Charles Gave

The year was 1989, the place was the infamous Falcons Nest in Melbourne Australia, the man on stage was Michael Charles, and the audience was reeling in all his energy as he gave up one of his last concerts of the decade, and more notably, one of his last performances in his homeland before embarking on a new continent and the latest episode in his musical pilgrimage.

Ray Charles was one of the most iconic and influential artists in the annals of pop as a singer, songwriter and pianist, and while he is considered one of the godfathers and great innovators of soul music, his work transcended the worlds of jazz, blues, gospel, R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and country and western as well. Afflicted by blindness, he turned to music in his early life, and began recording for the Swing Time label in 1949 as a member of The Maxim Trio. In a career spanning half a century, he racked up over 100 chart entries, with well over 40 coming in this seminal first quarter-century or so of his career. This excellent-value 125-track 5-CD collection comprises just about all his A & B sides released on the Swing Time, Atlantic, ABC-Paramount and Impulse labels during these years. It features all his 46 Pop, R&B and UK chart entries from this era, including the pop No. 1s “Georgia On My Mind”, “Hit The Road Jack” & “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and the R&B No. 1s “I’ve Got A Woman”, “A Fool For You”, “What’d I Say”, “Unchain My Heart”, “One Mint Julep” & “You Are My Sunshine”, encompassing his time as the pillar of the Atlantic roster and the hits from his landmark albums for ABC-Paramount “Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music”. It’s a substantial and comprehensive overview of his chart-focused output during these years as part of a dynamic and exciting pop and R&B landscape, and a thoroughly entertaining showcase for his unique talents as singer, composer, pianist and arranger.

On the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charles Ives - acclaimed by his champion Leonard Bernstein as the 'first great American composer', who, 'all alone in his Connecticut barn, created his own private musical revolution' - Sony Classical presents the most authoritative recording collection ever released of works by this eccentric, prophetic genius. The 5-CD box set 117 tracks 'Charles Ives - The Anniversary Edition' is a unique and provocative introduction.

On the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charles Ives - acclaimed by his champion Leonard Bernstein as the 'first great American composer', who, 'all alone in his Connecticut barn, created his own private musical revolution' - Sony Classical presents the most authoritative recording collection ever released of works by this eccentric, prophetic genius. The 5-CD box set 117 tracks 'Charles Ives - The Anniversary Edition' is a unique and provocative introduction.

To tell the story of Ray Charles is to tell the story of a song genius touched, from his earliest childhood, by Grace. Like an alchemist, all melodies borrowed or created by this pianist-singer-composer-arranger turn into gold. We understand the nicknames that the American showbiz will give him, "the Genius" or " the High Priest of Soul ", but none will surpass the one that his friends musicians gave him : "Brother Ray", a nickname that tells the strength and intimacy that emerges from his voice nourished at the sources of blues and jazz.