Ray Charles

Ray Charles’ long-lost duet “Curiosity” with jazz singer Steve Tyrell has been released over 30 years after the track was recorded. The song features on Tyrell’s new covers album Shades of Ray.

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), better known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. Charles was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm & blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company.

Most any music production with Ray is going to be great, but there are a few problems with this show. The audio mix is a bit dull, with very little presence on the singers and players. Trying Pro Logic II on the stereo track and turning up the center channel just made it worse. Though there is plenty of .1 signal for the subwoofer. The image quality is very soft focus, especially noticeable on the long shots of the stage.

Ray Charles’s Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Volumes 1 & 2 are major landmarks in American culture. Charles demonstrated that great songs with signature performances work in all genres. “I Can’t Stop Loving You” was a standard in country, soul and R&B, as he proved. Modern Sounds also brought America together during the Sixties’ civil rights movement. Charles became one of the first recording artists to have ownership and complete control of the masters. Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music has been listed among the greatest slbums of all time, along with the Beatles, Dylan, Motown, Springsteen, Hendrix and the Beach Boys.

Dick Cavett made no secret of his tremendous admiration for Ray Charles, and had the trailblazing musician on his ABC talk show three times during its 1969-1973 run, including one appearance in which Charles was Cavett's sole guest for the entire 90 minutes. Charles' three visits to The Dick Cavett Show are collected on this two-DVD set, which takes the unusual task of presenting the complete shows as they were originally broadcast (minus commercials), rather than simply excerpting Ray's musical numbers.

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 less than the most important soul and rhythm and blues recordings of the period.