Saturday, July 4, 2009

RAY CHARLES: 1994 Best Of Ray Charles:The Atlantic Years (Rhino 71722)

Recorded between 1953 & 1959. Includes liner notes by Leo Sacks & Billy Vera.
This is not just a terrific greatest hits package. It's also a revelatory look at the astonishingly rapid development of Ray Charles' music between 1954 (when he signed with Atlantic after a few previous years as a Nat "King" Cole wannabe) and 1960, when he departed for ABC-Paramount for what was at the time one of the biggest advances any artist had ever received.
The distance between the opening "Should've Been Me," a charming, if not particularly memorable piece of journeyman R&B, which Charles sings a la Richard Berry, and the concluding "Just For a Thrill," in which he's recognizably Brother Ray and which pointed the way his music would go in future years, is immense. In between, you'll find the big hits, such as "Hallelujah, I Just Love Her So" and "I Got a Woman," with their revolutionary combination of blues and gospel (the sacred and the profane), as well as fascinating lesser-known tracks like the guitar-driven, bluesy "Blackjack," and a spectacular live version of Lowman Pauling's "Tell the Truth." Great stuff.

Personnel includes: Ray Charles (vocals, acoustic & electric piano); Margie Hendrix (vocals); Wesley Jackson, Mickey Baker (guitar); Hank Crawford (alto saxophone); Freddie Mitchell, Pinky Williams, Joe Tillman, Don Wilkerson (tenor saxophone); Dave McRae, Warren Bell, Cecil Payne (baritone saxophone); Wallace Davenport, Frank Mitchell, Joe Bridgewater, Charles Whitley, Joshua Willis (trumpet); Lloyd Trotman, Lloyd Lambert, Jimmy Bell, Paul West (bass); Connie Kay, Oscar Moore, Glenn Brooks, Panama Francis (drums); The Cookies (background vocals); David "Fathead" Newman.

I could not think of anyone more qualified to represent the birthday of the USA. Please enjoy this serving of "Brother Ray"...

Tracks:

1. It Should've Been Me
2. Don't You Know
3. Blackjack
4. I've Got a Woman
5. What Would I Do Without You
6. Greenbacks
7. Come Back
8. Fool For You, A
9. This Little Girl of Mine
10. Hallelujah I Love Her So
11. Lonely Avenue
12. It's Alright
13. Ain't That Love
14. Swanee River Rock (Talkin' 'Bout That River)
15. That's Enough
16. What'd I Say (Part 1)
17. The (Night Time Is) The Right Time
18. Drown in My Own Tears
19. Tell the Truth
20. Just For a Thrill


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