Ray Charles
1962
Amanda: Ray Charles is back! I didn't exactly miss him; did you? Anyway, this album was pretty good. Sorry if I sound distracted while writing this review; I am watching Mildred Pierce (go Bette Davis; boo Joan Crawford!).
So anyway, back to the album. I always liked Ray Charles' faster songs rather than his depressing ones. I particularly liked "Bye Bye Love" even with the weird background singers. You have to admire Ray Charles' balls for singing songs that white guys wrote before the civil rights movement. This isn't motivation enough for me to see Ray though. I hate biographical movies.
RATING:
I am so smart it's a disease!
Brie: I really liked "The Genius Of Ray Charles" way better than "Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music". The best song of the album for me was "I Can't Stop Loving You". I definitely wouldn't listen to it again, but I don't regret listening to it the first time. That being said, I still love Ray for his voice that is somehow smooth and scratchy at the same time.
RATING:
I disliked the corny, heavy-handed strings production present on many of these tracks (might have been "modern" in 1962). The big-band sound didn't really work for me either, with a couple of exceptions. And Side 2 has a couple of songs where Ray Charles gets to sing with a quiet accompaniment of sax/horns/piano. So this was worth hearing for the four songs I liked.
ReplyDeleteStandout track: "Just A Little Lovin'"