Recommended Ray Charles Discs

[MaxPower]

I am a huge Ray Charles fan. I saw him perform 3 times and even read his autobiography "Brother Ray".

Its seems like many people know him from his Pepsi commercials and the Blues Brothers movie and not from his music.

Here are the CDs I recommend.

The Birth of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm and Blues Recordings - The title says it all. This is pretty much all you need to realize what a huge influence Ray Charles has had on popular music. If you don't already own this you should be ashamed.

The Genius of Ray Charles - In this he tackles two entirely different musical styles, Big Band and Ballads. This album really is genius.

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music Vol 1. - It took me a while to get into this album, but I love it now. I'm not crazy about the background singers he uses, but this is still an essential album.

After that, you might want to get one of his Greatest Hits Collections so you can get Georgia on My Mind, Hit the Road Jack, Busted, America the Beautiful, etc. Also, his duet with Betty Carter on Baby, Its Cold Outside is a classic.

Enjoy.

Oh, and we should put him on the $20 Bill rather than Reagan. Gamblor would be happy to know that Ray Charles was a staunch supporter of the State of Israel.

[andyfox]

Apparently a pretty good chess player too.

I second the motion to put Mr. Charles on the $20 bill.

As I promised myself I would, I listened to the greatest hits CD last night. Together with the Lakers scoring 68 points, it made for a perfect evening.