November 30, 2014
Ray Charles - True to Life album
Side one begins with Ray singing the Johnny Nash song "I Can See Clearly Now" probably best known when covered and sung by Jimmy Cliff. The song didn't really move me, but the next one did - "The Jealous Kind". I just like liked the slow tempo that seems to mix a little R&B, soul, and blues with that emotion that Ray could give. This song is a cover as well - from Joe Cocker.
This album is actually full of many covers. The next song "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning'" is the opening song from the musical 'Oklahoma!' written by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. But why I chose to review this album is the next song: "How Long Has This Been Going On".
I was playing this album for the first time while working on the computer and about a quarter of the way I had to stop and listen. I was blown away. The song is a George and Ira Gershwin's song, and wow - what a performance Ray gives it. The version on the album is from a recording studio. Here is a live version that is even better!! The performance in this video is one of those songs that makes me think - if you don't like this song, you just don't feel music. Just discovering this song was so well worth the price of ten albums to get to it.
Side two starts with "Be My Live" a cover of a song written by Sammy Cahn and Nicholas Brodzsky popularized in the 1950 movie The Toast of New Orleans, where it was sung by Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza. It's a slow and pretty love song ... "if you would be my love..". Next is the song "Anonymous Love" by Edward Langford and Joel Webster. This song has a faster and slightly funky beat. It's a nice change, but my preference is probably more for the slow stuff.
And so it is - song 3 on side two, Heavenly Music, slows it down. The song was written by Bob Bradstreet and Solomon Burke. As a recording artist and vocalist, Burke is said to be one of the founders of soul music in the 1960s and an influential figure in shaping R&B. Burke was referred to as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", the "Bishop of Soul," and the "Muhammad Ali of Soul", but also one of the genre's "most unfairly overlooked singer" of its golden age. Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler referred to Burke as "the greatest male soul singer of all time". Track four is "Game Number Nine" and is sung in a storytelling manner - telling the story of using a particular pick up line. The album ends with a rendition of the Beatles song "Let It Be".
This album was released in 1977. I was reading the back cover and noticed the album was both produced and engineered by Ray.
Buy at Amazon
(listed when I looked for $14.50. I think I paid $1 at a local record store).
Album info at Discogs
Ray Charles - #10 on Rolling Stones Magazine list of the 100 Greatest Artists of all time.