Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), known professionally as Ray Charles, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called “Brother Ray”.  Charles was blind from the age of seven.

He pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records. He also contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his two Modern Sounds albums. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company.

Charles cited Nat King Cole as a primary influence, but his music was also influenced by country, jazz, blues, and rhythm and blues artists of the day, including Louis Jordan and Charles Brown. He became friends with Quincy Jones. Their friendship lasted until the end of Charles’s life. Frank Sinatra called Ray Charles “the only true genius in show business”, although Charles downplayed this notion.

Backing Tracks

   Baby Grand with Billy Joel

   Busted

Georgia On My Mind

Hallelujah I Love Her So

Hit The Road Jack

I Can’t Stop Loving You

I Got A Woman

Seven Spanish Angels – with Willie Nelson

Shake Your Tail Feather

   Take These Chains From My Heart

   What’d I Say

   Your Cheating Heart

   You Don’t Know Me