Raelettes, The

This female backing group, originally consisting of Margie Hendrix, Pat Lyles and Earl-Jean McCrea began life in 1954 in Brooklyn, New York, as The Cookies.

They performed for the first time at the Amateur Night at the Apolllo Theater and their winning success here brought them to the attention of the producer Jesse Stone and a contract with Atlantic records in 1955. With Atlantic they were given the double duty of recording their own material and providing backing for other singers such as Big Joe Turner and LaVern Baker.

In 1956 they released their recording of the song “In Paradise” which found them success in the Top 10 of the R&B chart.

The group were introduced to the singer Mary Ann Fisher who sang duets with Ray Charles. He decided he wanted to add Mary Ann to their line-up and have them as his backing group for a recording. This is when they were given the new name of The Raelettes which has been suggested as being a hint to his infidelities.

However not all The Cookies decided to stay with Ray Charles and Pay Lyles and Earl-Jean McRea returned to their own careers. This left only Mary Ann Fisher and Margie Hendrix, who later gave birth to Ray’s son Charles Wayne in 1959. Before long they were joined by another two singers, Darlene McRae and Della Bea Robinson, who became the second wife of Ray Charles in 1955.

The Raelettes went on to perform with Ray on many of his hit songs such as “Hit the Road Jack”, “The Right Time” and “What’d I Say”.

In 1965 Ray Charles established the Tangerine record label and The Raelettes were able to record and release much of their own material whilst still accompanying the singer. Although none of their songs were chart-toppers they did reach the R&B charts on several occasions with singles such as “Bad Water”, “I’ve Been Gett’n Along Alright” and “One Hurt Deserves Another”.

The group underwent many personnel changes over the next few years and in 1970 they were joined by Mable John as their lead vocalist. She toured the Far East with them without Ray Charles and sang lead on their hit song “I Wanna Do Everything For You”.

Mable decided to leave the group in 1976 when she entered a school for the ministry and that seemed to be the time when they shrank back into just performing background vocals for Ray Charles.

Although their line-up continually changed they never managed to get back to their previous heights but continued to sing with Ray Charles for the rest of his career until he passed away in 2004.

Over the 50 years or so that they were performing there were several successful singers that graced the group and one point or another and just a couple of them include Alexandra Brown, Merry Clayton, Rita Graham, Susaye Greene and Minnie Riperton.

Sources:

Raelettes, The

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