahmet and Jerry are
flying in tonight,
so will you put them off
until I can talk
things out with ABC?
¤¤
Well, my mama said,
ain't nothing wrong
with talking.
Hey, enough of
the formalities.
Come on, let's go back
into the office, Ray.
I hope I can call you Ray.
I want you to be
comfortable here.
Because I'll tell you
something, everything is
gonna be better at ABC.
Moving from an indie label
to a major
means you can sell
a lot more records,
as well as attract
much larger crowds,
both white and Negro.
Yeah, but Mr. Clark,
you know, I've been
at Atlantic for so long,
I just want to give
those guys a chance, you know,
to at least match the offer.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, certainly, certainly.
But, uh, I doubt
they'll be able to.
We're giving you
a state-of-the-art deal here.
Well, you know, since I'm
producing my own records,
I was wondering if I could
uh, own my masters, too.
Well,
Ray, we've... we've never
done that before.
No record company has.
Well, I think I'm going to
have to have it that way for
me to leave Atlantic Records.
Ahmet believes
we're family here at Atlantic.
I believe we're family
here at Atlantic.
Obviously, you don't!
Ahmet wouldn't believe it.
You know what he said, Ray?
He said you would never
turn your back on us.
Never for a schlockmeister
like Sam Clark!
That's rich.
Sam Clark's a corporate slug,
who wouldn't know
the difference between
Earl Hines and Art Tatum!
We let you grow here, Ray.
And nobody's taking
credit for your talent,
but we nourished it.
We let you do your thing.
God damn it!
We deserve better than this.
You know what,
don't think that
I don't appreciate
everything you guys
have done here, Jerry.
Ahmet, I'm very
proud of the work that
we've done here together.
But, Atlantic has done
pretty good money-wise
on my records, haven't they?
Yes, we've done
very well, Ray.
You... you were the ones that
taught me that making a record
is business,
and find the best
business deal you can.
Now, 75 cents of every dollar,
and owning my own masters
is a pretty damn
good deal.
Can you match it?
Ray, we would love to
match it, but we just can't.
That's a better deal
than Sinatra gets.
I'm very proud of you.
Looks like those boys
are going to get
a taste of country dumb.
Yeah.
He'll be all right, man.
You guys
always do find the best.
¤ Georgia ¤
¤ Georgia ¤
¤ The whole day through ¤
¤ The whole day through ¤
¤ Just an old sweet song ¤
¤ Keeps Georgia on my mind ¤
¤ Georgia on my mind ¤
¤ I said Georgia ¤
¤ Georgia ¤
Listen to that crap.
Thought you said that
ABC wasn't going to
force nothing on him.
They didn't.
It was Ray's idea.
Something new.
What are we then, Jeff?
Something old?
Yeah, what about us?
We got to eat, too.
¤ Other arms should
reach out to me ¤
¤ Other eyes smile tenderly ¤
¤ Still in the peaceful dreams
I see ¤
¤ The road leads back
to you ¤¤
¤¤
It's a hit record.
What the hell
is wrong with that?
Critics say you've gone
middle-of-the-road.
The orchestra, the choir,
The Perry Como Show, man?
If I feel the music,
that means it's real.
No, it ain't.
Ray Charles is a sellout.
The blind Liberace,
leaving those Rocking
Chair roots behind.
Quincy Jones.
Can we get a picture
of these two guys?
Six-nine!
Hey, boy.
Look, here, uh,
this interview is over.
I'd love to
get you two together, man.
S-some other time.
Look at you.
How's it going, man?
You look good.
Let me look at you.
You look good, too.
You hear what they're
saying about me?
I just said that l... I
can't do it no more.
I've