Anthology

by

Ray Charles

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To most people under thirty, Ray Charles is known only as a pitchman for Pepsi and Arby's. That's too bad. Charles arrived on the music scene fifty years ago and first made his mark at Atlantic in the Fifties and then after switching labels to ABC Paramount dominated the charts in the Sixties, which is the focus of this set.

Every major hit from the Sixties is here (with the exception of the No. 2 hit "You Don't Know Me," taken from his country album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music). You get his No. 1 hits "Georgia on My Mind," "Hit the Road Jack" and "I Can't Stop Loving You," along with other notable hits like "One Mint Julep," "Busted" and "Crying Time." Throughout the Sixties, Charles released several albums using the word "genius": Genius Hits the Road, The Genius After Hours, The Genius Sings the Blues; in the case of Ray Charles it was simply a matter of truth in advertising.

Charles' influences were diverse. He could play R&B, jazz, gospel and even country & western. While his hits dropped off as the Sixties wore on, his influence on other artists continued. [Listen especially to Steve Winwood's work with the Spencer Davis Group.] In 1986, Charles was part of the first group of inductees into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. This CD should help explain why.

This is not the definitive collection. The 2-CD Ultimate Hits duplicates this plus adds some of his earlier Atlantic work. If you really want to do it right you could get the 5-CD Genius & Soul box set. But Anthology is an excellent place to start. ESSENTIAL

Disclaimer: I'm not a big fan of Ray Charles' style of music, so maybe I shouldn't even be reviewing this album. However, I bought it basically for his classic version of "America, the Beautiful"; I have been unable to find a single of that song anywhere. The CD also has the classics "Hit the Road, Jack" and "Georgia on My Mind", which made the CD worth getting. I didn't particularly like most of the rest of the album (again, I'm not a huge fan), except that I was pleasantly surprised with "I Can't Stop Loving You". I hadn't heard this song before, and I really enjoyed it.