In ReviewRay Charles
Genius: The Ultimate Ray Charles Collection
Concord Records (CRE-31293)
www.concordmusicgroup.com
Grade:

The 21-track Genius: The Ultimate Ray Charles Collection provides a sweeping overview of the best-known and biggest-selling songs by the most influential American musician from the second half of the of 20th century.

Encompassing records released on three labels between 1955 and 1972, The Ultimate Collection concentrates on the 1960s, when Ray Charles scored a string of hits for ABC-Paramount. More than half of these songs scaled the Top 10 on both the pop and R&B charts, and the across-the-board chart-toppers stretch from the street-smart “Hit The Road Jack” to the elegant “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” With its string section and backing choir, “I Can’t Stop Loving You” signaled Charles’ unprecedented merging of country songs, soulful vocals and sophisticated arrangements. In the context of its times, such an achievement transcended musical crossover, because bridging the pop, country and R&B chasm represented a cross-cultural milestone to a nation divided by race, region and generation.

Charles proceeded to reinvent such country songs as “Busted,” “Crying Time” and “You Don’t Know Me”; he miraculously purified the Jimmy Davis campaign singalong “You Are My Sunshine” into churning rhythm and blues. Collecting his first #1 pop record in 1960, Charles re-imagined Hoagy Carmichael’s popular standard “Georgia On My Mind,” and a few months later he topped the R&B chart playing organ on the instrumental “One Mint Julep” for the jazz-focused Impulse imprint. Other soulful smashes included the big-band “Unchain My Heart,” the swinging “Hide Nor Hair,” the piano/organ-drenched ballad “Here We Go Again,” the percussive “Sticks And Stones” and “Let’s Go Get Stoned,” whose controversial title limited Top 40 radio airplay at the time.

This collection has four songs from the 1950s, when Charles injected gospel call-and-response fervor into R&B creating something fresh and exciting. Originally issued on the Atlantic label, these numbers include the bluesy “A Fool For You,” the seminal “I’ve Got A Woman” and the three-minute A-side of “What’d I Say,” which had its full six-minute version divided between Part I and Part II on the 1959 Atlantic single.

Although the songs are not placed in strict chronological order, The Ultimate Collection closes with its only 1970s recording, a unique interpretation of “America The Beautiful.” This patriotic hymn was destined to bring Charles’ music to political conventions and national commemorations, further mainstreaming his art while elevating his status to national treasure.