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
Having made his first two studio albums instrumental jazz excursions, Ray Charles tried something new for his third and last Atlantic LP, The Genius Of Ray Charles of October 1959 (Atlantic 1312): a collection of standards, one side with a brass band and the other with an orchestra. Applying the “genius” epithet for the first time (not Ray’s idea, though as he said there are worse things to be called), The Genius Of Ray Charles is possibly the greatest LP Ray... [read all]
Song of the day
“You’re In For A Big Surprise”
“You’re In For A Big Surprise” is a Percy Mayfield song written for Ray Charles; it’s the third song on Side 2 of Ray’s classic 1966 album Crying Time. The song is a slow-moving, brooding lament with a hidden burning anger at its core, as befits Mayfield’s socially conscious promise that justice is coming. Those currently enjoying an unfair surfeit of power, alerts the song, are going to be knocked down a peg or three. Race isn’t mentioned explicitly... [read all]