Charles, Ray

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Ray Charles

Piano, singer, songwriter

Singer, pianist Ray Charles’popularity spans numerous generations. Toddlers may have seen Charles singing the alphabet with Elmo on Sesame Street. Teenagers may remember a catchy Pepsi commercial with Charles singing in his gravely voice, “You Got the Right One, Baby, Uh-huh!” Many adults, however, grew up listening to his blend of gospel, blues, and rock and roll songs that cemented Charles’ name in the history books. He was one of the first soul stars and a major influence for musicians who would follow him. He has recorded all styles of music, from gospel to jazz to country western. A compilation of his work was released in 1997 titled Genius and Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection. He has won countless awards, including 12 Grammy awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As he stated in his 1978 autobiography BrotherRay, “Music is nothing separate from me. It is me.”

Ray Charles Robinson did not have an easy childhood. At five, he witnessed the death of his younger brother, George, who fell into a washtub in the backyard and drowned. Soon after, Charles contracted the degenerative eye disease glaucoma, which went untreated. He could look directly at the sun when he was four, and by age seven he was permanently blind. Born in Albany, Georgia in 1930, he was raised in Greenville, Florida in extreme poverty. His father died when he was ten. His mother died when he was 15, leaving Charles to fend for himself. Charles later told Jet that his mother had given him valuable advice before she died. “My mom would say, ‘You might not be able to do things like a person who can see. But there are always two ways to do everything. You’ve just got to find the other way.’”

An inkling of the musical talent that Charles embodied revealed itself when he was three as he sang with the Shiloh Baptist Church choir. At four, he sang in the Red Wing Cafe, where the owner let him play the piano. In 1937 Charles entered the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind as a charity student He studied classical piano and clarinet, and learned to read and write music in Braille, which he said gave him a greater understanding of music. He told Alan Paul of People, “Because in Braille music, you can only read so many bars at a time. You can’t play it and see it at the same time, so your memory and understanding expand.” When the death of Charles’ mother left him an orphan at fifteen, he left school and joined a few dance bands in Jacksonville, Florida. He made enough money to help him relocate to Seattle, Washington where he entered a talent contest the first night he was there. He was offered a job playing at the local Elk’s club, where he crooned, Nat “King” Cole style. He formed the McSon Trio, and planned his next move.

Genius Made

After playing several clubs in Washington, Charles and his trio moved to Los Angeles and recorded their first single, “Confession Blues,” which was written by Charles. In 1949, Charles worried that his original last name, Robinson, would cause the public to confuse him with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, so he dropped it and went by Ray Charles. The McSon Trio released several singles including “Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand,” which hit the U.S.R&B chart in 1951. In 1952, Atlantic Records signed Charles to a major contract and he began recording and touring regularly. His first commercial success came when he went to New Orleans in 1953 to work with Guitar Slim. Slim’s “The Things That I Used to Do” sold over a million copies and featured Charles on piano. This success gave Charles the confidence to form a larger band that included saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman.

Charles achieved commercial success with his new band and Atlantic in 1954 with “It Should Have Been Me.” Charles admitted to Marc Silver of U.S. News and World Report that he wasn’t exactly an overnight success. “When I was coming up, the record people looked at the talent. I made about four records at Atlantic before I got a hit. Ain’t no way I could be with a big company today and make four records that was not hits and

For the Record…

Born Ray Charles Robinson, September 23, 1930 in Albany, GA, to Bailey and Aretha Robinson; divorced, 1977; nine children. Education: attended St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind.

Permanently blinded at age seven by glaucoma, 1937; attended school for deaf and blind where he learned to read music in Braille and play piano, clarinet, 1937-45; left school, joined Florida dance bands, 1945; moved to Seattle to play with local bands, 1947; composed and recorded first single with McSon Trio “Confession Blues,” 1949; signed with Atlantic, 1952; recorded several singles with Atlantic, including “I Got A Woman,” 1954; released debut album, Ray Charles, 1957; recorded first million-seller “What’d I Say,” 1959; signed with ABC-Paramount, 1959-1965; recorded for his own production company, Tangerine Records, 1965-73; started production company, Crossover Records, 1973; Appeared in several films and television programs.

Awards: recipient New Star award, Down Beat critics poll, 1958, 1961-64; NAACP Image Award, number one singer, Jazz Critics Poll, 1968; twelve Grammy awards including Lifetime Achievement Award, 1987; best soul and R&B artist, Down Beat critics poll, 1984; Songwriters Hall of Fame honorary lifetime chairman; Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame; four gold albums; charter inductee of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1986; NAFEO Leadership award, 1991.

Addresses: Production company —Ray Charles Entertainment 2107 Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018.

they’d still keep me.” Luckily, Atlantic kept him. Over the next several years, Charles’ popularity skyrocketed as he hit the R&B charts regularly with songs like “I Got a Woman,” “Don’t You Know,” “This Little Girl of Mine,” “Drown In My Own Tears,” and “Hallelujah I Love Her So.” In 1957, Atlantic released Charles’ debut album simply titled Ray Charles.

At this stage of his career, Charles’ musical style was a mix of gospel and blues. His distinctively raspy, soulful voice backed by his raucous piano became a trademark in his songs, especially the romping “What’d I Say.” That song was a major hit in 1959, the first of Charles’ that sold over a million copies. The song crossed over to hit the U.S. popular music chart at number six after hitting number one on the R&B chart. By now, Charles was a major name in the music industry, arranging and performing with several other artists, as well as composing his own hits. He was nicknamed the “Genius,” after the Atlantic release of The Genius of Ray Charles in 1960. That same year, Charles’ version of Hoagy Charmichael’s “Georgia On My Mind” reached number one on the pop charts and sold over a million copies. In 1961 Charles won three Grammy awards, two for “Georgia On My Mind,” and one for the album The Genius of Ray Charles.

The Genius On His Way

Executives at ABC-Paramount Records took note of Charles’ crossover success and persuaded him to sign with them in 1959. Charles continued his success with the album The Genius Hits the Road, which reached number nine on the pop charts. Three more “Genius” albums did very well in the charts: Genius + Soul=Jazz, The Genius After Hours” and “The Genius Sings the Blues.” The single “Hit the Road Jack,” written by Charles’friend Percy Mayfield, reached numberoneand sold over a million copies. In 1962, another album, Modern Sounds in Country And Western Music, solidified Charles’ place in music history by remaining at the top of the pop chart for 14 weeks. The album included Charles’ renditions of Hank Williams and Floyd Tillman songs. One of the singles off of the album, “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” was the year’s best selling single at over two million copies.

His versatility—and willingness to take risks—allowed Charles to record many different styles of music. As he told Down Beat, “My music’s not about pleasing critics; it’s about pleasing me.” Charles forays into so many different styles—gospel, jazz, R&B, pop, and country—often gave his music the reputation of being “eclectic.” Charles claimed that he always had the confidence to record any music that sounded interesting to him because he always had the backing of his record companies. He told Chris Morris of Billboard, “The way I look at it, I have a deal with record companies. I say, ‘Look, if you don’t bother me about my music, I won’t bother you about your marketing, because I don’t know nothing about marketing, and I don’t figure you know that much about what I’m doing.”

Charles spent the sixties recording and touring until he hit a bump in the road in 1964. After embarking on a world tour that included shows in Japan and Europe, Charles was arrested at Boston’s Logan Airport for possession of narcotics. Customs officials found heroin and marijuana. After his arrest, Charles confessed to having been addicted to heroin since the age of 15— almost 20 years of addiction! After the confession, he checked into a rehabilitation center in California and quit heroin in four days, never to go back. By the time he faced a trial in 1966 for the arrest, he was found clean and sober by several random drug tests throughout 1965. He was convicted of possession, but given a suspended sentence, a fine, and four years’ probation. In 1966, Charles responded to the ordeal with the timely single “I Don’t Need No Doctor.”

In 1966, Charles expanded his horizons with a cameo role in the film, Ballad in Blue. He also formed his own custom record company with ABC called Tangerine Records. His first hit on that label was “Let’s Go Get Stoned.” Later, in 1973, Charles left ABC to form Crossover Records with Atlantic, his original company. He continued to influence other musicians such as Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Steve Winwood, and Joe Cocker, earning numerous awards and countless hits along the way. Towards the end of the 1960s, however, his musical style had shifted from the strong gospel and r&b to softer pop, jazz, and country songs.

Lifetime Achievement

In the 1970s, Ray Charles was a major celebrity, recording an album each year of the decade, accumulating awards, and making several film and television appearances. He composed songs for films and television shows, including the theme song for Three’s Company and “Beers to You” for the Clint Eastwood film Any Which Way You Can. He appeared in the film The Blues Brothers as well as television’s Moonlighting. While critics claimed that his music took on a softer touch, lacking the harder edge of his earlier gospel and blues mixes, his fans continued to sell out his worldwide performances. He helped compose— and performed on—the song “We Are the World” for the United States fundraising effort for Africa (USA for Africa) in 1985.

Charles long career spawned several prestigious awards. In 1979, his rendition of “Georgia on My Mind” was officially named Georgia’s state song. Charles was one of the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and in 1988 he was awarded the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1994, Charles was honored with a twelfth Grammy Award for his rendition of “Song for You.” A1997 collection of his hits, Genius and Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection, had critics and fans taking atrip down memory lane. Some critics thought that the 101 songs included on Genius and Soul weren’t enough. J. D. Cosidine of Entertainment Weekly wrote,” given the way many sets leave listeners moaning ‘enough ! ‘ isn’t it nice to be left hungry for more?”