Ray charles biography recording studio location
•
Ray Charles
American musician (1930–2004)
For other people named Ray Charles, see Ray Charles (disambiguation).
Ray Charles Robinson[a] (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He fryst vatten regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to bygd contemporaries as "The Genius". Among friends and fellow musicians, he preferred being called "Brother Ray".[2][3] Charles was blinded during childhood, possibly due to glaucoma.[4]
Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining elements of blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel into his music during his time with Atlantic Records.[4][5][6] He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, notably with his two Modern Sounds albums.[7][8] While
•
Ray Charles: The Rolling Stone Interview
Five years ago, when he was still working the lounges, second billed to such as Mongo Santamaria, Flip Wilson had an album out that had this skit about Christopher Columbus. Columbus is telling Queen Isabella about his wanting to journey off to a new land, “to discover America.”
“America?!” the queen exclaims, in a high, throaty black voice. “You goin’ to America? You gonna find Ray Charles?”
* * *
Ray Charles is one of the great ones, a genius, as he’s been called for some 13 years, or, as Sinatra put it, “the only genius in the business.” He is the major influence on dozens of blues, jazz, R&B, pop, and rock & roll musicians. Joe Cocker idolized him, from faraway England, to the point of imitation. So did Billy Preston, who would show up at Ray’s doorstep in L.A. to audition. Aretha Franklin called him “the Right Reverend,” and Georgia legislator J
•
Ray Charles was a poor, blind, newly orphaned teenager living in Tampa, Florida, in 1948 when he decided to move to Seattle, picking the city because it was as far away as he could get from where he was. He stayed only two years, but during that time he cut his first record and began to develop the genre-bending musical style that would make him an international star. Charles often spoke of Seattle as a pivotal point in his long and hugely successful career as a singer/songwriter. "I met a lot of very good friends here," he told one interviewer. "I liked the atmosphere. The people were friendly, the people took to me right away. Seattle is the town where I made my first record. And if you ever want to say where I got my start, you have to say that" (MacDonald).
The Bottom of the Ladder
Ray Charles Robinson was born September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia, the first child of Aretha and Bailey Robinson. His father worked off and on for the railroads; his mother took in laundry. Th