Hello,
Today's artist is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother Ray". He was often referred to as "The Genius". Charles was blind from the age of seven. He pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records. He also contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records.In 2002, Rolling Stone ranked Charles number ten on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and number two on their November 2008 list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".... 'N Joy
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continued from last week
By late 1961, Charles had expanded his small road ensemble to a full-scale big band, partly as a response to increasing royalties and touring fees, becoming one of the few black artists to cross over into mainstream pop with such a level of creative control. This success, however, came to a momentary halt during a concert tour in November 1961, when a police search of Charles's hotel room in Indianapolis, Indiana, led to the discovery of heroin in the medicine cabinet. The case was eventually dropped, as the search lacked a proper warrant by the police, and Charles soon returned to music.
In the early 1960s, whilst on the way from Louisiana to Oklahoma City, Charles faced a near-death experience when the pilot of his plane lost visibility, as snow and his failure to use the defroster caused the windshield of the plane to become completely covered in ice. The pilot made a few circles in the air before he was finally able to see through a small part of the windshield and land the plane. Charles placed a spiritual interpretation on the event, claiming that "something or someone which instruments cannot detect" was responsible for creating the small opening in the ice on the windshield which enabled the pilot to land the plane safely.
The 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music and its sequel, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vol. 2, helped to bring country music into the musical mainstream. Charles's version of the Don Gibson song I Can't Stop Loving You topped the Pop chart for five weeks, stayed at number 1 on the R&B chart for ten weeks, and gave him his only number-one record in the UK. In 1962, he founded his own record label, Tangerine Records, which ABC-Paramount promoted and distributed. He had major pop hits in 1963 with "Busted" (US number 4) and Take These Chains from My Heart (US number 8).
In 1965, Charles's career was halted once more after he was arrested for a third time for possession of heroin. He agreed to go to rehab to avoid jail time and eventually kicked his habit at a clinic in Los Angeles. After spending a year on parole, Charles reappeared in the charts in 1966 with a series of hits composed with the fledgling team of Ashford & Simpson, including the dance number "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "Let's Go Get Stoned", which became his first number-one R&B hit in several years. His cover version of "Crying Time", originally recorded by the country artist Buck Owens, reached number 6 on the pop chart and helped Charles win a Grammy Award the following March. In 1967, he had a top-twenty hit with another ballad, "Here We Go Again"
Charles's renewed chart success, however, proved to be short lived, and by the 1970s his music was rarely played on radio stations. The rise of psychedelic rock and harder forms of rock and R&B music had reduced Charles' radio appeal, as did his choosing to record pop standards and covers of contemporary rock and soul hits, since his earnings from owning his masters had taken away the motivation to write new material. Charles nonetheless continued to have an active recording career. Most of his recordings between 1968 and 1973 evoked strong reactions: people either liked them a lot or strongly disliked them. His 1972 album A Message from the People included his unique gospel-influenced version of "America the Beautiful" and a number of protest songs about poverty and civil rights. Charles was often criticized for his version of "America the Beautiful" because it was very drastically changed from the song's original version.
In 1974, Charles left ABC Records and recorded several albums on his own label, Crossover Records. A 1975 recording of Stevie Wonder's hit "Living for the City" later helped Charles win another Grammy. In 1977, he reunited with Ahmet Ertegün and re-signed to Atlantic Records, for which he recorded the album True to Life, remaining with his old label until 1980. However, the label had now begun to focus on rock acts, and some of their prominent soul artists, such as Aretha Franklin, were starting to be neglected. In November 1977 he appeared as the host of the NBC television show Saturday Night Live.
In April 1979, his version of "Georgia on My Mind" was proclaimed the state song of Georgia, and an emotional Charles performed the song on the floor of the state legislature. Although he had notably supported the American Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960s, Charles was criticized for performing at the Sun City resort in South Africa in 1981, during an international boycott protesting that country's apartheid policy.
In 1983, Charles signed a contract with Columbia Records. He recorded a string of country albums and had hit singles in duets with singers such as George Jones, Chet Atkins, B. J. Thomas, Mickey Gilley, Hank Williams, Jr., Dee Dee Bridgewater ("Precious Thing") and his longtime friend Willie Nelson, with whom he recorded the number 1 country duet "Seven Spanish Angels".
Prior to the release of his first album for Warner, Would You Believe, Charles made a return to the R&B charts with a cover of the Brothers Johnson's "I'll Be Good to You", a duet with his lifelong friend Quincy Jones and the singer Chaka Khan, which hit number one on the R&B chart in 1990 and won Charles and Khan a Grammy for their duet. Prior to this, Charles returned to the pop charts with "Baby Grand", a duet with the singer Billy Joel. In 1989, he recorded a cover of the Southern All Stars' "Itoshi no Ellie" for a Japanese TV advertisement for the Suntory brand, releasing it in Japan as "Ellie My Love", where it reached number 3 on its Oricon chart.[37] In the same year he was a special guest at the Arena di Verona during the tour promoting Oro Incenso & Birra of the Italian singer Zucchero Fornaciari.
Charles's 1993 album, My World, became his first album in some time to reach the Billboard 200, whilst his cover of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" gave him a hit on the adult contemporary chart and his twelfth and final Grammy. By the beginning of the 1980s, Charles was reaching younger audiences in films and TV shows. In 1980, he appeared in The Blues Brothers. His version of "Night Time Is the Right Time" was played during The Cosby Show episode "Happy Anniversary", but he did not appear on the show.
In 1985, he appeared among a group of other musicians in the USA for Africa charity recording "We Are the World". His popularity increased among younger audiences in 1991 after he appeared in a series of Diet Pepsi television commercials, which featured him singing the catchphrase "You Got the Right One, Baby". Two more slickly produced adult contemporary albums followed, Strong Love Affair (1996) and Thanks for Bringing Love Around Again (2002); both failed to chart and were soon forgotten.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he made appearances on the television show Super Dave Osbourne in a series of vignettes in which he was somehow driving a car, often as Super Dave's chauffeur. During the sixth season of Designing Women, Charles sang "Georgia on My Mind" in place of the instrumental cover version which had been used in the previous five seasons. He also appeared in four episodes of the popular TV comedy The Nanny, playing Sammy in seasons 4 and 5 in 1997–98.
Charles performed at two US Presidential inaugurations: Ronald Reagan's second inauguration, in 1985, and Bill Clinton's first inauguration, in 1993. On October 28, 2001, several weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, Charles appeared during game 2 of the World Series, between the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees, and performed "America the Beautiful". In 2003, he headlined the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C., attended by President George W. Bush. In 2003, Charles performed "Georgia on My Mind" and "America the Beautiful" at a televised annual banquet of electronic media journalists held in Washington, D.C. His final public appearance was on April 30, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as a historic landmark in Los Angeles.
In 2003, Charles had successful hip replacement surgery and was planning to go back on tour, until he began suffering from other ailments. He died at his home in Beverly Hills, California of complications resulting from acute liver disease, on June 10, 2004, aged 73, surrounded by family and friends. His funeral took place on June 18, 2004, at the First AME Church in Los Angeles with numerous musical figures in attendance. B. B. King, Glen Campbell, Stevie Wonder and Wynton Marsalis each played a tribute at the funeral.
Charles was married twice and had 12 children with ten different women. His first child, Evelyn, was born in 1949 to his companion, Louise Flowers, his youngest child, a son, Ryan, was born in 1987 to Mary Anne den Bok.
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Some players from Ray Charles' big band are joined by many ringers from the Count Basie and Duke Ellington bands for the first half of this program, featuring Charles belting out six songs arranged by Quincy Jones.The having made his first two studio albums instrumental jazz excursions, Ray Charles tried something new for his third and last Atlantic LP, The Genius Of Ray Charles of October 1959, a collection of standards, one side with a brass band and the other with an orchestra. Applying the “genius” epithet for the first time (not Ray’s idea, though as he said there are worse things to be called), The Genius Of Ray Charles is possibly the greatest LP Ray Charles created.
It was certainly a surprise to fans, who had only known the R&B singlemaker and the jazz LP artist. The Genius Of Ray Charles was in neither of these guises: it was a new, gentler Ray, and the depths of the music he recorded for this album remain nearly unequalled in recorded music. Side 1 is the brass side, and it begins big and strong with “Let The Good Times Roll”, where Ray lets the band elevate his unmoored screams and shouts to a loud, overpowering force. Otherwise, Ray tends to the quieter side: performances like “It Had To Be You” and “Two Years Of Torture” are absolutely riveting. Side 2 is even better than Side 1, somehow — it’s perfect. From the opening “Just For A Thrill” to the dramatic finish of “Come Rain Or Come Shine”, Ray Charles takes the listener on a soul-baring ride through his musical psyche. Charles' voice is heard throughout in peak form, giving soul to even the veteran standards.
Ray Charles - The Genius Of Ray Charles (flac 232mb)
01 Let The Good Times Roll 2:49
02 It Had To Be You 2:41
03 Alexander's Ragtime Band 2:50
04 Two Years Of Torture 3:22
05 When Your Lover Has Gone 2:47
06 Deed I Do 2:23
07 Just For A Thrill 3:21
08 You Won't Let Me Go 3:16
09 Tell Me You'll Wait For Me 3:21
10 Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin' 3:42
11 Am I Blue 3:35
12 Come Rain Or Come Shine 3:40
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What'd I Say is the fifth studio album recorded by Ray Charles, and was released in 1959. As a pure rhythm and blues exercise, Ray Charles rarely got better than this over the course of an entire album. There isn't really a weak spot to be found, not even when Charles lays away from the mike and lets Margie Hendricks and the Raelettes take the front for "What Kind of Man Are You?" The band is playing their most solid grooves and pulses, the leader sometimes takes them to outer territories ("You Be My Baby" is quite an exercise in Latinesque polyrhythm), and Charles is singing like his very existence depends on it---which he always did, in his Atlantic years, but the commitment he delivers here makes his previous work seem like dress rehearsals. It's not easy picking any single album with which someone should begin exploring Charles's Atlantic work, but "What'd I Say" is a powerful candidate for that job and for leading the case for Ray Charles as the arguable founder of soul music. The release popularized Charles' first top 10 hit, "What'd I Say", and became his first gold record.
Ray Charles - What'D I Say (flac 185mb)
01 What'd I Say - Part I + II 5:06
02 Jumpin' In The Mornin' 2:47
03 You Be My Baby 2:31
04 Tell Me How Do You Feel 2:42
05 What Kind Of Man Are You 2:51
06 Rockhouse - Part I + II 3:55
07 Roll With My Baby 2:39
08 Tell The Whole World About You 2:03
09 My Bonnie 2:49
10 That's Enough 2:45
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One of the best early-'60s examples of soul-jazz crossover, this record, like several of his dates from the period, featured big-band arrangements (played by the Count Basie band). This fared better than some of Charles' similar outings, however, if only because it muted some of his straight pop aspirations in favor of some pretty mean and lean, cut-to-the-heart-of-the-matter B-3 Hammond organ licks. Most of the album is instrumental and swings vivaciously, although Charles does take a couple of vocals with "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town" and "I've Got News for You." Yet one of those instrumentals, a cover of the Clovers' "One Mint Julep," would give Charles one of his most unpredictable (and best) early-'60s hits.
Ray Charles - Genius + Soul = Jazz (flac 238mb)
01 From The Heart 3:30
02 I've Got News For You 4:28
03 Moanin' 3:14
04 Let's Go 2:39
05 One Mint Julep 3:02
06 I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town 3:38
07 Stompin' Room Only 3:35
08 Mister C 4:28
09 Strike Up The Band 2:35
10 Birth Of The Blues 5:05
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In the midst of a super-busy year for Ray Charles came his July 1961 LP of ballads with Betty Carter, titled simply Ray Charles And Betty Carter. Aside from being a series of romantic duets that tell the sexy story of a new, budding relationship, the album has a couples “theme” (just like The Genius Hits The Road had a place-name theme): every song title on Ray Charles And Betty Carter contains words like “us”, “two”, and “together”.
Ray’s fourth album in seven months was recorded over nine hours on June 13 and 14, 1961, but feels slow and considered rather than rushed. While it was totally unlike Ray’s 1950s rhythm and blues hits, the public was getting used to this gentler, thickly orchestrated Ray, and the album was a hit thanks to its sweetly passionate textures and the undeniable chemistry between Ray and Betty. The interplay between Ray and Betty works well, and the LP tells the story with its series of convincing, endlessly enjoyably romantic moods.
Ray Charles - The Genius Hits The Road (flac 313mb)
01 Alabamy Bound 1:55
02 Georgia On My Mind 3:35
03 Basin Street Blues 2:46
04 Mississippi Mud 3:24
05 Moonlight In Vermont 3:02
06 New York's My Home 3:05
07 California, Here I Come 2:10
08 Moon Over Miami 3:20
09 Deep In The Heart Of Texas 2:28
10 Carry Me Back To Old Virginny 2:02
11 Blue Hawaii 2:58
12 Chattanooga Choo-Choo 3:05
Bonus
13 Sentimental Journey 2:58
14 Hit The Road Jack 2:00
15 Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Swingova) 2:12
16 Rainy Night In Georgia 6:16
17 I'm Movin' On 2:29
18 Swanee River Rock (Talkin' 'Bout That River) 2:20
19 Lonely Avenue 2:34
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This pairing of two totally idiosyncratic vocalists acquired legendary status over the decades in which it had been out of print. But the proof is in the listening, and frankly it doesn't represent either artist's best work. There is certainly a powerful, often sexy rapport between the two -- Charles in his sweet balladeering mode, Carter with her uniquely keening, drifting high register -- and they definitely create sparks in the justly famous rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside." The main problem is in Marty Paich's string/choir arrangements, which too often cross the line into treacle, whereas his charts for big band are far more listenable. Moreover, Charles' sweetness can get a bit cloying, too, although some of the old grit emerges on "Takes Two to Tango." [Some reissues add the great, rare B-side to the "Unchain My Heart" single, "But on the Other Hand Baby," and two excellent if unrelated album cuts, "I Never See Maggie Alone" (1964) and "I Like to Hear It Sometime" (1966).]
Ray Charles And Betty Carter (flac 272mb)
01 Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye 4:35
02 You And I 3:20
03 Goodbye/We'll Be Together Again 3:15
04 People Will Say We're In Love 2:46
05 Cocktails For Two 3:08
06 Side By Side 2:18
07 Baby, It's Cold Outside 4:05
08 Together 4:40
09 For All We Know 4:40
10 Takes Two To Tango 4:40
11 Alone Together 4:40
12 Just You, Just Me 1:54
Bonus
13 But On The Other Hand Baby 3:11
14 I Never See Maggie Alone 5:37
15 I Like To Hear It Sometime 2:50
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Today's artist is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother Ray". He was often referred to as "The Genius". Charles was blind from the age of seven. He pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records. He also contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records.In 2002, Rolling Stone ranked Charles number ten on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and number two on their November 2008 list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".... 'N Joy
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continued from last week
By late 1961, Charles had expanded his small road ensemble to a full-scale big band, partly as a response to increasing royalties and touring fees, becoming one of the few black artists to cross over into mainstream pop with such a level of creative control. This success, however, came to a momentary halt during a concert tour in November 1961, when a police search of Charles's hotel room in Indianapolis, Indiana, led to the discovery of heroin in the medicine cabinet. The case was eventually dropped, as the search lacked a proper warrant by the police, and Charles soon returned to music.
In the early 1960s, whilst on the way from Louisiana to Oklahoma City, Charles faced a near-death experience when the pilot of his plane lost visibility, as snow and his failure to use the defroster caused the windshield of the plane to become completely covered in ice. The pilot made a few circles in the air before he was finally able to see through a small part of the windshield and land the plane. Charles placed a spiritual interpretation on the event, claiming that "something or someone which instruments cannot detect" was responsible for creating the small opening in the ice on the windshield which enabled the pilot to land the plane safely.
The 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music and its sequel, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vol. 2, helped to bring country music into the musical mainstream. Charles's version of the Don Gibson song I Can't Stop Loving You topped the Pop chart for five weeks, stayed at number 1 on the R&B chart for ten weeks, and gave him his only number-one record in the UK. In 1962, he founded his own record label, Tangerine Records, which ABC-Paramount promoted and distributed. He had major pop hits in 1963 with "Busted" (US number 4) and Take These Chains from My Heart (US number 8).
In 1965, Charles's career was halted once more after he was arrested for a third time for possession of heroin. He agreed to go to rehab to avoid jail time and eventually kicked his habit at a clinic in Los Angeles. After spending a year on parole, Charles reappeared in the charts in 1966 with a series of hits composed with the fledgling team of Ashford & Simpson, including the dance number "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "Let's Go Get Stoned", which became his first number-one R&B hit in several years. His cover version of "Crying Time", originally recorded by the country artist Buck Owens, reached number 6 on the pop chart and helped Charles win a Grammy Award the following March. In 1967, he had a top-twenty hit with another ballad, "Here We Go Again"
Charles's renewed chart success, however, proved to be short lived, and by the 1970s his music was rarely played on radio stations. The rise of psychedelic rock and harder forms of rock and R&B music had reduced Charles' radio appeal, as did his choosing to record pop standards and covers of contemporary rock and soul hits, since his earnings from owning his masters had taken away the motivation to write new material. Charles nonetheless continued to have an active recording career. Most of his recordings between 1968 and 1973 evoked strong reactions: people either liked them a lot or strongly disliked them. His 1972 album A Message from the People included his unique gospel-influenced version of "America the Beautiful" and a number of protest songs about poverty and civil rights. Charles was often criticized for his version of "America the Beautiful" because it was very drastically changed from the song's original version.
In 1974, Charles left ABC Records and recorded several albums on his own label, Crossover Records. A 1975 recording of Stevie Wonder's hit "Living for the City" later helped Charles win another Grammy. In 1977, he reunited with Ahmet Ertegün and re-signed to Atlantic Records, for which he recorded the album True to Life, remaining with his old label until 1980. However, the label had now begun to focus on rock acts, and some of their prominent soul artists, such as Aretha Franklin, were starting to be neglected. In November 1977 he appeared as the host of the NBC television show Saturday Night Live.
In April 1979, his version of "Georgia on My Mind" was proclaimed the state song of Georgia, and an emotional Charles performed the song on the floor of the state legislature. Although he had notably supported the American Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960s, Charles was criticized for performing at the Sun City resort in South Africa in 1981, during an international boycott protesting that country's apartheid policy.
In 1983, Charles signed a contract with Columbia Records. He recorded a string of country albums and had hit singles in duets with singers such as George Jones, Chet Atkins, B. J. Thomas, Mickey Gilley, Hank Williams, Jr., Dee Dee Bridgewater ("Precious Thing") and his longtime friend Willie Nelson, with whom he recorded the number 1 country duet "Seven Spanish Angels".
Prior to the release of his first album for Warner, Would You Believe, Charles made a return to the R&B charts with a cover of the Brothers Johnson's "I'll Be Good to You", a duet with his lifelong friend Quincy Jones and the singer Chaka Khan, which hit number one on the R&B chart in 1990 and won Charles and Khan a Grammy for their duet. Prior to this, Charles returned to the pop charts with "Baby Grand", a duet with the singer Billy Joel. In 1989, he recorded a cover of the Southern All Stars' "Itoshi no Ellie" for a Japanese TV advertisement for the Suntory brand, releasing it in Japan as "Ellie My Love", where it reached number 3 on its Oricon chart.[37] In the same year he was a special guest at the Arena di Verona during the tour promoting Oro Incenso & Birra of the Italian singer Zucchero Fornaciari.
Charles's 1993 album, My World, became his first album in some time to reach the Billboard 200, whilst his cover of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" gave him a hit on the adult contemporary chart and his twelfth and final Grammy. By the beginning of the 1980s, Charles was reaching younger audiences in films and TV shows. In 1980, he appeared in The Blues Brothers. His version of "Night Time Is the Right Time" was played during The Cosby Show episode "Happy Anniversary", but he did not appear on the show.
In 1985, he appeared among a group of other musicians in the USA for Africa charity recording "We Are the World". His popularity increased among younger audiences in 1991 after he appeared in a series of Diet Pepsi television commercials, which featured him singing the catchphrase "You Got the Right One, Baby". Two more slickly produced adult contemporary albums followed, Strong Love Affair (1996) and Thanks for Bringing Love Around Again (2002); both failed to chart and were soon forgotten.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he made appearances on the television show Super Dave Osbourne in a series of vignettes in which he was somehow driving a car, often as Super Dave's chauffeur. During the sixth season of Designing Women, Charles sang "Georgia on My Mind" in place of the instrumental cover version which had been used in the previous five seasons. He also appeared in four episodes of the popular TV comedy The Nanny, playing Sammy in seasons 4 and 5 in 1997–98.
Charles performed at two US Presidential inaugurations: Ronald Reagan's second inauguration, in 1985, and Bill Clinton's first inauguration, in 1993. On October 28, 2001, several weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, Charles appeared during game 2 of the World Series, between the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees, and performed "America the Beautiful". In 2003, he headlined the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C., attended by President George W. Bush. In 2003, Charles performed "Georgia on My Mind" and "America the Beautiful" at a televised annual banquet of electronic media journalists held in Washington, D.C. His final public appearance was on April 30, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as a historic landmark in Los Angeles.
In 2003, Charles had successful hip replacement surgery and was planning to go back on tour, until he began suffering from other ailments. He died at his home in Beverly Hills, California of complications resulting from acute liver disease, on June 10, 2004, aged 73, surrounded by family and friends. His funeral took place on June 18, 2004, at the First AME Church in Los Angeles with numerous musical figures in attendance. B. B. King, Glen Campbell, Stevie Wonder and Wynton Marsalis each played a tribute at the funeral.
Charles was married twice and had 12 children with ten different women. His first child, Evelyn, was born in 1949 to his companion, Louise Flowers, his youngest child, a son, Ryan, was born in 1987 to Mary Anne den Bok.
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Some players from Ray Charles' big band are joined by many ringers from the Count Basie and Duke Ellington bands for the first half of this program, featuring Charles belting out six songs arranged by Quincy Jones.The having made his first two studio albums instrumental jazz excursions, Ray Charles tried something new for his third and last Atlantic LP, The Genius Of Ray Charles of October 1959, a collection of standards, one side with a brass band and the other with an orchestra. Applying the “genius” epithet for the first time (not Ray’s idea, though as he said there are worse things to be called), The Genius Of Ray Charles is possibly the greatest LP Ray Charles created.
It was certainly a surprise to fans, who had only known the R&B singlemaker and the jazz LP artist. The Genius Of Ray Charles was in neither of these guises: it was a new, gentler Ray, and the depths of the music he recorded for this album remain nearly unequalled in recorded music. Side 1 is the brass side, and it begins big and strong with “Let The Good Times Roll”, where Ray lets the band elevate his unmoored screams and shouts to a loud, overpowering force. Otherwise, Ray tends to the quieter side: performances like “It Had To Be You” and “Two Years Of Torture” are absolutely riveting. Side 2 is even better than Side 1, somehow — it’s perfect. From the opening “Just For A Thrill” to the dramatic finish of “Come Rain Or Come Shine”, Ray Charles takes the listener on a soul-baring ride through his musical psyche. Charles' voice is heard throughout in peak form, giving soul to even the veteran standards.
Ray Charles - The Genius Of Ray Charles (flac 232mb)
01 Let The Good Times Roll 2:49
02 It Had To Be You 2:41
03 Alexander's Ragtime Band 2:50
04 Two Years Of Torture 3:22
05 When Your Lover Has Gone 2:47
06 Deed I Do 2:23
07 Just For A Thrill 3:21
08 You Won't Let Me Go 3:16
09 Tell Me You'll Wait For Me 3:21
10 Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin' 3:42
11 Am I Blue 3:35
12 Come Rain Or Come Shine 3:40
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
What'd I Say is the fifth studio album recorded by Ray Charles, and was released in 1959. As a pure rhythm and blues exercise, Ray Charles rarely got better than this over the course of an entire album. There isn't really a weak spot to be found, not even when Charles lays away from the mike and lets Margie Hendricks and the Raelettes take the front for "What Kind of Man Are You?" The band is playing their most solid grooves and pulses, the leader sometimes takes them to outer territories ("You Be My Baby" is quite an exercise in Latinesque polyrhythm), and Charles is singing like his very existence depends on it---which he always did, in his Atlantic years, but the commitment he delivers here makes his previous work seem like dress rehearsals. It's not easy picking any single album with which someone should begin exploring Charles's Atlantic work, but "What'd I Say" is a powerful candidate for that job and for leading the case for Ray Charles as the arguable founder of soul music. The release popularized Charles' first top 10 hit, "What'd I Say", and became his first gold record.
Ray Charles - What'D I Say (flac 185mb)
01 What'd I Say - Part I + II 5:06
02 Jumpin' In The Mornin' 2:47
03 You Be My Baby 2:31
04 Tell Me How Do You Feel 2:42
05 What Kind Of Man Are You 2:51
06 Rockhouse - Part I + II 3:55
07 Roll With My Baby 2:39
08 Tell The Whole World About You 2:03
09 My Bonnie 2:49
10 That's Enough 2:45
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
One of the best early-'60s examples of soul-jazz crossover, this record, like several of his dates from the period, featured big-band arrangements (played by the Count Basie band). This fared better than some of Charles' similar outings, however, if only because it muted some of his straight pop aspirations in favor of some pretty mean and lean, cut-to-the-heart-of-the-matter B-3 Hammond organ licks. Most of the album is instrumental and swings vivaciously, although Charles does take a couple of vocals with "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town" and "I've Got News for You." Yet one of those instrumentals, a cover of the Clovers' "One Mint Julep," would give Charles one of his most unpredictable (and best) early-'60s hits.
Ray Charles - Genius + Soul = Jazz (flac 238mb)
01 From The Heart 3:30
02 I've Got News For You 4:28
03 Moanin' 3:14
04 Let's Go 2:39
05 One Mint Julep 3:02
06 I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town 3:38
07 Stompin' Room Only 3:35
08 Mister C 4:28
09 Strike Up The Band 2:35
10 Birth Of The Blues 5:05
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In the midst of a super-busy year for Ray Charles came his July 1961 LP of ballads with Betty Carter, titled simply Ray Charles And Betty Carter. Aside from being a series of romantic duets that tell the sexy story of a new, budding relationship, the album has a couples “theme” (just like The Genius Hits The Road had a place-name theme): every song title on Ray Charles And Betty Carter contains words like “us”, “two”, and “together”.
Ray’s fourth album in seven months was recorded over nine hours on June 13 and 14, 1961, but feels slow and considered rather than rushed. While it was totally unlike Ray’s 1950s rhythm and blues hits, the public was getting used to this gentler, thickly orchestrated Ray, and the album was a hit thanks to its sweetly passionate textures and the undeniable chemistry between Ray and Betty. The interplay between Ray and Betty works well, and the LP tells the story with its series of convincing, endlessly enjoyably romantic moods.
Ray Charles - The Genius Hits The Road (flac 313mb)
01 Alabamy Bound 1:55
02 Georgia On My Mind 3:35
03 Basin Street Blues 2:46
04 Mississippi Mud 3:24
05 Moonlight In Vermont 3:02
06 New York's My Home 3:05
07 California, Here I Come 2:10
08 Moon Over Miami 3:20
09 Deep In The Heart Of Texas 2:28
10 Carry Me Back To Old Virginny 2:02
11 Blue Hawaii 2:58
12 Chattanooga Choo-Choo 3:05
Bonus
13 Sentimental Journey 2:58
14 Hit The Road Jack 2:00
15 Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Swingova) 2:12
16 Rainy Night In Georgia 6:16
17 I'm Movin' On 2:29
18 Swanee River Rock (Talkin' 'Bout That River) 2:20
19 Lonely Avenue 2:34
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This pairing of two totally idiosyncratic vocalists acquired legendary status over the decades in which it had been out of print. But the proof is in the listening, and frankly it doesn't represent either artist's best work. There is certainly a powerful, often sexy rapport between the two -- Charles in his sweet balladeering mode, Carter with her uniquely keening, drifting high register -- and they definitely create sparks in the justly famous rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside." The main problem is in Marty Paich's string/choir arrangements, which too often cross the line into treacle, whereas his charts for big band are far more listenable. Moreover, Charles' sweetness can get a bit cloying, too, although some of the old grit emerges on "Takes Two to Tango." [Some reissues add the great, rare B-side to the "Unchain My Heart" single, "But on the Other Hand Baby," and two excellent if unrelated album cuts, "I Never See Maggie Alone" (1964) and "I Like to Hear It Sometime" (1966).]
Ray Charles And Betty Carter (flac 272mb)
01 Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye 4:35
02 You And I 3:20
03 Goodbye/We'll Be Together Again 3:15
04 People Will Say We're In Love 2:46
05 Cocktails For Two 3:08
06 Side By Side 2:18
07 Baby, It's Cold Outside 4:05
08 Together 4:40
09 For All We Know 4:40
10 Takes Two To Tango 4:40
11 Alone Together 4:40
12 Just You, Just Me 1:54
Bonus
13 But On The Other Hand Baby 3:11
14 I Never See Maggie Alone 5:37
15 I Like To Hear It Sometime 2:50
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the genius hits the road has expired would appreciate a re-up, thanks, and thanks for the wonderfully erudite blog!
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