Ray Charles Crrying Time

These four CDs represent the most creative period of Ray Charles’ life – roughly 1954 to 1962. He died in 2004 and, at the time of his death, was working on a duets album which was released, very appropriately, as Genius And Friends. When the excellent bio-pic, Ray was released with Jamie Foxx, one of the straplines was a quote from Frank Sinatra, “Ray Charles is the only genius in our business.”

R&B innovator Ray Charles was one of the most important musicians of the 1950s. Despite being blind from childhood, he was hugely successful at fusing elements of blues, country, gospel and doo-wop together to form a kind of proto-soul.

Ray Charles - Pure Genius - The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-1959) (2005) {7CD box set with DVD & book}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.68 Mb
DVD5 -> 3.20 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 4:3/16:9 | Dolby AC3, 2 ch | ~ 60 min | ISO Image
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 720 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1952-1959, 2005 Atlantic / Rhino | R2 74731
Jazz / Blues / Soul / R&B / Pop Soul / Piano Blues

Ray Charles' seminal recordings for Atlantic have been boxed once before, as the triple-disc 1991 set The Birth of Soul. That box contained 53 tracks, the best moments of what is arguably the best period of Charles' career, but Rhino/Atlantic's 2005 seven-disc sequel, Pure Genius, doesn't bother with merely the highlights: as its subtitle makes clear, this is The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-1959). This is undeniably a major historical release, since it gathers all of the recordings Charles made at his creative peak, not just as a leader, but as a sideman for his saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman and sides he recorded with jazz vibraphonist Milt Jackson.

Ray Charles is an American legend beyond compare. This deluxe eight-disc box set proves it by encompassing Ray's entire Atlantic Records repertoire on the first six CDs. Additionally, the set includes an entire disc (27 tracks, all but three previously unreleased) of outtakes, live recordings, and alternate versions. Plus, there's a bonus DVD that features Ray live at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960 and an exclusive interview with Ahmet Ertegun, conducted by Ray Director Taylor Hackford. Special packaging features a record player-style box and a linen-bound hardback book.