Ray Charles

About

Released in 1957, <i>Ray Charles</i> is technically the singer’s debut album—even though it arrived a full four years after Charles’ boogie-woogie hit “Mess Around” introduced him to millions of listener. The fact that his music career took off just as LPs were becoming popular obscures how long Charles had already been working—both as a recording artist and, before that, as a fixture on the South’s Chitlin’ Circuit. <i>Ray Charles</i> collects 14 tracks from the singer’s early years—many of them hit, and all of them essential. Because the songs here span a few year, <i>Ray Charles</i> traces the ways the singer was refining his gospel-meets-jazz R&B sound. “I Got A Woman,” the 1954 single that became Charles’ first R&B No. 1 hit—and the tune that, decades later, would anchor Kanye West and Jamie Foxx’s “Gold Digger”—is notably looser than “Mess Around,” with Charles expanding the familiar blues template into an easy groove, as well as an ecstatic vocal showcase. .

via Apple Music

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