A PAIR FROM BROTHER RAY!!!

Ray Charles
Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles
Concord Records
www.concordmusicgroup.com
By George W. Harris

Concord Records is doing us all a great favor by reissuing Brother Ray
Charles’ catalogue and doing it in a respectable fashion as well.
Exhibit ABC (pun intended) is this lovely 5 disc set that covers every
single that he put out after he left Atlantic Record for (literally)
greener pastures.

This is actually the best way to approach Charles’ tenure with ABC
records, because outside of his records with Basie, and a couple C&W
albums, it was his singles that showed his real strength at this stage
in his career. His raucous hits like “Hit The Road, Jack,” “Unchain My
Heart” and “I’ve Got A Woman” jump out at you, and just won’t let go.
But, this was also the period that he delved into the country side of
life, and many of the singles lean in that direction. Surely, tunes
like “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and particularly “I Can’t Stop Loving You”
transcend genre, while ballads like “Born to Lose,” and “Here We Go
Again” were never done at the hand of anyone else. Charles’ soundtracks
to “In The Heat Of The Night” and “Cincinnati Kid” make for a nice addition, while his take on “Eleanor Rigby” is a dead heat with the original. This is music that, like so few others except Armstrong, Sinatra, Cash, Cole, Presley and Crosby, simply transcends styles, ages and generations.
Timeless.