Biography
At the age of 13, Chuck Offenberg (as he was known then), won a contest to sing on the radio in Chicago. At 16, while still at Hyde Park High School, he had his own 15 minute radio program on WENR and won a vocal scholarship to the Chicago Musical College.
After graduation, he attended Central YMCA College, where he met fellow future choral director Norman Luboff, who was to become a lifelong friend. In 1936, Offenberg joined the Federal Theater show O Say Can You Sing, sharing a dressing room with the young Buddy Rich. In 1942, Offenberg, with his wife, Bernice and son, Michael, came to New York City and he started getting work, singing on the radio for Lyn Murray, Ray Bloch and other choral directors. By 1944, he was doing 10 radio shows a week. In May 1944, Chuck Offenberg changed his name to Ray Charles. It would be 10 more years until the "other" Ray Charles changed his name from "Ray Charles Robinson" to Ray Charles.
Close harmony was all the rage and Charles became the arranger and tenor for the "Double Daters," a quartet featured on Million Dollar Band.
Drafted into the Navy in 1944, Charles was assigned to Hunter College, where he created an entire new music library for the WAVE choruses and trained the "Singing Platoons", three choruses of 80 WAVES each, on six week training cycles that sang on the radio, bond rallies and at local veterans hospitals. He also conducted the band on their two CBS weekly shows.
Discharged in 1946 Charles sang on New York radio ("Um Um Good" for Campbell's soups, among other gigs) and on many record dates. In 1947, he was the conductor for the Broadway hit Finian's Rainbow, and conducted the original cast recording. Charles initially became associated with Perry Como in 1948 through being part of the vocal group "The Satisfiers". The group performed on Como's The Chesterfield Supper Club. From 1949 to 1951, he was choral arranger-conductor on "The Big Show", the last big radio variety show with Tallulah Bankhead and Meredith Willson.
Read more about this topic: Ray Charles (composer)
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