Ray Charles

"In music you just can't escape when something is beautiful," Ray Charles recently said.

Added the legendary singer/pianist/composer, "Like a good song, you can't get away from a good song. You have a good song, and it will still be beautiful, even when somebody with a bad voice sings it. I love the old writers, who wrote beautiful love songs. I came up on those kinds of songs. But I have just as much love for blues and jazz too.

"It's like Duke Ellington said; there are only two kinds of music - good and bad. And you can tell when something is good."

That observation can apply to anything in Charles' extensive catalog.

From country to blues to jazz to R&B and even funk, the 73- year old Charles has set the aesthetic standard for more than five decades, earning plaudits across the globe and setting standards that his legion of fans, in and out of the entertainment industry, aspire to.

More often than not he wasn't called by his name - or even his longtime nickname "Brother Ray"---his is simply "The Genius."

His career has borne that title out.

Few artists can claim to have had such a wide ranging impact on the music we love, and even fewer have altered the course of so many musical streams - from his soul-jazz combos to his crucial R&B bands, to his landmark country music recordings, "Modern Sounds in Country Music."

Only modesty kept him from saying the obvious - that his name sits at the top of the soul singers list.

Ray Charles Robinson was born in Albany, Georgia on September 23, 1930 (he shares a birthday with another musical icon, John Coltrane).

Charles was not born blind - he lost his sight to undiagnosed glaucoma at age seven.

He enrolled in the St. Augustine (Fla) School for the deaf and blind, where he developed his enormous musical gift. After his mother's death, he set out as a solo act, modeling himself after Nat "King" Cole.

Soon he found himself in Seattle, Washington, where he met a young Quincy Jones, and established a name for himself in clubs.

It was then that he dropped the "Robinson" from his name to avoid confusion with the legendary boxer.

Starting his recording career in the late 1940's, Charles soon began experimenting, mixing genres. He began establishing a name for himself in clubs around the northwest, evolving his own music and singing style, which later included the famous back up singers, "The Raelettes."

His ascent took off in 1955, when he released "I Got a Woman."

Charles reworded the gospel tune "Jesus is all the World to Me" adding deep church inflections to the secular rhythms of the nightclubs, and the world was never the same. That song is widely credited as being the first true "soul" record.

"You can't run away from yourself," Charles once said.

"What you are inside is what you are inside. I was raised in the church and was around blues and would hear all these musicians on the jukeboxes and then I would go to revival meetings on Sunday morning. So I would get both sides of music. A lot of people at the time thought it was sacrilegious but all I was doing was singing the way I felt."

That wellspring of deep emotion - tempered by one of the 20th century's most keen musical minds - long ago made Charles an American cultural icon.

He was an artist instrumental in the creation of rock and roll yet just as home with the music of Gershwin.

Everyone remembers Charles singing "Georgia" "Born To Lose", "Hit the Road Jack, "I Can't Stop Loving You." Or, the Beatles' "Eleanor Rugby" and "Yesterday." Even more remember his epochal rendition of "America the Beautiful."

During a career that has spanned some 58 years, Charles starred on over 250 albums, many of them top sellers in a variety of musical genres.

Charles appeared in movies, such as "The Blues Brothers," and on television, and starred in commercials for Pepsi and California Raisins, among numerous others.

Blessed with one of the 20th century's most advanced musical minds, Charles became an American cultural icon decades ago.

According to his long time manager, Joe Adams, "He pioneered a new style and opened the door for many young performers to follow. Some of his biggest fans were the young music stars of today, who loved and admired his talent and independent spirit."

In 1987, Charles established the Ray Charles Robinson Foundation for the hearing impaired.

Since its creation, the foundation, with Charles' encouragement and generous, on-going funding, has blazed a trail of discovery in auditory physiology and hearing implantation.

Each such implant procedure costs upwards of $40,000, which the Foundation pays to have done.

Of some 145-celebrity charities, the Ray Charles Foundation is rated by non-profit experts as one of the top five most efficient with zero administrative overhead.

In May, 2002, he performed at the Coliseum in Rome, the first musical performance there in 2,000 years. Additionally, Charles celebrated the 40th anniversary of his first country hit, "I Can't Stop Loving You," which became a number one chart topper and expanded the scope of the entertainer's career to the industry's astonishment.

Later that year Charles and Adams endowed both Morehouse College and Albany State Univ., in Charles' birthplace of Albany, GA, with substantial contributions, exceeding $1 million each. These gifts were a modest example of the countless donations he's kept under wraps.

In addition to the 12 Grammy(r) Awards, not including the Lifetime Achievement and the President's Merit Award, Charles is also one of the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Presidential Medal for the Arts, France's Legion of Honor and the Kennedy Center Honors.

He has also been inducted into numerous other music Halls of Fame, including those for Rock and Roll, Jazz and Rhythm and Blues, a testament to his enormous influence.

In 2003, he headlined the White House Correspondents Dinner in Wash., DC, at which President and Mrs. Bush, Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice, were in attendance. Astonishingly, he has performed at the request of the past seven presidents.

He has received eight honorary doctorates, the most recent in 2003 from Dillard University in New Orleans. Later that summer, he performed his 10,000th career concert at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles.

Charles finalized "Genius Loves Company" a duets album in 2004, which has become the best selling album of his career.

Norah Jones, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Michael McDonald, Bonnie Ratite, Gladys Knight, Johnny Mathis and James Taylor are just a few of the notable artists involved with the project.

"The duets project has been a tremendous experience," he said, at the conclusion of recording.

In 2004, like so many previous years, Charles was consistently recognized for his career accomplishments.

Charles was awarded the prestigious "President's Merit Award" from the Grammy organization and was named a City of Los Angeles "Cultural Treasure" by LA Mayor James Hahn during "African American Heritage Month" in a ceremony that he attended. He also received the NAACP Image Awards' "Hall of Fame Award."

Recently, a series of slot machines were designed in Charles' name for the visually handicapped and the legendary performer was also named a "living legend" by the Library of Congress.

"Ray," the major feature film based on his life story starring Jamie Foxx as the entertainer, hit theaters at the end of October, 2004.

Charles once told an interviewer from USA Today, "Music to me is just like breathing. I have to have it. It's part of me." And its also part of us.

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Ray Charles Orchestra: Ray Charles Orchestra: Zurich 1961-Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series, Vol. 41

Read "Ray Charles Orchestra: Zurich 1961-Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series, Vol. 41" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
March 17, 2017

We generally take it for granted now, but Ray Charles' trademark blend of jazz, gospel, R&B and soul in a large ensemble or orchestral setting was a unique sound mastered by few artists when this 1961 set was recorded. Number 41 in the Montreux Jazz Label's Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series, Zurich 1961 is a historical and musical treasure which might have been better recorded but could not have been better performed. Zurich 1961 reaches crackling, up-tempo jazz ...

Album Review

Ray Charles Orchestra: Ray Charles Orchestra: Zurich 1961-Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series, Vol. 41

Read "Ray Charles Orchestra: Zurich 1961-Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series, Vol. 41" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
December 8, 2016

1961 was a classic jazz vintage for Ray Charles. That was the year he delivered unto us Genius + Soul = Jazz (Impulse!, 1961), and the year he took Europe by storm with a big band in tow. He was in good voice and spirits, he had top quality charts in his book--a good number from the pen of Quincy Jones--and he had a talent-filled band that included trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, trombonist Dicky Wells, alto saxophonist Hank Crawford, and tenor ...

The Vinyl Post

Ray Charles: The Atlantic Years in Mono

by C. Andrew Hovan
November 10, 2016

Hot on the heels of their highly-touted vinyl project featuring the Atlantic sides of John Coltrane in mono, Rhino hits the vaults again for a comparable set that mines the work of Ray Charles in some of his earliest recorded works. A similar thread runs through both projects. A heavyweight box serves as a fashionable slipcover for the albums, which themselves sport glossy front covers. Mastering was done by John Webber and the albums were pressed in Germany, presumably at ...

Extended Analysis

Ray Charles: Genius Love Company – 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

by C. Michael Bailey
September 30, 2014

"The way these days just rip along, too fast to last, too vast, too strong..." --Jackson Browne The final recording of Ray Charles, Genius Loves Company, enjoys its tenth anniversary. It is striking to consider that it has been over ten years since the death of Ray Charles, one of the most imposing figures in American music. The music made in the second half of the twentieth century has had a remarkable staying power owing partially to ...

Extended Analysis

Ray Charles: The Complete ABC Recordings 1959-1961

by Chris May
July 2, 2012

Ray CharlesThe Complete ABC Recordings 1959-1961Le Chant du Monde2012At first glance, it's a mystery. Why choose 1961 as the cut-off point for a collection spanning the first years of singer/keyboardist Ray Charles' lengthy tenure with ABC-Paramount? Extend that to 1962, and even within the 3-CD confines of The Complete ABC Recordings 1959-1961 it would be possible to include the momentous Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. This was the album that ...

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Album Review

Ray Charles: Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles

Read "Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
December 3, 2011

Handsomely appointed, Concord's Singular Genius--The Complete ABC Singles offers an example of intelligent and succinct programming and assembly in the waning days of the compact disc. This individual items collection were produced during the heyday of the 45 RPM single, which is to say during the time of alphanumeric telephone exchanges. It represents all of Charles' ABC single releases between 1960 ("My Baby, I Love Her Yes I Do") and 1973 ("Ring of Fire"). What exists in between is nothing ...

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Multiple Reviews

Ray Charles: Rare Genius

by Chris May
July 25, 2011

Concord's reissue of vocalist and keyboardist Ray Charles' albums for ABC-Paramount, the label he moved to from Atlantic in 1959, is a mixed bag. It includes two winners, The Genius Hits The Road (1960) and Modern Sounds In Country Music Vols. 1 & 2 (1962), a so-so concept album, A Message From The People (1973)--and, in Live In Concert (1965), a stone masterpiece, Charles' all-round best live album. This edition is made essential listening by the inclusion of six previously ...

Recording

Ray Charles - Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles (2011)

Source: Something Else!
November 30, 2011

Ray Charles, sightless and orphaned by age 15, led a life that sounded like a blues song. But the range and scope of his talent could never be contained within one genre, no matter its lasting joys. A gifted performer on the piano, organ, clarinet and alto sax, Charles dabbled at first in Nat Cole-esque trio-jazz, then earned wide accolades while at Atlantic for blending in R&B and gospel influences—perhaps most memorably on his salacious rewrite of “This Little Girl ...
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Video / DVD

Ray Charles - Live in France 1961 DVD (2011)

Source: Something Else!
November 19, 2011

Ray Charles, by this point, had left Atlantic for ABC-Paramount and was well on his way to becoming one of the 20th century's most important crossover artists—dabbling in everything from country to big band to adult contemporary music. Make no mistake, though, Charles was still a musician of staggering talent in the straight-ahead jazz idiom—as lovingly underscored in these never-before-seen DVD performances from Eagle Vision filmed at the Antibes Jazz Festival in July of 1961. Charles, appearing on a bill ...
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Recording

Ray Charles' "Singular Genius" Compiles 106 Hits and B-Sides

Source: conqueroo
September 16, 2011

106 recordings on five compact discs totaling 53 singles are housed in handsome linen- textured collectors' box LOS ANGELES, CA: With the release of Ray Charles' Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles, on November 15, 2011, Concord Records will make available for the first time the artist's collection of ABC-Paramount singles during this prolific period (1960-1972). The digitally remastered deluxe 106-song collection presents the A and B sides of 53 singles, including 11 #1 hits, such Grammy Award winners “Hit ...
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179

Recording

"Ray Charles Live in Concert" Captures the Genius at the Height of His Crossover Powers in 1964

Source: conqueroo
March 1, 2011

First CD release of the acclaimed live concert recording In the half-century between his earliest recordings in the 1950s and his death in 2004, Ray Charles ascended to icon status by leaving his mark on virtually every form of American popular music that emerged in the latter half of the 20th century. Nowhere was this more evident than in his live performances, where one was likely to hear shades of blues, soul, R&B, jazz, gospel, country, and more in a ...
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118

Recording

Deep Cuts: Ray Charles, "Am I Blue" (1959)

Source: Something Else!
February 28, 2011

By Nick DeRiso “Am I Blue" is a largely forgotten argument for Ray Charles' striking ability to synthesize jazz, blues, country and gospel into music with a broader appeal. That's saying something, considering that it appears on The Genius of Ray Charles, a half-big band/half-strings Atlantic release that became one of his most celebrated efforts. Charles effortlessly melds both the secular and sacred singing styles, all the while injecting sharp flourishes of jazz. But “Am I Blue" is often overlooked ...
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107

Recording

Unreleased Ray Charles Recordings Are Focus of 'Rare Genius: The Undiscovered Masters'

Source: Michael Ricci
September 14, 2010

Oct. 26 Concord Records Release Features Surprise Duet with Johnny Cash LOS ANGELES, Calif. —Concord Records is celebrating the 80th birthday of the legendary Ray Charles with a special gift for his legions of fans: Rare Genius: The Undiscovered Masters. This treasure trove of newly discovered recordings, highlighted by a duet with fellow icon Johnny Cash, will become available at physical and digital retailers October 26, 2010. Culled from four decades worth of demos and other previously unreleased material, Rare ...
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Recording

Unearthed Ray Charles Rarities Set for Oct. 26 Release on Concord; Johnny Cash Duet

Source: CHC Network
September 10, 2010

THE GENIUS IS BACK Unreleased Ray Charles Recordings Are Focus Of Rare Genius: The Undiscovered Masters Oct. 26 Concord Records Release Features Surprise Duet With Johnny Cash LOS ANGELES, Calif. —Concord Records is celebrating the 80th birthday of the legendary Ray Charles with a special gift for his legions of fans: Rare Genius: The Undiscovered Masters. This treasure trove of newly discovered recordings, highlighted by a duet with fellow icon Johnny Cash, will become available at ...
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106

Performance / Tour

Ray Charles Musical Set for Broadway in November

Source: All About Jazz
March 12, 2010

A musical celebrating Ray Charles is headed for Broadway this fall.

“Unchain My Heart" will open Nov. 7 with preview performances beginning Oct. 8.

Producer Stuart Benjamin said Thursday the show would feature a book by Suzan-Lori Parks and direction by Sheldon Epps. Casting will be announced. Benjamin worked with the late singer for 15 years and produced “Ray," the hit movie about his life starring Jamie Foxx. Parks won a Pulitzer Prize for her play “Topdog/Underdog." An earlier ...
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Recording

Ray Charles' "Genius + Soul = Jazz" Gets Deluxe 2-CD Reissue

Source: conqueroo
February 6, 2010

Landmark 1961 recording, which made it to #4 on the pop charts, is bundled with three other Ray Charles jazz albums: My Kind of Jazz, Jazz Number II and My Kind of Jazz Part 3.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Ray Charles was best known for his work in the idioms of R&B, rock 'n' roll and even successful forays into country. But he also recorded influential jazz albums, including the groundbreaking Genius + Soul = Jazz in 1961, and continuing ...
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183

Contest

Ray Charles Contest: 7-CD Prize Pack

Source: On Target Media Group
September 29, 2009

In celebration of the digital release of 'The Ray Charles Cold Case Playlist' - songs from & inspired by the CBS television series, Raycharles.com, Concord Music Group & CBS are giving away seven classic Ray Charles recordings on CD including: 'Genius Loves Company', A Message From The People, Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music. Enter here to win a seven-CD Ray Charles prize pack! The giveaway coincides with the new Ray Charles releases 'The Genius Hits The Road' - ...
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