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RAY CHARLES
RAY CHARLES: ULTIMATE HITS COLLECTION |
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| | Reviews: 32 |
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| Average Rating: 9.75 |
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From the fifties to the eighties - it's all here
by P D Harris "Pete the music and horse racing fan" Leicester England
Reviewed on October 23rd, 2004
There are plenty of Ray Charles compilations to choose from - some focusing on a particular era or a particular aspect of Ray's career. This particular compilation combines his fifties music (recorded for Atlantic) and his sixties music (recorded for ABC-Paramount) on one collection - it also includes a few tracks from more recent times.
The most famous of his early songs is probably the often-covered Hallelujah I love her so. What'd I say and I've got a woman are among the other great songs from Ray's fifties music that are included here. Ray wrote all three of those songs, although he also recorded songs written by others even then.
It is the sixties with which Ray will be forever associated and which is most strongly represented here. Despite Ray's ability to write his own songs, the two songs for which he is best remembered are both covers. Georgia on my mind is a Hoagy Carmichael song from 1931, while I can't stop loving you is a country song written by Don Gibson. In both cases, Ray did them his own way, broadening their appeal considerably.
I can't stop loving you was one of many country songs that Ray adapted to the R+B style. Some of his fans deserted him, but these recordings gained him more fans than he lost. What Ray showed was the main difference between different styles of music was the presentation - not the songs themselves. Among other country songs adapted to R+B are You don't know me, You are my sunshine, Take these chains from my heart, Busted, Crying time and Together again.
Among his other great recordings of the sixties are Hit the road Jack (with Margie Hendrix), Unchain my heart, Let's go get stoned, Yesterday and Eleanor Rigby.
After the sixties, Ray's success was limited, but he still had the talent. In 1984, he recorded a country album of duets with various country singers - it really was a country album, unlike his sixties covers. That album is represented here by Seven Spanish angels - a duet with Willie Nelson. Another (non-country) duets from the eighties, I'll be good to you (with Chaka Khan), rounds off the collection superbly.
This collection is one of the best compilations of Ray's music I've come across. It is worth noting that Rhino released a similar but not identical UK double CD (Definitive). Many of the songs are the same but I particularly like Baby it's cold outside (a duet with Betty Carter) and That lucky old sun, both of which only appear on the UK set. However, there are other great songs here that are missing from the UK set. Only dedicated Ray Charles fans will worry about the differences as all the essentials appear on both.
More "Ray Charles: Ultimate Hits Collection" reviews:
[2004-12-28] Truly the Ultimate Hits (10)
[2004-12-07] The Magic of Ray (10)
[2004-10-29] Nothing Much to say. (10)
[2004-10-24] A terrific tribute to the late great Ray Charles! (10)
[2004-10-23] From the fifties to the eighties - it's all here (10)
[2004-10-22] How to spell "Genius" = "R-A-Y" (10)
[2004-10-11] A Unique Man of Song (10)
[2004-09-26] brother ray (10)
[2004-07-17] the reviewer from california needs to check his/her history (10)
[2004-07-06] Some People Can't Be Educated (10)
[2004-06-28] HE WILL BE MISSED (10)
[2004-06-24] How many artists are so truly original? (10)
[2004-06-24] Ray Charles (10)
[2004-06-23] A Musical Piece of History (10)
[2004-06-21] More Than Genius...A Great Man (10)
[2004-06-17] All Ray, All the Time . . . (10)
[2004-06-15] Ray Charles, a National Treasure (10)
[2004-06-13] They Called Him the Genius (10)
[2004-06-12] Ray Charles:Ultimate Hits Collection (10)
[2004-06-12] I will get this double CD to remember Ray...... (10)
[2004-06-11] We have lost a treasure here on earth... (10)
[2004-06-11] Incomplete, as usual. Who does the track selection, anyway? (2)
[2004-06-11] He was the best of the best ... (10)
[2004-06-11] Ray Charles: An American Legend (10)
[2004-06-11] Ray of Light (10)
[2003-07-22] The best primer... (10)
[2000-11-28] And yet, not enough (10)
[2000-09-29] Great! (10)
[2000-03-26] Brother Ray! What A Genius (10)
[2000-03-17] The King. (10)
[2000-01-19] WOW! (10)
[1999-09-02] Awesome Cd.. a must have... (10)
Displaying reviews from 1 to 32
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