The Genius Of Ray Charles (Stereo Remastered) Ray Charles

• 1 Let The Good Times Roll 02:50
• 2 It Had To Be You 02:46
• 3 Alexander's Ragtime Band 02:55
• 4 Two Years Of Torture 03:28
• 5 When Your Lover Has Gone 02:52
• 6 Deed I Do 02:27
• 7 Just For A Thrill 03:27
• 8 You Won't Let Me Go 03:22
• 9 Tell Me You'll Wait For Me 03:25
• 10 Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying 03:47
• 11 Am I Blue 03:40
• 12 Come Rain Or Come Shine 03:40
• Total Runtime 38:39

Info zu The Genius Of Ray Charles (Stereo Remastered)

There are few musicians in modern pop music who can truly be called "genius," but in the case of Ray Charles, the term applies. His innovative singing, drawing on both gospel and pop, has inspired legions of great singers. With a long, prolific recording career that began in 1949, Charles became perhaps the finest interpreter of pop music in the postwar years. A gifted pianist, songwriter, and vocalist, he was a master of every style he attempted, be it R&B, country, blues, or soul. The man who wrote such indelible R&B classics as "I Got a Woman" and "What'd I Say" passed away in 2004, a legend several times over. The same year, a remarkable performance by Jamie Foxx in the biopic RAY served as a fitting cinematic eulogy.

"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. "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Deed I Do" are highlights, and there are solos by tenorman David "Fathead" Newman, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, and (on "Two Years of Torture") tenor Paul Gonsalves. The remaining six numbers are ballads, with Charles backed by a string orchestra arranged by Ralph Burns (including "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'"). Charles' voice is heard throughout in peak form, giving soul to even the veteran standards." (Scott Yanow, AMG)

Ray Charles, piano and vocals
Clark Terry, trumpet
Ernie Royal, trumpet
Joe Newman, trumpet
Snookie Young, trumpet
Marcus Belgrave, trumpet
John Hunt, trumpet
Melba Liston, trombone
Quentin Jackson, trombone
Thomas Mitchell, trombone
Al Gray, trombone
Frank Wess, flute, alto saxophone and tenor saxophone
Marshal Royal, alto saxophone
Paul Gonsalves, tenor sax (and solo on "Two Years of Torture") Zoot Sims, tenor sax (on "Let the Good Times Roll", "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "'Deed I Do")
Billy Mitchell, tenor sax (on "It had to be You", "Two Years of Torture" and "When Your Lover Has Gone")
David "Fathead" Newman, tenor sax (and solos on "Let the Good Times Roll", "When Your Lover Has Gone", "'Deed I Do")
Quincy Jones, arranger, conductor

Recorded May 6 and June 23, 1959 at 6 West Recording in New York City on Ampex 3 track
Engineered by Bill Schwartau and Tom Dowd
Produced by Nesuhi Ertegün, Jerry Wexler

Digitally remastered

Ray Charles
The name Ray Charles is on a Star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame. The name Ray Charles designates a superstar worldwide. His bronze bust is enshrined in the Playboy Jazz Hall of Fame. There is the bronze medallion that was cast and presented to him by the French Republic on behalf of the French people. In just about every Hall of Fame that has anything to do with music, be it Rhythm & Blues, Jazz, Rock & Roll, Gospel or Country & Western, Ray’s name is very prominently displayed. There are many awards given to him in the foregoing categories as proof.

Probably the strongest element in Ray Charles’ life, and the most concentrated driving force, was music. Ray often said, “I was born with music inside me. That’s the only explanation I know.”

Ray Charles was not born blind. In fact, it took almost seven years for him to lose his sight in its entirety, which means he had seven years to see the joy and sadness of this big wonderful world – a world he would never see again. As a seven year old child, in searching for light, he stared at the sun continuously, thereby eliminating all chances of the modern-day miracle, cornea transplants – a surgery unheard of in 1937.

Perhaps the reason that Ray Charles made music his mistress and fell madly in love with the lady is that music was a natural to him. Ray sat at a piano and the music began; he opened his mouth and the lyrics began. He was in absolute control.

But the rest of his life was not quite so simple. Ray was born at the very beginning of the Great Depression – a depression that affected every civilized country in the world. Ray was born in 1930 in Albany, Georgia, the same year that another Georgia native by the name of Hoagy Carmichael, was already making his mark on the world. In 1930, the year of Ray’s birth, Hoagy recorded a song that became an all-time classic and remains so to this day; a song titled “Stardust.” It’s ironic that these two Georgia natives would someday cross paths again, as they did 30 years later when Ray Charles was asked by the State of Georgia to perform, in the Georgia Legislative Chambers, the song they had selected as their state song. That song was Ray’s version of “Georgia,” written by Hoagy Carmichael. Hoagy, who unfortunately was too ill to attend the event, was listening via telephone/satellite tie-up.

Ray’s mother and father, Aretha and Bailey, were “no-nonsense” parents. Even after Ray lost his sight, his mother continued to give him chores at home, in the rural area in which they lived, such as chopping wood for the wood burning stove in the kitchen in order for them to prepare their meals. Chores such as this often brought complaints from the neighbors, which were met with stern words from Mrs. Robinson. She told them her son was blind, not stupid, and he must continue to learn to do things, not only for himself, but for others as well. Unfortunately, Ray lost the guidance of his mother and the counseling of his father at a very young age. At 15 years old, Ray Charles was an orphan, but he still managed to make his way in this world under very trying conditions; living in the South and being of African-American heritage, plus being blind and an orphan.

Ray refused to roll over and play dead. Instead he continued his education in St. Augustine, at Florida’s State School for the Deaf and Blind. A few years later, Ray decided to move. His choice was Seattle, Washington. It was in Seattle that Ray recorded his first record. It was also in Seattle that the seed was planted for a lifelong friendship with Quincy Jones. More information please visit the Ray Charles homepage.

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