the rix mix

Everything that needs to be said about Ray Charles will be said over the next few days. My two cents: He was an artist who was acknowledged as the tops by jazz musicians, blues players, rock & rollers, pop singers like Frank Sinatra, & the more enlightened country performers such as Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson. That indicates someone who was at the hub of American music, uncategorizable, his influence radiating out in all directions. His adaptation of gospel music, so simple in conception, created what became known as "soul music." Only a few years after "What'd I Say" revolutionized the pop scene, Ray did it again with "Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music," in which he reclaimed for everyone a genre that been largely taken over by rhinestone racists & which was no longer being honest about its roots in the blues or it's more progressive heritage from Appalachian Mountain music. Even Elvis wasn't considered "country" at that time. & of course there's "America the BeautifuI." I have some of Ray's early recordings when he wanted be like Nat King Cole. His first act of genius may have been to realize the futility of imitating Nat.

Add YOUR comments here