Ray Charles was born 84 years ago today. Charles was a pioneer of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel and blues into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records — most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company. Frank Sinatra called Charles “the only true genius in show business.” The influences upon his music were mainly jazz, blues, rhythm and blues and country artists of the day such as Art Tatum, Nat King Cole, Louis Jordan, Charles Brown and Louis Armstrong. His playing reflected influences from country blues and barrelhouse and stride piano styles. In honoring Charles, Billy Joel noted: This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley. I dont know if Ray was the architect of rock & roll, but he was certainly the first guy to do a lot of things . . . Who the hell ever put so many styles together and made it work? In 1979, Charles was one of the first of the Georgia State Music Hall of Fame to be recognized as a musician born in the state. Rays version of Georgia On My Mind was made the official state song for Georgia. In 1981, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was one of the first inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural ceremony in 1986. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986. In 1991, he was inducted to the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. In 1993, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. In 1998, he was awarded the Polar Music Prize together with Ravi Shankar in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2004 he was inducted to the Jazz Hall of Fame, and inducted to the National Black Sports & Entertainment Hall of Fame. Charles died in 2004 as a result of liver failure from hepatitis C at age 73. Here, Charles sings “Georgia On My Mind.”
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 04:12:50 +0000
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