Bill Engelhart’s hero died recently, so he might play an extra Ray Charles song or two during Little Bill and the Blue Notes’ performance at this weekend’s Shoreline Arts Festival.
At age 17, Engelhart finagled a backstage pass to meet Charles. The conversation went something like this:
Charles: “Are you a musician?”
Engelhart: “Yes.”
Charles: “What kind of music do you play?”
Engelhart: “The blues.”
Pause.
Charles: “You’re white, aren’t you?”
Engelhart: “Yes.”
Charles: “It doesn’t matter if you feel it.”
The Mountlake Terrace resident has taken Charles’ words to heart for 48 years.
His ballad “I Love an Angel” made the national chart in 1959. One of the first Northwest rhythm and blues groups, Engelhart’s band still plays 150 shows a year.
Engelhart has played with drummer Tommy Morgan since 1962, with Dick Powell for several years after he tired of fronting his own band and with guitarist Billy Stapleton.
In 1988, Engelhart was given the Washington Blues Society’s lifetime achievement award, but he hasn’t rested on that laurel. He was awarded the 2003 SBS award for best songwriter.
His first gig was for $9 a night. “I thought I’d died and gone to heaven,” Engelhart said. Then he heard blues music on the radio.
“I found what I had been looking for and I didn’t even know I was looking.”
Charles was the icing on the cake.
“Ray Charles could take any song, whether gospel or country or a ballad like ‘Georgia’ and make it a Ray Charles song,” he said.
Understanding that eventually helped move Engelhart from trying to sound like musicians he admired to finding his own voice.
“I spent years trying to sound black … it finally occurred to me that I didn’t need to do that. There was already a B.B. King. Once I stopped trying to be like someone else … I got more compliments on my singing. I learned I could be influenced by other musicians, but at some point, I had to be me.”
Engelhart recently covered Charles’ “Drown in My Own Tears” at Seattle’s New Orleans club.
“I did what he said, listen to the words. I shut my eyes and sang and listened to the words. I opened my eyes and people were standing up. I’m 65 and I learned something.”
Engelhart’s band performs at 4 p.m. Sunday.
The Shoreline Arts Festival
* The event is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Shoreline Center, 18560 First Ave. NE. in Shoreline. Activities include music, dance, juried art shows, a photography show, artists and crafters in action, a film festival, book sale and food booths. Admission is free.
* Entertainment includes Little Bill and the Blue Notes, one of the showcased bands, performing at 4 p.m. Sunday. Also on tap are The Toucans, Mud Bay Stompers, Grupo Son, Annie Rapid and the Bill Anschell Quartet.
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