Keep counting.
I guess you want charity,
since that record
of yours ain't selling.
Get him off my back!
Break it up!
What the hell's
going on in here?
The blind sensation don't like
the money I'm trying
to pay him!
He's cheating me! I quit!
Oh, you lying son of a bitch!
Don't be fighting nobody
that can see!
Listen, I ain't
runnnin' around lookin' for
singles for this chump!
There's $50 here, Ray.
You see that, fool?
Shut up, Wilbur!
Ray, from now on,
I'll handle your pay myself.
I'm tired of this!
I'll tell Jack to
find you somebody else!
You sure?
It's cold out there.
Don't worry about me,
I can take care of myself.
Ray!
Damn it, Wilbur!
Let him go!
What we gonna do now?
"After the death of Moses, the
Lord spake unto Joshua saying:
"'Moses my servant is dead.
"'Now therefore arise.
Go over to Jordan.
"'Be not afraid,
For the Lord thy God
is with thee."'
Mr. Charles.
Who is it?
Mr. Charles,
my name is Ahmet Ertegun.
May I have
a moment of your time?
What do you want, man?
I'm at church.
I'm sorry.
I'll come back later.
You're here now.
What do you want?
My company, Atlantic Records,
has acquired
your contract
from Swing Time.
I'd like
to discuss your future.
Hold on. Don't jive me now.
I ain't for sale.
May I sit down?
You see, Mr. Charles,
Jack Lauderdale
has found himself,
shall we say,
a little overextended,
and has had to
unload some of his talent.
When your name
came up, I jumped at
the chance to work with you.
I'm a big fan.
What if I want to go
to another company?
There's a guy out there
right now that is willing
to pay me
seven cents a record.
Can you do that?
Man, I could promise you
15 cents a record,
but you won't get it
any more than
he'll pay you seven.
What I will do
is promise you
five cents a record
and pay you five cents
a record.
If you think pennies,
Mr. Charles, you get pennies.
You think dollars,
you get dollars.
I like how you put
things together, man.
Ahem, you know what?
Omelet,
you're all right with me.
Ahmet.
Ahmet.
What kind of name is that?
I'm Turkish.
Well, you know what?
I guess
Jack Lauderdale's bad luck
is my good fortune.
I knew that Atlantic Records
was bigger than Swing Time.
You guys do good music.
I dig Atlantic.
You could have fooled me.
Well, you know,
I gotta keep my eye
on you city boys.
Down home,
we call it "country dumb."
Hey, man, it ain't Turkish.
¤ Went to see my sweetheart ¤
¤ Last night around
about ten ¤
¤ She said, move, sweet papa ¤
¤ Squeeze me
every now and then ¤
What do you think?
Man, nobody wants
another Nat King Cole.
¤ 'Cause she sleep that way ¤
¤ The midnight hour ¤
¤ Has found me lonely ¤
¤ So unhappy ¤
¤ As I can be ¤
Ahmet, it's just
like Charles Brown.
Okay, I'll talk to him.
All right, fellas,
that's a cut.
That's a cut, fellas.
Fellas!
Band can take five.
He just don't get it.
You either sound original,
or you got nothin'.
Ahmet,
what'd you think of that?
Ray, I want to tell you
something, and I don't want
you to take it wrong.
Then give it to me right.
I signed you
because I sensed
something special in you
not because you sound like
Nat Cole or Charles Brown.
I thought you like what I do.
We... we love the timbre
of your voice,
we like your virtuosity,
your energy...
But not my music.
Come on, man,
I didn't say that.
Ahmet, this is what I do, man.
I gotta make a living.
This is what the people want.
I don't know no other way.
We got to help you find one.
Look, let's try a little
change of pace, okay?
You're familiar
with stride piano?
You kidding me, man?
The man who I learned the
piano from is a stride player.
Okay, I got a song.
It's called The Mess Around.
The Mess Around.
Cute title. Who wrote it?
I did.
Ah, you wrote it.
Yeah.
Well, sing it to me, man.
Sing it?
Yeah.
It ain't like
I can read the lyrics.
Okay.
Well, it's the key of G.
Okay. Key of G.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.