The Raelettes (or occasionally The Raelets or The Raeletts) were an American girl group formed in 1958 to provide backing vocals for Ray Charles. They were reformed from the group The Cookies. Between 1966 and 1973, the Raelettes recorded on Tangerine Records as a separate act produced and accompanied by Charles.
Reformed by Ray Charles from the all-girl singing group The Cookies, Charles first invited the group for a recording session in New York City, in August 1956, where they taped "Lonely Avenue", "I Want To Know" and "Leave My Woman Alone". The Cookies' lineup at the time consisted of Margie Hendrix, Dorothy Jones, and Darlene McCrea.
The Raelettes were officially established in 1958. The first lineup consisted of Darlene McCrea, Margie Hendrix, Priscilla "Pat" Lyles, and Gwendolyn Berry. The Raelettes were an integral part of Charles' organization and provided backing vocals on various hits, such as "Night Time Is the Right Time" (1958), "What'd I Say" (1959) and "Hit the Road Jack" (1961).
In the early years, Margie Hendrix was the Raelettes' foremost member. Ray Charles said about her: "Aretha, Gladys, Etta James â these gals are all bad, but on any given night, Margie will scare you to death." Ray and Margie had many affairs, but she started using drugs and alcohol and after a final argument in 1964, she was fired from the Raelettes and later died in 1973.
The group always consisted of 4 or 5 singers. The ever-changing lineup included Minnie Riperton, Merry Clayton, Clydie King of the Blackberries, Edna Wright of Honey Cone, and latter-day Supreme Susaye Greene.
Charles also produced and played piano on solo singles for various Raelettes. He formed Tangerine Records in 1962, and the Raelettes released three top 40 R&B hits between 1967 and 1971: "One Hurt Deserves Another" (1967), "I'm Gettin' 'Long All Right" (1968), and "Bad Water" (1971). The compilation Souled Out was released in 1970, featuring songs R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner had recorded for Tangerine.
In the 1970s, Mable John sang lead vocals and the Raelettes toured independent of Charles. After she left, the Raelettes returned to the background for good, with various lineups backing Charles until his death in 2004.