THE SOUL OF RAY CHARLES HEATS UP 'COLD CASE'
Seven Of The Legend's Songs Will Be Featured Exclusively During Series' Seventh Season Premiere




The timeless artistry of Ray Charles will kick off the seventh season premiere of "Cold Case." The CBS Television investigative series will exclusively feature music from the legendary artist's extensive catalog during the season opener, which airs Sunday, Sept. 27, at 10 p.m., ET/PT.

Titled "The Crossing," the episode centers around a 1966 shipboard murder of a young working-class woman who shared a room with a friend on an upscale ocean liner's final trans-Atlantic crossing. While on board, the victim becomes involved in an epic love affair. To underscore the riveting drama that is the "Cold Case" hallmark, seven Charles songs recorded between 1954 and 1965 were specifically chosen.

More than 100 songs from Charles' vault of 700+ recordings were reviewed by the Ray Charles Marketing Group in collaboration with "Cold Case" executive producers Greg Plageman and Jennifer Johnson and Jenee DeAngelis of Swill Merchant Music Supervision. Two of the episode's seven featured songs are Grammy Hall of Fame honorees. Another has been out of print for most of the last 30 years, making it a "new release" for many of Charles' younger fans. The season premiere episode, written by Taylor Elmore, draws from the same pallet of human emotion that Ray Charles used when recording these songs.

"These seven songs are truly a panoramic view of Ray's entire musical legacy," says Tony Gumina, President of Ray Charles Marketing. "We went deep into the vault to include songs that Ray wrote, songs written specifically for him (by Percy Mayfield) and songs featuring Ray's world-renowned background singers, the Raeletts. It's truly a testament to Ray's ability to cross over into virtually every genre as this episode segues from blues and R&B to rock 'n' roll, country and jazz."

Previous single-artist "Cold Case" episodes have showcased the music of such fellow icons as Frank Sinatra, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash. The series' two-part sixth season finale featured the music of Pearl Jam.

"What's different about 'Cold Case' from other cop shows is that we get to go back in time," notes executive producer Plageman. "And music helps shuttle you back to a particular time and world. For this episode, we didn't want to just feature music of the early '60s. We wanted something more classic with an epic feel. There is something so timeless about Ray's music and that's what we were going for: timeless, romantic and epic."

Prepping for the "The Crossing"episode began in late June, with Swill Merchant's DeAngelis receiving an initial graph outlining the script's year before reviewing potential music selections and securing legal clearances. "In the last five years, integrating music into television shows has become a major avenue for building consumer awareness about music and artists," adds DeAngelis.

Directed by Alex Zakrzewski, guest stars in "The Crossing" include Michael Nader ("Dynasty," "All My Children"), Jonathan LaPaglia ("The District") and Daniel Baldwin ("Grey Gardens," "Homicide: Life on the Street"). The "Cold Case" series regulars are Kathryn Morris, Danny Pino, John Finn, Jeremy Ratchford, Thom Barry and Tracie Thoms. It is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television in association with CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television.



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THE MUSIC OF LEGENDARY RECORDING ARTIST RAY CHARLES WILL PLAY EXCLUSIVELY DURING THE SEVENTH SEASON PREMIERE OF "COLD CASE," SUNDAY, SEPT. 27 ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK




The soulful music of the legendary Ray Charles will be featured exclusively during the seventh season premiere of COLD CASE, to be broadcast Sunday, Sept. 27, in its new (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) timeslot, on the CBS Television Network.

In the episode, titled "The Crossing," the team investigates the 1966 shipboard murder of a starry-eyed young working-class woman who shared a room in steerage with a friend on an upscale ocean liner's final round-trip Atlantic crossing. Meanwhile, the trial against the military academy official who tried to harm Rush in last season's two-part finale begins.

Michael Nader ("Dynasty," "All My Children") guest stars as a dashing man with whom the victim shared a shipboard romance. Jonathan LaPaglia ("The District") returns as Assistant District Attorney Curtis Bell -- and Daniel Baldwin ("Grey Gardens," "Homicide: Life on the Street") returns as Major Moe Kitchener, the man on trial for having run Rush's car off a bridge as an attempt to thwart the team's previous investigation. This episode was written by Taylor Elmore and directed by Alex Zakrzewski.

"Ray Charles is a national treasure with a career that spanned multiple decades, making him the perfect artist to complement the epic nature of our season premiere," said series executive producer Greg Plageman. "When a body is discovered deep within the bowels of one of the last great transatlantic ocean liners dry docked in Philly, the case transports our detectives back to an era just before airplanes superseded ships as the primary mode of travel abroad." Adds series executive producer Jennifer Johnson, "We discover that our victim became involved in an epic love affair on the ship's final voyage in the mid-60s, losing herself in the romance of the ship's grandeur, with flashbacks set to the timeless nature of Ray Charles' music."

Past single-artist episodes of COLD CASE featured the music of John Lennon, Frank Sinatra, Nirvana, Johnny Cash, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Tim McGraw, U2 and Bob Dylan. Additionally, the music of Pearl Jam rocked throughout the two-part seventh season finale of the series.

COLD CASE stars Kathryn Morris, Danny Pino, John Finn, Jeremy Ratchford, Thom Barry and Tracie Thoms. It is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television in association with CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television. Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, Meredith Stiehm, Jennifer Johnson and Greg Plageman are the executive producers.



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RAY CHARLES CHILDHOOD HOME IN
FLORIDA RESTORED AS HISTORIC LANDMARK;

DEDICATION TAKES PLACE ON 79TH
ANNIVERSARY OF RAY CHARLES' BIRTH




Ray Charles' childhood home in Greenville, Florida has been restored to preserve it as a historic site commemorating the life of the legendary performing artist and humanitarian. The City of Greenville under the leadership of Mayor Elestra Pritchett obtained a grant from the Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation to save the house which had fallen into an advanced state of deterioration. The town plans to turn the house into a small educational museum for the public, displaying period furnishings, artifacts and memorabilia. In February 2006, Greenville unveiled a life-sized bronze sculpture of their hometown hero in a downtown park.

"For the millions of people around the world who know Ray Charles' remarkable story, this house is symbolic of the hope and unbridled potential of a young child who conquered enormous adversities," stated Valerie Ervin, President of the Ray Charles Foundation based in Los Angeles. "The preservation of his home is an exciting milestone in advancing Ray's wishes and the mandate of the foundation he created: that his life's journey would continue to inspire and help those less fortunate for generations to come."

Mayor Pritchett said, "I fondly recall the many times "RC" and I played as small children in the yard of his 'adopted grandmother', Margaret "Muh" Robinson.

The formal dedication of the house and unveiling of the official state historical marker will take place on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 10 am., what would have been Ray Charles' 79th birthday.