October 2006

First and foremost, I am the mom of these two kids

My son was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps and is now a Flight Instructor and getting his masters in avaition.  

My daughter graduated college with a degree in Equine Studies and joined me in Reno where she works for US Airways as a Reservation Agent....She's been Everywhere for free!!!

I am the daughter of the man who arranged, conducted and produced Ray Charles for over 40 years. My dad left us February 16, 2006, the void we feel is endless. Luckly I have his music to listen to. As I listen to his music, I hear the strings and in them I see my dads face.....I miss you daddy!

Sid Feller, 89; producer teamed with Ray Charles Los Angeles Times | February 24, 2006 LOS ANGELES -- Sid Feller, a producer and arranger who helped create the rich, orchestral big band sound for Ray Charles that resulted in such hits as ''Georgia on My Mind" and ''I Can't Stop Loving You," has died. He was 89. Sid, who had a history of heart trouble, died Feb. 16 at his home in the Cleveland suburb of Orange Village, said his daughter, Debbie Feller Glassman.

From the moment they stepped into a recording studio in 1959, Sid and Charles clicked in a musical partnership that lasted 30 years and resulted in hundreds of songs. Sid regularly toured with Charles as a conductor.

''When they were working together, they were soul brothers," Michael Lydon, author of the 1998 biography ''Ray Charles: Man and Music," told the Los Angeles Times. ''Musically, Sid and Ray understood each other perfectly."

Charles, famous for being prickly about his music, ''just adored" Sid, said David Ritz, who co-wrote Ray's 1978 autobiography, ''Brother Ray."

''Ray told me that 'Sid Feller is as close as I'm ever going to come to having a Jewish mother.' That's how Sid was -- very warm and patient," Ritz said.

In a 2002 interview with Billboard magazine, Charles said of Sid: ''That's my angel. He . . . knew exactly what I wanted . . . [and] how to make them strings cry."

Sidney Harold Feller was born Dec. 24, 1916, in New York City, one of three children of Michael, an Austrian Jew who sold citrus fruit in a downtown market, and his wife, Riva.

While a Boy Scout, Sid learned to play trumpet and performed in New York City and the Catskills. The piano entered his life through a third-floor window after his mother agreed to have one hoisted into his family's Brooklyn apartment. A friend helped him learn music theory, but he was completely self-taught as an arranger.

He was taking a break from playing trumpet at Zimmermans Greek Resturaunt in 1938 when he spotted Gertrude Hager, a 18-year-old burlesque dancer at the Gaiety Theatre across the street. They married three years later while Sid was learning to become a bandleader at Army music school in Fort Knox, Ky.

In 1951, he became a conductor and arranger for Capitol Records and made his reputation arranging easy-listening music for Jackie Gleason. At Capitol, and ABC Records beginning in 1955, Sid also worked with Dean Martin, Peggy Lee, Mel Torme, Paul Anka, guitarist Charlie Byrd, and Woody Herman's big band.

He had few writing credits, but received one for ''You Can't Say No in Acapulco" for the 1963 Elvis Presley movie ''Fun in Acapulco."

In 1965, Sid moved to Los Angeles to work as a freelance arranger and producer, including arranging music for NBC's ''The Flip Wilson Show" (1970-74). He also worked with jazz singer Nancy Wilson and Eddie Fisher, retiring from arranging in the late 1980s. With his health failing -- he had a quadruple-bypass in the late 1990s -- Sid and his wife moved to Ohio to live with his daughter Debbie.

At a screening of the 2004 biographical movie ''Ray," Sid cried throughout because he said he felt Jamie Foxx's Oscar-winning performance brought his friend back to life. Eight of the 17 soundtracks on the movie ''Ray" credited Sid as producer.

Dad & Uncle Ray

Dad and Ray, 1962 ABC Paramount

I live with my daughter and our cats in Reno where I am a Personal Banker at the greatest bank!