Attention Readers:
GrayCharles.com now has the archives up and he has made them very easy to browse.
signed,
The Man.
Taylor is the Boogie!
I wanna rock and soul all night, and boogie every day.
Taylor is The Boogie!
Basic info
Taylor’s Official Website
WHOMP!
Little Buddy Radio
Taylor is the Boogie! 
Mari, House has some of the most beautiful music running at the end of his show. I have downloaded many a tune from that show. Im a “House” addict anyways. I love Amos Lee.
Pushes everyone out of the way. Hey Gray, MY front porch overlooks Lake Ontario, Mine is the fairest of them all.
Me, mine, my….its always about Dingo.
You will be happy to know that my house is no longer a pigsty. Why, it sparkles now. Im sure that was weighing heavily on your mind.
Uuaaaagh! Oh my gosh, I got up this morning and my internet connection was down…after 10 long hours it is now fixed and I am happy again! (Oh my gawaad..I would have died if this had happened during the interview marathon!)
Gray, thanks for the archives, enjoy life!
Ash, thanks again for this place!
I want that T-shirt too! And one with Taylor #80 would be nice too…who suggested that, can’t remember anymore, but it was a great idea too. 🙂
Gray, if ya see Taylor tell him my number is 555-1234 k? Dont forget!
Another T shirt? Im in.
Gray, thanks for leaving the archives up! (I was KitIsTayFan over there.) I am going back to read everything I missed, which is a lot I suspect as I came to your party in March also. I was also thinking of printing the whole thing out, like LaLuna… guess a trip to Office Depot is in order!!!
Again I am so grateful for all you have done. Can’t wait to buy a T-shirt, I will wear that proudly!!
Enjoy your front porch as much as we enjoyed your party!
I was watching a repeat of House Tuesday and a beautiful song came on. I am hard of hearing so I have closed caption. I am reading the words and listening to this beautiful song and thinking where have I heard this before?
Sure enough I go back to GC’s archives and I believe in the March section there he is, Amos Lee. I love the song Colors and just purchased his CD from Amazon. Thank-You GC
LaLuna, I hear ya. The emptiness and quiet over there.
But ahhhh… doesn’t this feel like home?
Thanks everyone for being here. Thanks again Ash.
LaLuna, I hear you on printing it all out – but, just so you know,…I printed out just the whole Finito – interview and comments, and it was over 100+ pages!
I can’t begin to imagine the reams of paper, not to mention toner, involved in printing out the whole thing if you print comments! But how much fun to have. Buy some REALLY BIG binders! And, if you plan to read all in your “old age” you’d better start soon…it’ll probably take decades to read it all. 🙂
I thought the same thing as LaLuna. Being new to the GC site I never realized ALL that occured in a matter of a few months. It was really weird to see those first posts with no comments, after being a part only when the blog had been a huge success. I swear I could hear Taylor’s voice in my head say its amazing how your life can change in a year. Even less for GC’s blog!
Anyway you slice you slice it, it sure was a jewel.
Even though I knew the end was near, the final “yes” was an unexpected emotional jolt to me yesterday morning. After thinking it through and realizing that Gray had been the “parent” of the GC family, I realized it brought back painful memories of my mother’s death a couple of years ago. Just like a real family after a death, all of the GC family can still meet from time to time (on different sites) if they want to, but we can never go home again. However, last evening I visited the empty home and checked out the archives because I couldn’t honestly remember when I first found Gray’s site. As it turned out it wasn’t until sometime in March. Seeing the January and February threads with no comments was really surprising. But in March after LFTC there was a jump to a a whopping 136 comments. I loved Taylor from the beginning but I remember that was the week that I REALLY loved Taylor — I watched my tape of that performance about 100 times that week. And the rest is history . . .
Gray, thanks again for everything and the best to you and your family. Now just sit back and dwell on that fantasy of Taylor sitting on your front porch some day just shooting the breeze about music . . . . ah, how sweet it is . . .
omg imagine torturing myself last night at the GC site just clicking away “previous entries” just to get to the very first post lol if only my mouse could talk, it’ll probably say GET A LIFE!!! lol (i really got to the very first one btw!) i can now say that i really loved that site 🙂
hi everyone!!!!!
just want to share some lyrics from my fave local band Hale (esp to GC):
Blue Sky
when do stars fade their light
does the moon and sun make it right
for you the world may be like an endless storm chasing a mystery
is there hate in your heart
does your body drop and tell you to stop
loving you or loving me
when it all falls down you just sing with me
cause there’s a blue sky waiting tomorrow
shining and shimmering
a blue sky waiting tomorrow
maybe it’s all we need
oh don’t you wash away that smile
just look out the window and see the light
it’s beautiful to be alive
it’s wonderful to live a life
the sun is sure to shine for you and me and everyone
just don’t be sad it’s just the start
of a new beginning in your life
rain will keep on pouring
some things you can’t control
while the sun is far and hard to hold
it will unfold
there will always be a blue sky
a blue sky waiting tomorrow
full of love yeah..full of hope
Again, GC, (and thanks, Ash, for this…)
I started reading the archives of the GrayCharles.com journey earlier today. I only got through March so far, just before all hell breaks loose…
January. Going back in time. Being over at the old place now feels quite eerie, well, with comments being shut down and all. I got to the very first comment section and it was still open! (or so I thought). So being a smartass, I thought I would make a post predicting Taylor as the winner (lol). Then it said, “comment awaiting moderation” – ahhhhhhh, if only it were true.
So quiet. So empty. Felt like I was walking down a long echoing hallway filled with doors of the unknown with strangers inside I have never met. If I turn this doorknob, which point in time will I enter? Who will be there? What did Taylor sing? What new song in discussion caught my attention? Who, that I know now, today, begins to comment way back then for the very first time?
What a trip. The evolution of GC.
Take January, for example. I cracked up when I saw just TWO comments on one of your original posts. And sometimes your early posts, there were no comments at all! I can imagine you then, feeling really good and excited about your new blog, never expecting what would come lunging at you with full force just a few months after the inception.
I saw unfamiliar names who posted early on and then, for some reason, didn’t post anymore towards the end. Why? I wondered. Where did they go? Who knows?
I am going to print out the whole shebang and put it in a binder, so when I am Really Old, it will be one of my favorite trips down memory lane.
Thank you again. I don’t think you will ever fully know how much you have given us here on the other side of cyberspace.
Not only is all your news dope, Gray, but you’re one dank dood. Thanks for the memories (archives), good for many a rainy day.
And hello again to all the GC ex-pat sweetpeas. It’s like Paris in the 20’s. Let’s start flapping!
I recently returned home after a vacation to Hilton Head Island. I may not ever know what it’s like to shoot the shit with Taylor on my front porch, but he was a great pal to have along while I sat on the beach with the waves dancing at my feet. Candy in my ears… I had a damn fine time.
the road goes on forever and the party never ends
thanks for all the archives
A real nice feeling knowing everyone didn’t “Go Towards The Light” after the events of the last few days. Makes me happy! Hope Taylor writes in from time to time, I think it’s beautiful he seems to want to be involved.
GC’s archives and all these porch references make me feel homesick for America. I want to go home! I’m a Yankee, but I was lucky enough to live in Montgomery for a year and it got into my blood: Sophia’s BBQ, lazy afternoons drinking beer and watching minor league baseball in the old stadium, listening to jazz at Sous La Terre, watching indy movies at the Capri Theatre, seeing James Brown live at the Jubilee City Fest (if someone tells me Taylor played there that year I’ll kill myself), having endless conversations with complete strangers who just wanted to talk…hmm sounds familiar.
oops…”here so far” , that is…:-)
Lurked for months over at GC but only posted in the last few days. Promised that I wouldn’t do that again so here I am. Thanks for giving us somewhere to hang out, Ash. It feels pretty cozy so here…
I’d like to add for Gray (and Basenji) that my big front porch is in reality attached to a sprawling southern bungalow with an air of seedy elegance. No shit. We always have cold beer and music on the stereo. If you ever find you’re headed to Anniston, Alabama, well, you have my email address. I’ll keep the food coming from the kitchen, and I won’t let you clean up.
Perfectly timed ending, complete with Taylor post. Thanks for leaving the archives up. I have lots of scraps pf paper with frantically scribbled names of artists on them, and now I can relax.
You da bomb.
Gray, on another thread I posted a big thanks to you for the incredible archive browser. Having spent the last two hours reading all the Dave White, as well as the TrueNorth t-shirt saga, and the Birmingham homecoming threads, I think I really should have said “damn you” for the incredible archive browser. 🙂
By the way, I spend a considerable amount of time on my big front porch complete with swing, adirondacks, and ceiling fans. If you find you need a cool “Porch Dwellers Association” sign, I’m your girl. Enjoy.
You are such a good man Gray. How very nice and considerate of you to leave the GC site up . . . providing an Archive , , , giving us a bone to chew on once in a while if you get any hot news . . . and also telling us about our being able to buy a T-shirt that has a word spelled incorrectly on it. Have no idea what that word might be though. 😉
Sure am looking forward to hearing about the good time you and our Soul Patrolman Taylor Hicks had while sitting out on your front porch shooting the breeze and sipping on sweet tea . . . Or perhaps a Budweiser beer or two instead?
Ah, life is good isn’t it? Take care and enjoy every moment of it. My best to you and your family.
Of course I mean to say I want the effing t-shirt That would be the conversation starter. :0
I can’t go to an AI concert, but I do have a front porch. Certainly that would be a good conversation starter. Thanks GC for keeping the archives alive. I want to go back and check some stuff out. It was great reading the first time, but I am sure I missed stuff. Thanks Ash for a place to chill.
Ooh, can’t wait to see the t-shirt. I was going to bring a “Sing Me a F****** Song” sign, but wearing the shirt would be waaaay less embarrassing. 😉
If there is a shirt that I can wear next week in Manchester, let me know how I can get it! I would have no objection to advertising our favorite website on my back.
Ash: It’s nice to be here.
And Gray: enjoy the porch.
Now getting that new t-shirt will make us gc/boogie frequenters instantly recognizable at the concert! How fun.
I would be so happy for you Gray if you could spend a day shootin the you know what on the porch with Taylor. You deserve it and I am certain you could keep him entertained talking about music. Hope it happens and have a blast for all of us.
Thanks for leaving the site up for awhile. We can withdraw slowly and not go cold turkey. I am not good at cold turkey. You are the best for everything you do.
Again thanks to Ash for this site to come home to for those of us left somewhat homeless. It has been a blast GC and hope you get the well deserved rest you seek.
Enjoy some R&R GC and the porch, if that works out! Any chance of getting that new shirt in a polo? Thanks again for everything!
Thanks for the archives Gray. I’ve got to have that t-shirt. I already have the got soul-graycharles.com from Neighborhoodies—Now I won’t be able to decide which one to wear to the AI concert. I’ll just buy tickets to another one.
I hope you get that time on the front porch with Taylor. Oh yes, thanks Ash for this site.
Hey all, I hope you don’t mind me lurking over here a bit. I was pretty new at the GC site and fell in love with it fast. I wanted to say thank you to Gray for setting up the archives the way he did. I have allot of reading to do. Looks like a ton of great posts from all you guys. And Ash this is a great place too, it was so kind for you to invite us in. Thanks a bunch.
GC — TY for leaving your fantastic site up for reading — I have lots & lots to catch up on (especially the Soulful Artist posts). I really love your idea of the archive index — I just tried it out, & there’s a lot of cool stuff!! In retrospect, I wish I had posted more than “just once.” But “somehow” I did find the courage to post at almost the last moment (right after your insightful & inspiring interview with Taylor). Gray, I hope that the Tay man does come by soon to chat on your front porch (wherever that is)!
Ash — With GrayCharles in “LiMBO,” I guess I’ll start lurking here, now. 🙂 TY for inviting us orphans to your blog.
everyone — I figure that once I get a sense of how this site works, I’ll start sharing my thoughts with this cyber community. All “you guys” are the boogie (just like Taylor)!!
Sssssssssooooulll Patrooooooooooooolllll!!!!
I lurked until March 18, then this thread came along….. I now listen to over a dozen new (to me) artists because of this! Thanks peeps.
http://www.graycharles.com/index.php/2006/03/18/fan-to-fan-what-are-taylor-hicks-fans-listening-to/
All your news is dope, Gray, errr…. I think (scrambling for much newer dictionary).
I think everybody already knows that you are an internet freak who is not to be trusted….certainly Taylor picked up on that. But hey, that’s what bodyguards are for.
Thank you for leaving the archives accessible. It’s a great summer “beach” read and I encourage everyone to ‘make the trip’, even if you’ve been there before. Don’t cheat — start at the beginning, suspend your disbelief in in time travel and pretend you know little or nothing about Taylor Hicks. (Now would be a good time to update the speakers at your computer).
take some R & R Gray……can we come sit on your porch too? we wil be the ones with the tee shirts and bracelets!
Woooooo, I want me a t-shirt! Great news! Again, thanks for the archive, Gray. And please don’t be a stranger.
Here’s hoping that afternoon with you and Taylor just chillin’ on your front porch really comes to pass. If it can’t be me and Taylor chatting, I’d rather it be you there with him than anyone else.
Here we are still thanking Gray (thanks to Ash). Went back and listened to the Rick and Bubba interview with Taylor on March 9th and the very last thing they say to him is “You Make Us Proud” talk about prohetic. WOW!!! I Found GC around the middle of March and it is so cool to be able to go back now and catch up. Love you Gray, love you Ash.
WOOOO-HOOOO!! Party on Gray’s porch!!! =)
Can’t wait for the t-shirt. Thanks, Gray!
Thanks Gray, let me be the first to say I’ll buy that f-in shirt!
Thanks for doing that, and everything, Gray. I’ve got some catchup reading to do in your archives…
Thanks Gray!!! you know I never got gray radio spinning right? are others more fortunate? loved the idea….
Thanks again, Gray. Party on.
How big is your porch, Gray?
Shit. I meant to say “sit on that FRONT porch”. Do’h!
🙂
Thanks Gray,
You can just lurk awhile, you know, just to make sure Ash has enough beer in the fridge, steaks on the bbq, and the couch has been reinforced. Take a beer out of the cooler. Sit on that frony porch, sip a cool one and relax. Allow yourself a smile. Bring the family, we’d love to meet them. Basenji’s party sounded like fun……let’s have another one sometime, hey Gray?
Can’t wait for the t-shirts. Keep in touch. We’ll be fine here.
Would you like some Cheetos? :0) 🙂
FYI,
The plan is to leave everything up without comments for, oh i don’t know, no plan on taking them down. I’ll be consolidating servers now that the fan has cleared the shit so don’t be surpirsed if you see a “site not available” from time to time.
Eventually, it’all all be on one measly shared host and I can afford to feed my family again. Ah, those were the days.
In the meantime, if I have any dope news I’ll send it this way. Look for a new t-shirt design before the weekend to proudly wear to your fave AI concert – something like – Here’s A Fine Song but perhaps with a typo? Ash has agreed to be the pusher on that one.
Anyway, I’ll send Taylor an invite to come sit on my front porch (literally) on an AI off day. I don’t know if can (or wants) to do it. For all he knows I may be some Internet freak who is not to be trusted.
I think all is in order now so don’t expect to see me again for awhile. I know when my time is up.