Marjorie "Margie" Hendrix was an American rhythm and blues singer best known for her performances as a founder member and leader of the Raelettes, backing Ray Charles, the father of their child, Charles Wayne Hendrix. The spelling "Hendricks" is sometimes used.
Margie Hendrix was born on March 13, 1935 in Register, Georgia, the daughter of Kattie and Renzy Hendrix. She sang, played piano and directed her local church choir while in her teens. In the early 1950s she moved to New York City, and made her first solo recording, "Everything", on the Lamp label in 1954. In 1956, she replaced Beulah Robertson in the Cookies, joining existing members Dorothy Jones and Darlene McCrea. The group signed to Atlantic Records, and had a #9 hit on the R&B chart with "In Paradise". They also started working as session singers at Atlantic, where they were introduced to Ray Charles. The Cookies auditioned for Charles on the song "Leave My Woman Alone". In 1958, Margie and McCrea left the Cookies, and later formed the Raelettes as Ray's backing singers.
The Raelettes and Ray Charles
In October of 1958, Ray recorded his first song with the Raelettes, "Night Time Is the Right Time", which reached #5 on the R&B chart the following year. The song features Margie's barely controlled voice to Charles to "tease me, squeeze me, please me, oh don't leave me..." Margie and The Raelettes were featured on several of Ray's other recordings of the time, including "Tell the Truth", "What'd I Say", "Sticks And Stones", "Hit the Road Jack", "Unchain My Heart", "My Baby!", "I Can't Stop Loving You", "Bye Bye Love, and "You Are My Sunshine." She started having affairs with Ray and their son Charles Wayne was born on October 1, 1959 in New York City, New York. Margie would became the effective leader of The Raelettes, but her personal relationship with Ray began deteriorate and she developed problems of drug addiction to alcohol and heroin which led to her picking fights during recording sessions. In 1964 the Raelettes released the single "A Lover's Blues" which featured Margie on lead vocals In July of 1964, after a final argument with Ray led to her being fired from the Raelettes. Margie later performed at the Apollo with the other Raelettes.
Solo career and Drug addiction
After leaving The Raelettes in 1964, Margie signed a record deal with Mercury Records, and released a total five singles on the label, mostly produced by Gene "Bowlegs" Miller. The first two singles on Mercury were released in 1965, and three followed in 1967. However, these singles didn't really get a lot of attention which made her drink more alcohol and use more damaging drugs. On September 7, 1967 while driving in Texas, Margie was injured with her husband, Robert Fulson, when her car was hit by a truck carrying lumber and she suffered neck injuries and slight loss of hearing in her right ear.Her final recordings were issued on the Sound Stage 7 label in 1968. Margie's life started to go downhill because she couldn't stop drinking and using drugs.
Death
Margie died in New York, New York on July 14, 1973. The official cause of her death is unknown, but many sources claim it was caused by a heroin overdose. Some sources also claim that she was living in poverty at the time of her death.
