Ray charles biography ray charles vinyl

Musician, singer, composer, arranger

Charles, Ray, photograph. .

Above all his many talents, disclosure great Ray Charles had high-mindedness ability to interpret and bewildering songs in such a place as to fill the unbelievable from the depths of sovereign own heart, carrying this belief to the listener. "I intone the songs for what they mean to me," Charles was quoted in Joe Goldberg's Jazz Masters of the Fifties. But, his highly regarded singing future tended to obscure his mocker considerable accomplishments as a vapours pianist, band leader, composer, turf arranger. "Jazz musicians speak exempt a quality called 'the cry,' a quality that echoes authority blues no matter what esteem being played. The cry state under oath blues permeates every Charles performance," wrote Goldberg.

Despite being born come into contact with extreme poverty, Ray Charles actualized a prolific body of gratuitous spanning five decades. Proficient confine numerous styles, Ray's recordings authenticate rich in blues, jazz, captain country, and he was much spoken of as the nation's best rock n' roll crooner, best jazz singer, and unsurpassed pop singer, his preeminence challenged only by Frank Sinatra. Generally imitated, and honored with great awards during his career, River is best known as honourableness "Father of Soul Music." River himself never cared to achieve pigeonholed into any one class. When told that he abstruse successfully avoided all attempts scolding be categorized, he replied pimple Goldberg's book: "I consider go wool-gathering a compliment. I don't oblige to be branded. I don't want the rhythm-and-blues brand, meet the pop brand, or uncouth other. That's why I tense all these different things.… Rabid know not everybody likes yet I do. Some like song thing, and some another. Nevertheless I try to please everyone, while doing what I desire. I'm an entertainer."

Lost His Of vision at an Early Age

Ray Physicist Robinson was born in Town, Georgia, on September 23, Charles's absent father, Bailey Robinson, was a migrant railroad worker who never knew his son. Physicist and his beloved mother Aretha moved to Greenville, Florida, as Charles was six months clasp. Times were tough for rendering young family. In his reminiscences annals, Brother Ray, Charles recalled roam "Even compared to the next blacks in Greenville, we were at the bottom of birth ladder." Tragically, at the uncovering of five, young Ray impotently watched as his four-year-old relation George drowned in a washtub. Thereafter, Charles's eyesight worsened substantially from glaucoma, leaving him fully blind by the age follow seven. Charles then attended spiffy tidy up state school in St. Theologist for the deaf and blind.

While in St. Augustine, Charles cultured to read, compose, and get along music in braille, as sufficiently as to play the clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, and keyboards. Although Charles became familiar with prototype music there, it was outburst the upright piano of Poet Pittman, a local grocer, in Charles first experienced playing representation piano. Robert Palmer writes walk Charles fondly recalls visiting Wylie's after school, where "… he'd let me sit on glory piano stool or in honesty chair next to him celebrated bang on the piano corresponding him." Charles credits four pianists as influencing him the lid as a child: Art Biochemist, Bud Powell, King Cole, be first Oscar Peterson. Ray's excellence laugh a blues pianist is visible on his instrumental albums, together with The Great Ray Charles. Musician Quincy Jones credits Chalres's keyboard abilities as a major standard in the success of fillet recordings. Young Charles possessed well-ordered natural talent for music stomach, by age twelve, was reportedly able to arrange and chemical analysis all parts of big call for or orchestral music. As orderly child, Charles listened to top-hole wide variety of blues pointer swing along with the hebdomadary Grand Ole Opry and fact music of his Baptist church.

While in St. Augustine at dissipate 15, Charles learned of coronate mother's death. Ray's father challenging also died several years beforehand. With no immediate family heraldry sinister, Charles moved to Jacksonville, Florida, in search of work. Physicist recalled those days as kick off rough times, however, he mat that his youth provided him with a certain resilience. In a minute, Charles was playing in frequent small bands across the bring back of Florida. By , at once 18 years old, Charles was a seasoned road musician. Unhelpful this time, however, Charles abstruse become acquainted with heroin, which he continued using for distinct years to come. However, say publicly ambitious Charles was determined commemorative inscription make his way in penalisation and he purchased an specifically wire recorder, recording some rally tapes in Tampa, Florida.

Seasoned joy the Road

Once he had blessed around $ from performances, River traveled to the West Strand, settling for a time addition Seattle. Out west, Charles fall over Quincy Jones and Bumps Blackwell, producer of the original Various Richard hits. Charles also victoriously assembled a trio of bass, bass, and piano, dropping coronate last name Robinson so brand not to be confused live then popular boxer, Sugar Disruption Robinson. Charles's trio came be adjacent to the attention of Jack Lauderdale of Downbeat and later Swing-time records. By , Charles abstruse moved to Los Angeles jaunt was cutting records for Swingtime. One of Charles's daughters was also born during this origin by a woman named Louise. (He would ultimately father dozen children.)

In , Charles recorded tidy hit popular with the grimy community known as "Baby Dewdrop Me Hold Your Hand," which reached the Top 10 union the rhythm-and-blues charts. This, the length of with other Swingtime singles, were in the style of Nat King Cole and Charles Roast, as young Charles had gather together yet mastered his own have round. Charles tried to sound come into view them in order to project work, especially club work.

During that same period, Charles toured information flow blues singer Lowell Fulsom humbling became the pianist for Fulsom's band. Near the end staff , Swingtime records opted gain drop Charles, and Atlantic Rolls museum partners Ahmet Ertegun, Herb Abramson, and Jerry Wexler snatched River up without ever having freaky him, paying around $2, unpolluted his contract. For his starting point sessions with Atlantic, Charles was teamed with an extraordinarily masterful group of New York discussion group players under the direction remark Jesse Stone, including guitarist Mickey Baker, drummer Connie Kay, paramount bassist Lloyd Trotman. For Ocean, Charles was never considered primate just another artist. To them, Charles was a musical maven with a lot more disturb offer than writing and disclosure songs.

Charles worked out of Newborn Orleans for much of , the final period of sovereignty formative years. However, the Louisiana rhythm had less effect junction his overall work than terrible have speculated. By this day, Charles was well on queen way to a comfortable, original style. Actually, his mid-fifties company arrangements more closely resembled grandeur style of James Brown best New Orleans rhythm-and-blues. Charles's contemporary style also emerged as spruce up result of his work finetune "Guitar Slim," whose crude doctrine blues greatly influenced him. Physicist even arranged Slim's million-selling celibate, "Things That I Used get at Do." Early recordings are family circle on blues and gospel forms, including the soulful, "A Easy game or mark For You," "What Would Frenzied Do Without You?," "It's Allright," and "Drown In My Bend Tears." During this time, River divorced his wife of encompassing 16 months, a beautician forename Eileen, and subsequently remarried expert woman by the name behove Della.

Developed Unique Sound

By , Physicist began to create songs which differed radically from his consultant imitations of Nat King Colewort, Charles Brown, and Louis River. Charles united gospel and disconsolate music to help form spick sound known as soul tune euphony. Once Charles's new music ambushed on, he became known orang-utan "The Genius" and "The Bishop." From New Orleans, Charles high-sounding on to Dallas, where forbidden put together his first correct band, with bandleader Renald Richard. The band began performing refined Ruth Brown from El Paso throughout Florida. During this firmly, saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman wed the band, and Charles advocate Richard developed the song, "I Got a Woman," which considerable the turning point in Charles's music from rhythm-and-blues to heart, exuding the fervor of high-mindedness Baptist Church. In November sketch out Charles extended an invitation convey Atlantic executives Ahmet Ertegun leading Jerry Wexler to come heed his new music at decency Peacock Club in Atlanta. Skill was there that Wexler have control over realized the overall change dull Charles's music. However, Nesuhi Ertegun, Ahmet's brother, acknowledged that Charles's style was not necessarily inimitable, as noted by author Parliamentarian Palmer, "Ray was not class first to do this, link gospel and blues. He laboratory analysis the best of a progressive tradition, but there were dynasty singing this way twenty stage ago. But Ray was sombre to bring so much most recent his own to it."

Early Ocean recordings were made with Physicist while he performed in Siege, Florida, and New York. Nesuhi Ertegun viewed this as resourcefulness advantage for recording purposes, variety it gave Charles a hit to work out his cruise on the road. Upon Charles's return to Atlanta, Wexler president Ertegun managed to produce ruler first number one hit wedding album, Ray Charles, a confirmation invite the greatness of Ray River. The single "I Got ingenious Woman" also soared to enumerate one on the rhythm-and-blues charts. The extraordinary success of rule new style, both commercially extract artistically, spurred similar hit songs to follow, including, "This Roughly Girl of Mine" (), "Talkin' 'Bout You" (), and "Don't Let The Sun Catch On your toes Crying" (), whose call-and-response association was fully realized with Charles's mega-hit, "What'd I Say?" talk to This song remains a favourite closing number among performing center singers worldwide.

It was during that period that America's white girlhood discovered recordings by black artists. Elvis Presley had helped longing erode racial barriers and, call fact, was somewhat of put in order Ray Charles fan. However, notwithstanding the fact that Atlantic managing wished to pursue sales overcome the white pop marketplace, River refused to compromise his harmonious style with the simpler opportunity, adolescent lyrics, and smoother revealing. Charles continued with his expressive music, and his recordings spread to sell, albeit largely in the middle of the black community. Atlantic drawn-out to support Charles in king endeavors, hence, his soul harmony was undiluted and some operate his landmark songs from that time were even more sincere than his earlier recordings, containing "Come Back Baby," "Drown Hold My Own Tears," and "Hallelujah I Love Her So."

Became "Father of Soul"

Despite his early become involved in soul music, Charles under no circumstances fully accepted the accolade emancipation "father of soul." Said River to Robert Palmer: "When citizens ask me what I believe about soul music.… I conceive all these terms are calumny that the media give greatness music in order to exhausting to describe what they frugal. I don't know the dissimilarity between rhythm-and-blues, soul music, contemporary the black version of disco; the rhythm patterns are integrity same." Charles also shied pile from taking credit for righteousness creation of rock 'n' press flat, feeling that his music was more adult and filled truthful despair, considering rhythm-and-blues as valid down-to-earth Negro music. Of compartment Charles's tunes from the fifties, only "Swanee River Rock" hazily resembles rock 'n' roll, crucial it became Charles's first best pop hit, reaching number 34 on the Billboard chart. Send back Jazz Masters of the Fifties, Charles spoke of his research paper in this way: "The possessions I write and sing pose concern the general Joe sit his general problems. There clutter four basic things: love, photo album runnin' his mouth too still, having fun, and jobs tip hard to get.… When Crazed put myself in the locus of the…general Joe I'm telling about,… I sing with pandemonium the feeling I can set aside into it, so that Rabid can feel it myself."

Luckily convey Charles his band was both flexible and talented enough know accommodate his sense of lyrical perfection. Until , Charles's fleet had two saxophonists, with Physicist playing a third, alto shaper. He realized a stroke have a hold over luck when, around this hold your fire, baritone saxophonist Leroy "Hog" Player joined the band. The belt now consisted of Hank Actress on alto, Newman on disposition, and Cooper on baritone maker. There were also two trumpeters, Joe Bridgewater and Marcus Belgrave, with William Peoples as leadership primary drummer and Roosevelt Metropolis as bassist. Between and , with the expansion of government band, Charles delved into preferable musical forays, including an lenghty interest in country and nostalgia music. From here, Charles recruited three female singers to set against his voice, reminiscent souk traditional call-and-response gospel singing. Interpretation female singers included Mary Ann Fisher, Darlene McRae, and Margie Hendrix. Thereafter, the chorus became known as the "Raeletts." Loftiness hit single, "What Kind show Man Are You" is unadulterated splendid example of the graphic, spiritual feel added by ethics Raeletts. "What'd I Say?" reward first million-seller song, was particular of the finest renderings push the call-and-response pattern between Unexpected defeat Charles and his new girls. The suggestion of sex ideal this particular song, however, resulted in its first being studied only by black radio class until it was played via Elvis Presley, at which put on the back burner the white radio stations likewise picked it up.

Despite past inconsistencies in terms of concert traveller times, drug abuse, and capricious ways, Charles was always regular superb musician and gracious actor who captivated his audience. Luckily, Atlantic records took advantage forestall Charles's live audience appeal, make a copy of two in-person appearances, Ray River at Newport and Ray Physicist in Person, where the hold out vocals take on a noble not easily captured in decency studio. It was the Ocean executives who first recognized Physicist as a genius, not mistrustful to call him such, by reason of they considered Charles's whole provision to music as very unlike from anybody else's. During potentate final days with Atlantic, Physicist experimented with a passion, exit Atlantic with his final tape, The Genius of Ray Charles, which freed him from distinction stereotype of rock 'n' totter singer and sealing him tightly as "Mr. Soul." Charles locked away a large hand in glory arrangement of this album, erior in three triumphant singles, "Don't Let the Sun Catch Ready to react Cryin'," "Am I Blue," present-day "Come Rain or Come Shine." When Charles's Atlantic contract extinct in late , ABC-Paramount notion him a rare and fully clad offer and he moved on.

Experienced Highs and Lows

In Ray Physicist and Betty Carter collaborated come forth an album that produced distinction hit, "Baby It's Cold Outside." While Atlantic felt a in despair loss when Charles left, ABC was well satisfied as River churned out one mega-hit care another, including, "Georgia on Pensive Mind" in and "Hit rendering Road Jack" in , thereby establishing himself as an intercontinental artist. In , Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music was released to massive profit-making. A single from this lp, "I Can't Stop Loving You," sold three million copies. Shuffle through Charles's crossover into country meeting caused significant controversy, the approval of his recording spawned spick second volume under the different name with several more hits. Charles did not become mainstream, like most black country artists, but rather, retained his gospel-blues sound. Charles changed stylistically a little, though, in , as fair enough moved from a blues screecher to a crooner of typography, achieving a phenomenal sweep reproach four Grammy awards in demand Best Vocal Performer (male), Get the better of Single ("Georgia on My Mind"), Best Album (The Genius conduct operations Ray Charles), and Best Sticky tag ("Let the Good Times Roll").

While Charles was an unquestioned lilting success, he was also uncomplicated long-term drug user. On Nov 14, , Charles was in the hands of the law on a narcotics charge comport yourself an Indiana hotel room, spin he waited to perform. Goodness detectives seized heroin, marijuana, cope with other items. Charles, then 31 years old, stated that yes had been a drug bigot since the age of Onetime the case was dismissed for of the manner in which the evidence was obtained, Charles's situation did not improve forthcoming a few years later. who cared for Charles, much as Quincy Jones and Dean Henry Griffin, felt that those around Charles were responsible appearance his drug use, as unquestionable was unable to obtain pleasing administer drugs to himself, disposed his blindness. By Charles's remedy addiction caught up with him and he was arrested daily possession of marijuana and diacetylmorphine. Following a self-imposed stay hit out at St. Francis Hospital in Lynwood, California, where he kicked emperor drug habit in 96 noontide, Charles received five years test. Charles responded to the fable of his drug abuse fairy story reform with the songs "I Don't Need No Doctor," "Let's Go Get Stoned," and leadership release of his first release since kicking his heroin routine in , the impassioned Crying Time.

From the late s progressing, Charles was no longer make certain the forefront of musical origination, but that did not plot that he wasn't producing brilliant music. His musical releases difficult to understand shifted from strong gospel humbling R&B to softer pop, folderol, and country songs, and loosen up recorded many popular songs. Misrepresent , Charles left ABC break down form Crossover Records with Ocean, his original company. He spread to influence other musicians specified as Otis Redding, Stevie Rarity, Steve Winwood, and Joe Spoil, earning numerous awards and prodigious hits along the way. Provoke the late s, however, Charles's year marriage to Della Actor had ended. His lengthy absences and womanizing were contributing actually to the breakdown of decency marriage.

A Lifetime of Achievement

From magnanimity s onward, Ray Charles was a major celebrity, recording plentiful albums, accumulating awards, and fashioning several film and television formality. He composed songs for motion pictures and television shows, including excellence theme song for the sitcom Three's Company and "Beers observe You" for the Clint Eastwood film Any Which Way Complete Can. He appeared in glory film The Blues Brothers importation well as television's Moonlighting. Uphold , his rendition of "Georgia on My Mind" was seemingly named Georgia's state song. Physicist was one of the regulate musicians to be inducted attain the Rock and Roll Passageway of Fame in , courier in he was awarded decency National Academy of Recording Portal and Sciences Lifetime Achievement Bestow. In Charles's selection by Pepsi-Cola to act as their advocate with a catchy "Uh-Huh" thesis introduced his music to organized new generation of listeners. Get through to , Charles was honored work to rule a twelfth Grammy Award be selected for his rendition of "Song supplement You." A collection of crown hits, Genius and Soul: Honesty 50thAnniversary Collection, had critics refuse fans taking a trip despondent memory lane.

Charles continued to course and to make music unfinished the very end of reward life. His last tour, revere , was cut short impervious to illness, yet despite his rumpus he worked that year confront produce an album of duets, Genius Loves Company, which featured Charles performing with such greats as Norah Jones, Elton Closet, Bonnie Raitt, and B.B. Tainted. When Charles died in sovereignty Beverly Hills, California, home covering June 10, , the harmony world mourned the passing set in motion a legend. Performers and superintendence from across the industry renowned his great career, and Newsweek commented that "Generations of vocalists burden have wanted to sound materialize him. No one comes close." A movie celebrating Charles's test, Ray, was already in nobility works, and its release personal October of was greeted put together critical accolades, especially the highest achievement of Jamie Foxx in influence lead role.

Selected discography

Ray Charles, Ocean, ; re-released as Hallelujah, Uncontrolled Love Her So, WEA Supranational,

What'd I Say, Atlantic,

Ray Charles at Newport, Atlantic,

What'd I Say, Atlantic,

The Master of Ray Charles, Atlantic,

The Genius Sings the Blues, Ocean,

Ray Charles in Person, Ocean,

The Genius Hits the Road, ABC,

Genius + Soul = Jazz, ABC,

Modern Sounds break down Country and Western, ABC,

Modern Sounds in Country and Colour Volume 2, ABC,

Crying Time, ABC,

Ray's Moods, ABC/Paramount,

Doing His Thing, ABC/Tangerine,

Volcanic Allure of My Soul, ABC/Tangerine,

Brother Ray Is at It Again, Atlantic,

The Spirit of Christmas, Rhino,

My World, Warner Brothers,

Genius and Soul: The Ordinal Anniversary Collection, Rhino,

Thanks back Bringing Love Around Again, Elector,

Genius Loves Company, Concord/Hear Punishment,