Farewell to the Genius of Soul

The great Ray Charles died last Thursday, June 10 in his Beverly Hills home from complications of liver disease. He was 73. Charles transcended his limitations as a black American trying to make it in the racist ‘50s and his own disability to become a legend in the annals of popular music. His remarkable career encompassed the whole gamut of sounds from gospel, blues, country and rhythm and blues, which evolved into other wonderful sounds when he took them in hand.

Charles was often referred to as the Genius of Soul. In fact, he was credited with having invented R&B when he fused the infectious and religious gospel learned in his childhood with the secular and very sexy blues he learned from the black musicians he hang out with. The result was I Got a Woman, which became one of his biggest hits. Elvis later covered the song. He also dared to combine country with soul with his hit version of I Can’t Stop Loving You, despite advice from music experts that soul and country music are like oil and water. They do not mix. Thanks to Ray Charles, they now do all the time.

It was said somewhere that all modern singers learned something from him. And how true that is. R&B gave birth to rock and roll and Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Joe Cocker, Barry White and many others admitted to having been deeply influenced by Ray. Truth to tell, I do hear him in voices as varied as Stevie Wonder, Michael McDonald, Kenny Rogers, Michael Bolton and even American Idol winner Fantasia Barino did a very good version of his classic A Fool for You in the semi-finals.

Charles was born Ray Charles Robinson in Georgia on Sept. 23, 1930 and grew up poor in Florida. He was stricken with glaucoma at six and went totally blind a year later. But he was born with the gift of music and despite a difficult life (he was orphaned at 17), he never lost his dream of becoming a musician. He trained in classical music in a school for the deaf and blind but what he wanted to do was the boogie woogie stuff he learned from a neighbor who allowed him to practise on his piano. And that was what he played when he decided to hit the road after losing his parents.

A great innovator, Ray Charles was known for taking existing materials and making them sound new and all his very own. Among his number one sellers was the Hoagy Carmichael classic from the ‘30s Georgia on My Mind, which won him two Grammys and is now the official song of the state of Georgia. He also did Don Gibson’s I Can’t Stop Loving You and it zoomed to number one in the early ‘60s. His very own though is What’d I Say, released as a two-part 45-RPM single. That means the same song on both sides of the record. Pop music lore says What’d I Say was an impromptu compositon born as an encore number during one of Ray’s live performances. Elvis also later covered the song.

Some of his other hits were Hit the Road Jack, another number one hit, It Should Have Been Me, One Mint Julep, This Little Girl of Mine, Drown in My Own Tears, Hallelujah I Love Her So, Night Time is the Right Time, I’m Moving On, Your Cheating Heart, Swanee River Rock, Unchain My Heart and Seven Spanish Angels in White, a duet with another legend, the country great Willie Nelson. He also won Grammy Awards for his recordings of Crying Time, A Song for You and I’ll Be Good to You, a duet with Chaka Khan.

Ray Charles received Lifetime Achievement honors from the American Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 10 years ago and recently to the Blues Hall of Fame.

When somebody referred to him as a genius, the also legendary Frank Sinatra was said to have replied: "Ray Charles is the only genius in our business"

When told about this, Charles replied: "I believe genius is a higher category. And I don’t believe Ray Charles is even near it."

Ray Charles was of a higher category and he was also humble to boot.