Would you believe there’s a music critic out there who knows
\npractically nothing about Ray Charles? Well, that was this critic,
\nat least until a few weeks ago. The movie
\nRay<\/i> captured my interest, and provoked me to purchase the
\nsoundtrack. And giving it a few spins these past few days has made
\nme realize just exactly what I had been missing.<\/p>\n
Seventeen original Ray Charles recordings are featured on this
\ndisc, 17 songs that are imbedded into the fabric of 20th century
\nAmerica. However, despite this, it was the first time I had
\nactually listened to any of them. From the get-go, I was barraged
\nwith sounds and styles, the likes of which I thought no artist
\ncould capture so well. There’s pop, R&B, gospel, country, jazz,
\nand Charles handles each of them with the same level of
\nquality.<\/p>\n
While every single song — and that is not hyperbole — is a
\nclassic, there are some that immediately stood out to this novice’s
\nears. “Mess Around,” the lead-off track. features smoother vocals
\nthan what I expected, with Charles’ normally gritty, soulful vocal
\nstyle altered slightly to more of a Nat King Cole approach. The
\nbrassy “I’ve Got A Woman” superimposes rock lyrics over a gospel
\nsound, which led to a controversy over the tune. The smash “What
\nI’d Say” is four and a half minutes of bliss, beginning with the
\nbrilliant opening keyboard riff, and closing with the sexually
\ncharged back and forth between Charles and the Raelettes.<\/p>\n
Oh, but there’s more. One of the few tracks I knew from previous
\nlistening, “Hit The Road Jack,” delivers one of Charles’s most
\neffective performances, as he begs, pleads, and finally accepts his
\nfate of being told to “hit the road.” “Georgia On My Mind” was a
\nmajor surprise, a lush, orchestral, jazzy number, yet it tugs at
\nthe heartstrings, and takes on a historical significance given the
\nfact Charles was banned from playing in the state for years after
\ndefying segregation laws. In fact, this track makes a second
\nappearance on this soundtrack with a 1976 live version that is just
\nas sublime. Interesting also is the fact that there are moments
\nwhen Charles steps back and lets the spotlight shine on someone
\nelse. “Hit The Road Jack,” and “(Night Time Is) the Right Time” are
\nprime examples, especially with the latter’s soulful exclamations
\nfrom the women backing the man himself.<\/p>\n
Given the fact the film consisted almost solely of Charles’
\nmusic, I’m sure there are cuts that should have made this disc.
\nWell, there isn’t going to be much complaining coming from this
\nside. As an admitted “newbie” to the music of
\nRay<\/i>, quite simply I don’t know any better. That being said,
\nthere was one particular song that piqued my curiosity, “I Believe
\nTo My Soul.” In the movie, Charles records the harmonies to the
\ntrack in the style of his Raelettes, imitating their voices. It
\nsounded great in the movie, and I would have liked it to appear on
\nthis CD. However, that is a very minor quibble.<\/p>\n
I could go on and discuss every track on this album, but that
\nwould be redundant. There are only so many possible synonyms for
\n“amazing” or “brilliant.” This isn’t so much a soundtrack as it is
\npage one to a book, a stepping-stone for bigger and better things.
\nNow is as good a time as any to get into Ray Charles’ music, so I
\nsuggest you do so. Don’t make my mistake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":26989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5729],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38307","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-soundtrack","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38307"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38307"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}