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Topic: Ray Charles - RIP |
Mark Ardito
From:
Chicago, IL, USA
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Posted 10 Jun 2004 11:46 am |
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From CNN.com
BEVERLY HILLS, California (AP) -- Ray Charles, the Grammy-winning crooner who blended gospel and blues in such crowd-pleasers as "What'd I Say" and heartfelt ballads like "Georgia on My Mind," died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 73.
Charles died at his Beverly Hills home surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney.
Charles' last public appearance was alongside Clint Eastwood on April 30, when the city of Los Angeles designated the singer's studios, built 40 years ago in central Los Angeles, as a historic landmark.
Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, Charles spent his life shattering any notion of musical boundaries and defying easy definition. A gifted pianist and saxophonist, he dabbled in country, jazz, big band and blues, and put his stamp on it all with a deep, warm voice roughened by heartbreak from a hardscrabble childhood in the segregated South.
"His sound was stunning -- it was the blues, it was R&B, it was gospel, it was swing -- it was all the stuff I was listening to before that but rolled into one amazing, soulful thing," singer Van Morrison told Rolling Stone magazine in April.
Charles won nine of his 12 Grammy Awards between 1960 and 1966, including the best R&B recording three consecutive years ("Hit the Road Jack," "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Busted").
His versions of other songs are also well known, including "Makin' Whoopee" and a stirring "America the Beautiful." Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell wrote "Georgia on My Mind" in 1931 but it didn't become Georgia's official state song until 1979, long after Charles turned it into an American standard.
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Sho~Bud Pro I, Fender D-8 (C6&E13) http://www.darkmagneto.com
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Glenn Suchan
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 10 Jun 2004 11:54 am
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Another legend is gone....
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Charles French
From:
Ms.
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Posted 10 Jun 2004 12:09 pm
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| Ray Charles-The Genius! No one could come close to capturing the soul and emotion of a song as Ray Charles. |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 10 Jun 2004 12:13 pm
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....but this feels like the very Cornerstone of popular music has been taken away.
We've used the word 'Legend' quite a lot recently - Brother Ray deserves something more. I never met ANYONE who didn't like Ray Charles....
Roger R. |
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Janice Brooks
From:
Pleasant Gap Pa
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Posted 10 Jun 2004 12:26 pm
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How many of us would have known certain classics without his interpritations?
More later
Modern Sounds in Country Western Music will be packed for tomorrow at work. I will be wearing my flag hat and my only regret is I don't have Ray's version of America the Beautiful.
My feelings are that Ray had to be amazing for being able to make country songs sound good on pop radio. Back in 1962 when I Can't Stop Loving You and You Don't Know Me were climbing the charts a lot of folks never had hillbilly/country programming to hear Don Gibson and Eddie Arnold.
[This message was edited by Janice Brooks on 10 June 2004 at 06:43 PM.] |
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Rick Schmidt
From:
Prescott AZ, USA
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Posted 10 Jun 2004 1:58 pm
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America the Beautiful being one of my favorites. I get chicken skin every time I hear it. Probably more so now. Love ya Ray!
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Chris Lasher
From:
Blacksburg, VA
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Posted 10 Jun 2004 3:00 pm
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Wow. He'll be missed.  |
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John P. Phillips
From:
Folkston, Ga. U.S.A., R.I.P.
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Ken Lang
From:
Simi Valley, Ca
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Posted 10 Jun 2004 6:36 pm
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"When I met you baby."
"You said your life was awful tame."
"I took you to a nightclub."
"And the whole band new your name."
One of my favorite lyrics for understatement. What he had resonated with all kinds of music and the players thereof. Ray Charles doing country? In his own style it was great.
So long Mr. Robinson. RIP Ray Charles. |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 11 Jun 2004 4:24 am
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There are so many outstanding Ray Charles performances, but one of my favourites has to be his version of Randy Newman's 'Sail Away' - anyone else heard that one?
Now maybe we'll see some re-issues - 'Volcanic Action of My Soul' with Buddy Emmons, is wonderful, and long-overdue!
RR |
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Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 11 Jun 2004 4:35 am
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| Amen to all of the above. The word "genius" is used very freely these days and applied to many who are, in fact, undeserving. I can think of no one more deserving of that acclaim than Ray Charles. He is a GIANT of American music. God rest his sweet soul. |
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Jack Francis
From:
Queen Creek, Arizona, USA
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Posted 11 Jun 2004 5:25 am
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J W Hock
From:
Anderson, Texas, USA
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Posted 11 Jun 2004 5:37 am
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| Roger you will be happy to know that there is allready several reissues on CD out there. Including the classic " Modern Sounds of Country and Western Music". |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 11 Jun 2004 6:30 am
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It's kind of amazing with the passing of Ray Charles I am looking back at how I have been listening to RC for probably my entire musical life journey.(45 years of playing music)and even listening before that .
The man, artist, musician was profound.
Who can replace such a giant talent who endured I guess what is now 5 decades and was still revered by fans from all music style.
I certainly am glad that I crossed paths with his music.
"Gonna miss ya Ray..Many thanks for what you've shared with us".
t
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 11 Jun 2004 6:59 am
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| I'm shocked. Another of the legends has left. There are not many left. Its a changing world. |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 11 Jun 2004 8:02 am
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Thanks, JW....
Unfortunately, they seem to pass this one by (it's NOT a country album by any means), even though it was regarded as one of the very best 'pop' albums he ever made. It was fairly topical, with some current pop hits being covered (1971, I think). It's described in the excellent biography by Michael Lydon ('Man and Music') as a 'themeless album - a masterpice of gold and shadow', with a steel-guitar solo in 'Wichita Lineman' that '...shines like railroad tracks in the moonlight' (guess who!)
Ray Charles took great care to retain control of all of his recorded material, and I presume there was some long-term plan in his mind.
I dislike most compilations, as any editing of an album's original content seems to exclude at least one of my favourite tracks. Lets hope that Ray's Company, Tangerine, will now reissue albums in their entirety. |
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CrowBear Schmitt
From:
Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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Leigh Howell
From:
Edinburgh, Scotland * R.I.P.
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Posted 11 Jun 2004 12:46 pm
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Thanks Ray for all those years of entertaining us with those fine renditions of Country, Blues, R&B, Jazz, and maybe even some Bluegrass. Gonna miss you for sure.
Leigh |
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Walter Stettner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 11 Jun 2004 12:50 pm
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The whole music world will miss him - there will never be another like him!
RIP, Ray!
Kind Regards, Walter
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf
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Harry Williams
From:
Duncan, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
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Posted 11 Jun 2004 4:02 pm
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Ray was the greatest. One of my favorite tunes is "The Night time is the Right Time" probably recorded in the late 50's with "The Raylettes". Man that was rocking! He did a couple great Jazz albums too.
I heard a story, don't know if its true, that when he was young he got mixed up in some bad stuff in Georgia, had to leave town in a hurry, and hopped on a Greyhound to Seattle. He shows up not knowing anyone, hails a taxi and says "Take me to the nearest nightclub". He shows up, asks where the piano is, sits down to play, and gets hired on the spot.
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