Robben Ford Discussion

[Leftbender]

Just heared that Ray Charles has left us. This makes me sad. I always concidered him as one of the greatest singers and performers of the blues and soul.

"The Genius" will always be in my heart.
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"Don't play what's there, play what's not there" Miles Davis

[JavaDiva]

From CNN:
Ray Charles, the Grammy-winning crooner who blended gospel and blues in such crowd-pleasers as "What'd I Say" and heartfelt ballads like "Georgia on My Mind," died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 73. Charles died at his Beverly Hills home surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney.

[kirk95]

He will be forever missed RIP!
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[Aeolian]

Grammy-Winner Ray Charles Dies at 73

17 minutes ago

By ANTHONY BREZNICAN, AP Entertainment Writer

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Ray Charles (news), a transcendent talent who erased musical boundaries between the sacred and the secular with hits such as "What'd I Say," "Georgia on My Mind" and "I Can't Stop Loving You," died Thursday. He was 73.

Charles died of acute liver disease at his Beverly Hills home at 11:35 a.m., surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney.

Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, the gifted pianist and saxophonist spent his life shattering any notion of musical categories and defying easy definition. One of the first artists to record the "blasphemous idea of taking gospel songs and putting the devil's words to them," as legendary producer Jerry Wexler once said, Charles' music spanned soul, rock 'n' roll, R&B, country, jazz, big band and blues.

He put his stamp on it all with a deep, warm voice roughened by heartbreak from a hardscrabble childhood in the segregated South. Smiling and swaying behind the piano, grunts and moans peppering his songs, Charles' appeal spanned generations.

His health deteriorated rapidly over the past year, after he had hip replacement surgery and was diagnosed with a failing liver. The Grammy winner's last public appearance was alongside Clint Eastwood (news) on April 30, when the city of Los Angeles designated the singer's studios, built 40 years ago, as a historic landmark.

"Ray Charles was a man we particularly admired both as a friend and as an artist. We had a great time recently reminiscing together and we will all miss him very much," Eastwood said Thursday. He filmed Charles extensively for a segment in the 2003 documentary "The Blues."

Bruce Hornsby (news), another singer and piano player, recalled hearing Charles perform at a tribute to Elton John (news) about a year ago. Charles was feeble, and was walked to the electric piano, but backstage he held artists like Brian Wilson (news), Diana Krall (news), Norah Jones (news) and John Mayer (news) in thrall.

"When he started singing, that was it," Hornsby said. "Everyone else was playing for second."

Charles won nine of his 12 Grammy Awards between 1960 and 1966, including the best R&B recording three consecutive years ("Hit the Road Jack," "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Busted").

His versions of other songs are also well known, including "Makin' Whoopee" and a stirring "America the Beautiful." Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell wrote "Georgia on My Mind" in 1931, but it didn't become Georgia's official state song until 1979, long after Charles turned it into an American standard.

"I was born with music inside me. That's the only explanation I know of," Charles said in his 1978 autobiography, "Brother Ray." "Music was one of my parts ... Like my blood. It was a force already with me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me, like food or water."

Charles considered Martin Luther King Jr. a friend and once refused to play to segregated audiences in South Africa. But politics didn't take.

He was happiest playing music, teaming with such disparate musicians as Willie Nelson (news), Chaka Khan (news) and Eric Clapton (news). Pepsi tapped him for TV spots around a powerfully simple "uh huh" theme, and he appeared in movies including "The Blues Brothers."

"The way I see it, we're actors, but musical ones," he once told The Associated Press. "We're doing it with notes, and lyrics with notes, telling a story. I can take an audience and get 'em into a frenzy so they'll almost riot, and yet I can sit there so you can almost hear a pin drop."

Charles was no angel. His womanizing was legendary, and he struggled with a heroin addiction for nearly 20 years before quitting cold turkey in 1965 after an arrest at the Boston airport. Yet there was a sense of humor about even that — he released both "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "Let's Go Get Stoned" in 1966.

He later became reluctant to talk about the drug use, fearing it would taint how people thought of his work.

"I've known times where I've felt terrible, but once I get to the stage and the band starts with the music, I don't know why but it's like you have pain and take an aspirin, and you don't feel it no more," he once said.

Ray Charles Robinson was born Sept. 23, 1930, in Albany, Ga. His father, Bailey Robinson, was a mechanic and a handyman, and his mother, Aretha, stacked boards in a sawmill. His family moved to Greenville, Fla., when Charles was an infant.

"Talk about poor," Charles once said. "We were on the bottom of the ladder."

Charles saw his brother drown in the tub his mother used to do laundry when he was about 5 as the family struggled through poverty at the height of the Depression. His sight was gone two years later. Glaucoma is often mentioned as a cause, though Charles said nothing was ever diagnosed.

Charles began dabbling in music at 3, encouraged by a cafe owner who played the piano. The knowledge was basic, but it made him more prepared for music classes when he was sent away, heartbroken, to the state-supported St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind.

Charles learned to read and write music in Braille, score for big bands and play instruments — lots of them, including trumpet, clarinet, organ, alto sax and the piano.

"Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory," Charles said. "I can sit at my desk and write a whole arrangement in my head and never touch the piano. .. There's no reason for it to come out any different than the way it sounds in my head."

His early influences were myriad: Chopin and Sibelius, country and western stars he heard on the Grand Ole Opry, the powerhouse big bands of Duke Ellington and Count Basie, jazz greats Art Tatum and Artie Shaw.

By the time he was 15 his parents were dead and Charles had graduated from St. Augustine. He wound up playing gigs in black dance halls — the so-called chitlin' circuit — and exposed himself to a variety of music, including hillbilly (he learned to yodel) before moving to Seattle.

He dropped his last name in deference to boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, patterned himself for a time after Nat "King" Cole and formed a group that backed rhythm 'n' blues singer Ruth Brown (news). It was in Seattle's red light district were he met a young Quincy Jones (news), showing the future producer and composer how to write music. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

Charles developed quickly in those early days. Atlantic Records purchased his contract from Swingtime Records in 1952, and two years later he recorded "I Got a Woman," a raw mixture of gospel and rhythm 'n' blues, pioneering what was later called soul. Soon, he was being called "The Genius" and was playing at Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival.

His first big hit was 1959's "What'd I Say," a song built off a simple piano riff with suggestive moaning from the Raeletts. Some U.S. radio stations banned the song, but Charles was on his way to stardom.

Producer Wexler, who recorded "What'd I Say," said he has worked with only three geniuses in the music business: Bob Dylan (news), Aretha Franklin (news) and Charles.

"In each case they brought something new to the table," Wexler told the San Jose Mercury News in 1994. Charles "had this blasphemous idea of taking gospel songs and putting the devil's words to them."

Charles was one of the legends receiving Kennedy Center Honors in 1986, cited as "one of the most respected singers of his generation ... the pioneer who broke down barriers between secular and sacred styles, between black and white pop."

His last Grammy came in 1993 for "A Song for You," but he never dropped out of the music scene. He continued to tour and long treasured time for chess. He once told the Los Angeles Times: "I'm not Spassky, but I'll make it interesting for you."

"Music's been around a long time, and there's going to be music long after Ray Charles is dead," he told The Washington Post in 1983. "I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind. If it's a big record, that's the frosting on the cake, but music's the main meal."

Associated Press writer Dave Zelio contributed to this report.
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There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com

[fingerlakes]

I read about the passing of this great musician with a heavy heart. It was always difficult to categorize Ray's music as it crossed over so many different genres. From country,to Rand B, to Blues,and to Pop,Ray had hits in all styles.
I'm not really a flag waver,but Ray's version of " America the Beautiful " always brings a tear to my eye and makes me proud to be an American for that moment in time. I think it is the patriotic song that all others should be compared to.
Rest in peace Ray, we will miss you.

[StratCat]

That's sad news .

Robben's spoken intro to Dont Let The Sun Catch You Crying on The Authorised Bootleg has always been something that gave me goosebumps, so may be worthwhile listening to that album just for those few words!

Truly a legend of music in so many different ways, fortunately his soul - and it's hard to imagine anyone else with as much soul as Ray had - will live on.

Chris
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because I rock, and that's important.

[Muiricane]

One of the greatest of all time, and one of my earliest influences as my Dad constantly played Ray, which are some of my earliest recollections, he will be missed.

[jconstant]

[Aeolian]

[diatonicdude]

Just like to add that when the passing of such a great musician and genius contributor to the musical world happens, we should rejoice in the gifts he/she has provided us in his/her life time. I am sure this reflection is what these great people would wish for in their remeberance

I raise a glass and thank you! RIP Mr Ray Charles.

DD
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Music is the universal language; speak it with emotion, listen with a passion.

[BlueRunner]

From a letter to the editor in this morning's edition of our local newspaper:

"Last week we lost a true friend and a very important American. He loved life and he loved his country. He lifted spirits wherever he went. He stood bravely against adversity, and through listening and understanding all others' points of view, he was able with his wit, charm intellect and compassion to lead us to accept all people for who they are, and to know that we are each unique individuals who can contribute greatly to this nation we call America. I'm going to miss Ray Charles."
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- BlueRunner