No. 263: The Genius of Ray Charles

Band: Ray Charles
Album: The Genius of Ray Charles
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Charles' place in the evolution of music is hard to ignore and the success of his biopic just reinforces that.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: The sounds is too much. Charles makes the standards his own, certainly, but the arrangements take nearly as much from big band as it does from the blues and R&B.
Best song: "Alexander's Ragtime Band" is pretty great and, of course "Let The Good Times Roll" is fantastic.
Worst song: "'Deed I Do" isn't great.
Is it awesome?: I'm not in love with it.

I am lazy and I still haven't seen "Ray," so I probably can't put this album in a correct context. Still, like "Stardust," there are a lot of songs on this record that I know (probably due to Charles' skill) and it's a fine album.

The record is overproduced and the idea of Charles as a piano/voice troubadour doesn't apply at all. In fact, the horns and background singers don't do it for me; I prefer the stripped down sound.

Genius? Eh. Maybe. Not to me, though.

No. 104: Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music

Band: Ray Charles
Album: Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Despite the name of the record, "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" doesn't have a lot of what we'd consider county and western music. It's more like showtuney versions of some country songs, complete with a group of women backing Charles right up.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: I just can't get into this record. Each song sounds like Charles is holding back or trying to sound restrained. It's just... odd.
Best song: Oddly, the version of "Hey, Good Lookin'" isn't bad.
Worst song: The other Hank Williams song, "You Win Again," isn't great.
Is it awesome?: I'm not totally sure.

I still haven't seen "Ray," so I imagine I don't have a proper feeling for his life or music. For that, I apologize. Take this review with a giant grain of salt.

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As I mentioned in the "Fresh Cream" review, there is a certain period of music wherein the artist simply played standards or covers. Ray Charles took this to an odd place in putting his stamp on 12 country and western songs.

It's weird, but this is the period of early rock and roll wherein the easy listening/show tunes of the earlier generation were still a part of the scene, as rock and roll proper took hold (Hell, even the Beatles did a song from the "Music Man" on their third record). So, what you have is a lot of overproduction, backing vocals and showmanship vocals in what was considered rock and roll. That shit doesn't pass anymore.

What Ray Charles is doing doesn't really strike me as country and western music. It's too produced. Maybe it's because c&w is more Johnnie Cash and early Hank Williams than this sort of thing, but I can't get into this record.

This is the type of album I'd hoped to discover and love, but it just doesn't rink my bell.

No. 53: The Birth Of Soul : The Complete Atlantic Rhythm & Blues Recordings, 1952-1959

Band: Ray Charles
Album: The Birth Of Soul : The Complete Atlantic Rhythm & Blues Recordings, 1952-1959
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: The first real soul superstar, Charles' years on Atlantic are probably his most creative. Before the form was solidified with guys like Al Green, Bill Withers and Curtis Mayfield, Charles was busy creating it by combing elements of blues, gospel and country music.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: While this is the creation of the form, it's hardly the best soul record out there and is (and should be) ranked lower than Al Green. Charles' work is probably better represented by "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" (lower on this list).
Best song: "It Could Have Been Me" is a great example of jump blues, a musical form that no one remembers, but is still awesome.
Worst song: "I Want A Little Girl?" Really?
Is it awesome?: I'm not a Ray Charles guy, so I'm not the man to ask.

I don't know if this is racist or not, but if it is, I'm sorry. I do know it is racial. I have to look at some soul music as I look at jazz; I know what I like, but I can't compare it to the rock and roll with which I'm so familiar. I'd say it's not racist (or as racial as I think it to be) because I do know hip hop, as I grew up with it. But, still, the overwhelming fact is that I am an affluent white guy with square parents who grew up in the suburbs. I know rock and roll and whatever I wanted to learn about (indie rock, hip hop, psychedelia, prog rock, etc.) and ignored that which I didn't want to learn about (jazz, most soul, country, etc.).

I'll say this, too: I didn't see "Ray." I grew up in the generation that only knew Ray Charles as the guy who sang "You Got The Right One, Baby" in the Pepsie ads. I'm sure he's the genius that he was nicknamed, but I just don't totally get it all. It's cool music, but it's not the rock and roll of Little Richard or the perfected form of Al Green.

Again, it's good, but for a boxed set, it's raw, it's expensive and it's probably not worth it. It's the "Birth of Soul." It's the beginning of a genre, but one I'm not hugely familiar with and one that I probably don't appreciate as much as I should.