The music of the genius
Ray Charles
The latest
Ray Charles was commissioned to perform the theme song for the 1967 movie In The Heat Of The Night. The result was the first song on the soundtrack LP, and a single was released on ABC Records as well. But fans will need both discs, for they are two completely different versions of “In The Heat Of The Night”. The Movie In The Heat Of The Night The movie starred Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. The film, a pissed-off and in-your-face exploration of race in America, won five... [read all]
Ray Charles and Ginie Line duet on the French-language "Ensemble" from 2002. It was released in France as a CD single and the duo performed it live on TV.
"A Bit Of Soul" is a Ray Charles tune recorded in 1955 and released in 1961. Split into two halves, it shows Ray's versatility with a unique arrangement.
"The Sun's Gonna Shine Again" finds Ray Charles in an unconvincingly hopeful mood. It was the A-side of an Atlantic single in 1953, his second-ever.
"Mississippi Mud" is a fun, jaunty singalong that Ray Charles covered on his first album for ABC Records, The Genius Hits The Road, in 1960.
Album of the day
Atlantic released a compilation of Ray Charles singles in September 1959 called What’d I Say (Atlantic 8029); it was the third such compilation after Ray Charles and Yes Indeed! (A fourth, The Genius Sings The Blues, would be released in September 1961.) What’d I Say is, of course, named after one of Ray’s most famous songs, the irresistible and strange “What’d I Say” from June 1959. It was split up into two sides of a single... [read all]
Song of the day
Ray Charles’ excellent 1979 album Ain’t It So includes the stirring “Just Because”, a mid-tempo and dramatic performance full of raging peaks and quiet valleys. The song is credited to the somewhat obscure trio of Robert Sitoussi (a.k.a. Fitoussi, later stage name F. R. David), Marco Tobaly, and Michael Wendroff. Ray’s version later appeared in the 1985 Rob Reiner movie The Sure Thing, starring a young John Cusack. “Just Because” starts liltingly... [read all]