Ray CharlesRay Charles at the piano.Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), commonly known as Ray Charles, was a pioneering pianist and soul singer who helped shape the sound of rhythm and blues and brought a soulful sound to everything from country music to pop standards to a now-iconic rendition of "America the Beautiful." Frank Sinatra has called him "the only genius in the business". Early yearsHe was born Ray Charles Robinson in Albany, Georgia, shortening his name when he entered show business to avoid confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. Charles began going blind at around age five and was totally blind by age seven. He said that the causes were undiagnosed, but many believe it was as a result of glaucoma. Just before his eyes began to fail, he had seen his younger brother, George, drown in a washtub. He attended school at the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida as a charity case; he learned how to read Braille, as well as to write music and play various instruments. While he was there, his mother, who had raised him, died. After he left school, Charles began working as a musician in Florida, eventually moving to Seattle, Washington in 1947. He soon started recording, achieving his first hit song with "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" (1951). Early influences on his work were Nat King Cole (both his vocals and piano playing) and Charles Brown. While his first recordings were only skillful imitations of his heroes, Charles' music soon became more innovative. He toured with Lowell Fulson and worked with Guitar Slim and Ruth Brown. After joining Atlantic Records, Charles' sound became more original. For example, Charles controversially adapted secular lyrics to many gospel songs, and then played them with jazz backgrounds. Middle yearsHis first hit in this mode was "Mess Around," which was based on the 1929 classic "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" by Pinetop Smith and written by Ahmet Ertegun, his producer at Atlantic Records. He had another hit with the rap-like urban jive of "It Should Have Been Me," but went into high gear with the gospel drive of "I Got A Woman." (1955) This was followed by "This Little Girl of Mine," "Drown in My Own Tears," "Hallelujah I Love Her So," and "Lonely Avenue," half of them gospel songs converted with secular lyrics, and the others blues ballads. Although Charles was criticized for singing gospel songs with secular lyrics, there is a long tradition of putting religious lyrics to popular songs and vice versa. See Thomas A. Dorsey, one of the founders of gospel music, who also had a significant career in secular music. Solomon Burke and Little Richard also moved between the two styles. After an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival he achieved mainstream success with "(The Night Time is) The Right Time" and his signature song, "What'd I Say." The essence of this phase of his career can be heard on his live album Ray Charles In Person, recorded before a mostly African-American audience in Atlanta in 1958. This album also features the first public performance of "What'd I Say." It broke out as a hit in Atlanta from the tape, months before it was recorded in the studio in a two-part version with better fidelity. Charles had already begun to go beyond the limits of his blues-gospel synthesis while still at Atlantic, which now called him The Genius. He recorded with large orchestras and with jazz artists like Milt Jackson and even made his first country music cover with Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On." Then, he did move on, to ABC Records. At ABC, Charles had a great deal of control over his music, and broadened his approach, not on experimental side projects, but with out and out pop music, resulting in such hits as "Unchain My Heart" and "Hit the Road, Jack." In 1962, Charles surprised his new, broad audience with his landmark album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, which included the numbers "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "You Don't Know Me." This was followed by a series of hits, including "You Are My Sunshine," "Crying Time," "Busted" and "Unchain My Heart." Later yearsIn 1965, Charles was arrested for possession of heroin, a drug to which he had been addicted for seventeen years. It was his third arrest for the offense, but he avoided prison time after kicking the habit in a clinic in Los Angeles. He spent a year on parole and defiantly released Ashford and Simpson's "Lets Go Get Stoned." (1966) After the 1960s, Charles' releases were hit-or-miss, with some massive hits and critically acclaimed work, and some music that was dismissed as unoriginal and staid. He concentrated largely on live performances, although his version of "Georgia On My Mind," a Hoagy Carmichael song originally written for a girl named Georgia, was a hit and soon was proclaimed the state song of Georgia, with Charles performing it on the floor of the state legislature. He also had success with his unique version of "America the Beautiful." In 1980 Charles made a musical cameo appearance in The Blues Brothers. In the late 1980s, a number of events increased Ray's recognition among young audiences. In 1985, "Night Time is the Right Time" was featured in the episode "Happy Anniversary" of The Cosby Show. Cast members used the song to perform a wildly popular lip-synch that helped the show secure its wide viewership. In 1986, he collaborated with Billy Joel on "Baby Grand" for Joel's album The Bridge. In 1987, Charles guest-starred in the episode "Hit the Road, Chad," of Who's the Boss. Charles performed the song, "Always a Friend." Charles' new connection with audiences helped secure a spokesmanship for Diet Pepsi. In this highly successful advertising campaign, Charles popularized the catchphrase "You've got the right one, baby!" At the height of his newfound fame in the early nineties, Charles did guest vocals for quite a few projects. These included the INXS song "Please (You've Got That...)," on the Full Moon, Dirty Hearts album, as well as the theme song for Designing Women in its sixth season. He also appeared (with Chaka Khan) on long time friend Quincy Jones' hit I'll Be Good To You in 1991. In 2004 he did a new album, Genius Loves Company, with Norah Jones which got nominated in the Grammy Awards for Best Pop Vocal Album, Album of the year and Record of the year. They won Album of the year and record of the year. Their song "Here We Go Again" was nominated for Best Song. Last performancesOne of Charles' last public performances was in 2003 at a televised annual electronic media journalist banquet held in Washington, DC. He performed "Georgia On My Mind" and "America the Beautiful," though the singer was a bit slower and had some more vocal difficulty than in his younger days. Ray Charles' final public appearance came on April 30, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as an historic landmark in the city of Los Angeles. He died at age 73 of liver disease at his home in Beverly Hills, California, surrounded by family and friends. He was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. His final album, Genius Loves Company, released after his death, consists of duets with various admirers and contemporaries, including B.B. King, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, and Johnny Mathis. Unlike a similar Frank Sinatra album, the duets were recorded face-to-face, with both performers in the studio at the same time. Charles was significantly involved in the critically-acclaimed biopic Ray, an October 2004 film which portrays his life and career between 1930 and 1966 and stars actor Jamie Foxx as Charles. Foxx won the 2005 Best Actor Academy Award for the role. Before shooting could begin, however, director Taylor Hackford brought Foxx to meet Charles, who heard that the younger man was an accomplished pianist and insisted that they sit down at two pianos and jam. For two hours, Charles challenged Foxx, who revealed the depth of his talent, and finally, Charles stood up, hugged himself, and proclaimed, "He's the one...he can do it," thus giving his blessing. Charles was able to "see" the completed film, but he died before it opened in theaters. The film's credits note that he is survived by 12 children, 21 grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. Recognition in Halls of FameHe was an original inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, the Songwriters' Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Jazz Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, and the Playboy Hall of Fame. ControversiesDespite his support of Martin Luther King, Jr., in the 1960s and his support for the civil rights movement, Charles courted controversy when he toured South Africa in 1981 despite an international boycott of the country because of its apartheid policy. He faced pickets in South Africa and in 15 North American cities he toured subsequently including Albany, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. The United Nations agency supporting the boycott asked him to apologize and promise not to visit South Africa until the abolition of apartheid to which he responded that they could "kindly kiss (my) far end." Despite having described himself as a "Hubert Humphrey Democrat," Charles accepted $100,000 to perform "America the Beautiful" at former U.S. president Ronald Reagan's second inaugural ball. In response to criticism, his manager, Roy Adams, commented: "For that kind of money he would have sung "America the Beautiful" at a Ku Klux Klan rally." A notorious ladies' man, Charles was married twice and fathered twelve children by seven different women. In a 60 Minutes profile, he admitted to Ed Bradley that he "auditioned" his female back-up singers. The saying was, "To be a Raelet, you've got to let Ray." From the time of his switch from straight rhythm and blues with a combo, Charles was often accused of selling out. He left behind his classic formulation of rhythm and blues to sing country music, pop songs, and soft-drink commercials. In the process, he went from a niche audience to worldwide fame. Quotations
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In the process, he went from a niche audience to worldwide fame. Currently, they are on a joint-tour with the band Earth, Wind and Fire. He left behind his classic formulation of rhythm and blues to sing country music, pop songs, and soft-drink commercials. The group continues to tour in big and small venues worldwide. From the time of his switch from straight rhythm and blues with a combo, Charles was often accused of selling out. And as a new century turned, the band sold their entire recorded output to Rhino Records (after years with Columbia Records as well as their own label). The saying was, "To be a Raelet, you've got to let Ray.". Lead singers have changed from time to time (ranging from Bill Champlin to Jason Scheff), but the group still keeps active more than three-and-a-half decades after its founding. In a 60 Minutes profile, he admitted to Ed Bradley that he "auditioned" his female back-up singers. The episode put more emphasis on the death of Terry Kath than their entire career combined, and Cetera completely disowned the special and went so far as to not allow VH1 to use all the songs he composed for the band, even declining to be interviewed (although stock news footage of a Cetera interview does appear). A notorious ladies' man, Charles was married twice and fathered twelve children by seven different women. The show, however, was not without its difficulties. In response to criticism, his manager, Roy Adams, commented: "For that kind of money he would have sung "America the Beautiful" at a Ku Klux Klan rally.". In 2002, the group (minus Cetera) had the opportunity to tell their story in an episode of VH1's Behind The Music. president Ronald Reagan's second inaugural ball. concert in 1997, they teamed up with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra to perform a James Pankow/Dwight Mikelson orchestral arrangement of Pankow's rock epic "Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon". The United Nations agency supporting the boycott asked him to apologize and promise not to visit South Africa until the abolition of apartheid to which he responded that they could "kindly kiss (my) far end." Despite having described himself as a "Hubert Humphrey Democrat," Charles accepted $100,000 to perform "America the Beautiful" at former U.S. During a L.A. He faced pickets in South Africa and in 15 North American cities he toured subsequently including Albany, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. In 1995, they attempted to merge their unique sound with Big Band music for their album Chicago: Night And Day (Big Band), which consisted of covers of songs originally recorded by Sarah Vaughan, Glenn Miller, and Duke Ellington (from whom the album mainly got its inspiration). Despite his support of Martin Luther King, Jr., in the 1960s and his support for the civil rights movement, Charles courted controversy when he toured South Africa in 1981 despite an international boycott of the country because of its apartheid policy. The band continued to be innovative in the decade of the 1990s, even though their popularity began to decline. He is also a member of the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, the Songwriters' Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Jazz Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, and the Playboy Hall of Fame. During 1989, they did a joint concert tour with The Beach Boys (who had years earlier sung back-up vocals for "Wishing You Were Here"). He was an original inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Records, was unhappy with the finished result, and thus the album was never released officially, although in succeeding years bootleg recordings of the album have surfaced worldwide, including over the Internet. Selected tracks from the unreleased album have since been officially released on a compilation greatest hits CD box set. The film's credits note that he is survived by 12 children, 21 grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. Their record company at the time, Warner Bros. Charles was able to "see" the completed film, but he died before it opened in theaters. By the end of the decade, the group planned and recorded a concept album, Stone Of Sisyphus. For two hours, Charles challenged Foxx, who revealed the depth of his talent, and finally, Charles stood up, hugged himself, and proclaimed, "He's the one...he can do it," thus giving his blessing. But the conflict between Peter Cetera's style of composing and those of the rest of the group caused Cetera to leave the band in 1985 for a solo career (he topped the charts with the "Karate Kid Part II" theme song "The Glory of Love" and a duet with Amy Grant, "Next Time I Fall (In Love)"). Before shooting could begin, however, director Taylor Hackford brought Foxx to meet Charles, who heard that the younger man was an accomplished pianist and insisted that they sit down at two pianos and jam. The group also contributed to movie soundtracks, such as "Two Of A Kind", "Summer Lovers", and "Days Of Thunder". Foxx won the 2005 Best Actor Academy Award for the role. Chicago itself guested on a Paul Anka song, "Hold Me 'Til The Morning Comes", while the horn section made an appearance on the Bee Gees' album Spirits Having Flown. Charles was significantly involved in the critically-acclaimed biopic Ray, an October 2004 film which portrays his life and career between 1930 and 1966 and stars actor Jamie Foxx as Charles. For example, Al Green guested on a bonus track on the Chicago VI CD, while The Bee Gees guested on a track off of "Hot Streets". Unlike a similar Frank Sinatra album, the duets were recorded face-to-face, with both performers in the studio at the same time. From time to time, other artists contributed to Chicago recordings. King, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, Elton John,
Bonnie Raitt, Diana
Krall, Norah Jones, and Johnny Mathis. Ray Charles' final public appearance came on April 30, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as an historic landmark in the city of Los Angeles. The release also marked a move somewhat away from the jazz-rock direction favored by Kath and towards more pop songs and ballads. He performed "Georgia On My Mind" and "America the Beautiful," though the singer was a bit slower and had some more vocal difficulty than in his younger days. Kath's death could have meant the end for the band, but instead the group stood strong and later that year recorded and released Hot Streets, their first album without Kath and Guercio and their first album with a title rather than a roman numeral (they would return to the old naming scheme immediately afterward, for the most part). One of Charles' last public performances was in 2003 at a televised annual electronic media journalist banquet held in Washington, DC. Then, singer/guitarist/group founder Terry Kath died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, delivering a devastating blow to the band. Their song "Here We Go Again" was nominated for Best Song. The year began with an acrimonius split with long-time manager Guercio. They won Album of the year and record of the year. 1978 was a tragic and transitional year for the band. In 2004 he did a new album, Genius Loves Company, with Norah Jones which got nominated in the Grammy Awards for Best Pop Vocal Album, Album of the year and Record of the year. That was the song which won the group their only Grammy award for Best Rock Performance by a duo or group in 1977. He also appeared (with Chaka Khan) on long time friend Quincy Jones' hit I'll Be Good To You in 1991. But for all their effort, none of their singles went to number one until the group's tenth album (Chicago X) in 1976, when Cetera's slow, exquisite ballad "If You Leave Me Now" went to the top of the charts. These included the INXS song "Please (You've Got That...)," on the Full Moon, Dirty Hearts album, as well as the theme song for Designing Women in its sixth season. That summer saw a very successful joint tour across America with the Beach Boys, with each act performing some of the other's material. In this highly successful advertising campaign, Charles popularized the catchphrase "You've got the right one, baby!" At the height of his newfound fame in the early nineties, Charles did guest vocals for quite a few projects. The next year's release, Chicago VIII featured the political allegory "Harry Truman" and the nostalgic "Old Days". Charles performed the song, "Always a Friend." Charles' new connection with audiences helped secure a spokesmanship for Diet Pepsi. 1973's Chicago VI also topped the charts bouyed by hits "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" and "Just You and Me". Chicago VII, the band's double-disc 1974 release, featured the Cetera-composed "Wishing You Were Here" (sung by lead guitarist Terry Kath, with background vocals by The Beach Boys). In 1987, Charles guest-starred in the episode "Hit the Road, Chad," of Who's the Boss. Other successful albums and singles followed in each of the succeeding years. In 1986, he collaborated with Billy Joel on "Baby Grand" for Joel's album The Bridge. The group bounced back from this misstep in 1972 with their first single-disc release, Chicago V, a diverse set that reached number one on both the Billboard pop and jazz albums charts and yielded the radio hit "Saturday In the Park". Cast members used the song to perform a wildly popular lip-synch that helped the show secure its wide viewership. The performances and sound quality were judged sub-par; in fact, one group member went on record to say that "the horn section sounded like kazoos". In 1985, "Night Time is the Right Time" was featured in the episode "Happy Anniversary" of The Cosby Show. 1-4 (Chicago IV) (consisting of music from their first three albums). In the late 1980s, a number of events increased Ray's recognition among young audiences. Some fans say a low point of the group's early career came when they released a quadruple-album live set, At Carnegie Hall, Vols. He also had success with his unique version of "America the Beautiful." In 1980 Charles made a musical cameo appearance in The Blues Brothers. With that, the pattern had been set: the band, ever prolific, recorded and released music at a rate of more than two LP discs per year (always titled with the band name and a Roman numeral) from their debut in 1969 through the 1970s. He concentrated largely on live performances, although his version of "Georgia On My Mind," a Hoagy Carmichael song originally written for a girl named Georgia, was a hit and soon was proclaimed the state song of Georgia, with Charles performing it on the floor of the state legislature. Among the other tracks on the album: keyboardist Robert Lamm's "25 Or 6 To 4" (sung by bass player Peter Cetera), and the lengthy "It Better End Soon". After the 1960s, Charles' releases were hit-or-miss, with some massive hits and critically acclaimed work, and some music that was dismissed as unoriginal and staid. The suite yielded two top ten hits, "Make Me Smile", and "Colour My World". He spent a year on parole and defiantly released Ashford and Simpson's "Lets Go Get Stoned." (1966). The centerpiece track was a 15-minute suite composed by James Pankow called "Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon" (the structure of this suite was inspired by Pankow's love for classical music). It was his third arrest for the offense, but he avoided prison time after kicking the habit in a clinic in Los Angeles. This second album, unofficially titled Chicago II, was the group's breakthrough album. In 1965, Charles was arrested for possession of heroin, a drug to which he had been addicted for seventeen years. The band's popularity exploded with the release of their second album, another double-LP set, which included several top-40 hits. At ABC, Charles had a great deal of control over his music, and broadened his approach, not on experimental side projects, but with out and out pop music, resulting in such hits as "Unchain My Heart" and "Hit the Road, Jack." In 1962, Charles surprised his new, broad audience with his landmark album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, which included the numbers "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "You Don't Know Me." This was followed by a series of hits, including "You Are My Sunshine," "Crying Time," "Busted" and "Unchain My Heart.". The album also included a number of pop-rock gems (several of which would later be released as singles and eventually become rock radio staples), and began to receive heavy airplay on the fledgling FM radio band. Then, he did move on, to ABC Records. The band's first album, the eponymously titled Chicago Transit Authority, was an audacious debut: a sprawling double album (unheard of for a rookie band) that included jazzy instrumentals, extended jams featuring Latin percussion, and experimental, feedback-laden guitar abstraction. He recorded with large orchestras and with jazz artists like Milt Jackson and even made his first country music cover with Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On.". Upon release of their first record in early 1969, the band took a new name, Chicago Transit Authority (the name would almost immediately be changed to simply Chicago after the real CTA objected). Charles had already begun to go beyond the limits of his blues-gospel synthesis while still at Atlantic, which now called him The Genius. While gaining some success as a cover band, the group worked on original songs and in 1968 moved to Los Angeles, California under the guidance of their friend and manager James William Guercio, and signed with Columbia Records. This album also features the first public performance of "What'd I Say." It broke out as a hit in Atlanta from the tape, months before it was recorded in the studio in a two-part version with better fidelity. The band featured an unusual and unusually versatile line-up of instrumentalists including saxophonist Walter Parazaider, trombonist James Pankow, and trumpet player Lee Loughnane along with more traditional rock instruments. After an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival he achieved mainstream success with "(The Night Time is) The Right Time" and his signature song, "What'd I Say." The essence of this phase of his career can be heard on his live album Ray Charles In Person, recorded before a mostly African-American audience in Atlanta in 1958. They added more members, eventually growing to seven players, and went professional as a cover band called The Big Thing. Solomon Burke and Little Richard also moved between the two styles. The band was formed when a group of DePaul University music students began playing a series of late-night jams at clubs on and off campus. See Thomas A. Dorsey, one of the founders of gospel music, who also had a significant career in secular music. Well known for being one of the first (and, indeed, one of the few) rock bands to make extensive use of horns and for producing a number of hit ballads, Chicago had a steady stream of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Although Charles was criticized for singing gospel songs with secular lyrics, there is a long tradition of putting religious lyrics to popular songs and vice versa. Chicago is a rock band that formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. He had another hit with the rap-like urban jive of "It Should Have Been Me," but went into high gear with the gospel drive of "I Got A Woman." (1955) This was followed by "This Little Girl of Mine," "Drown in My Own Tears," "Hallelujah I Love Her So," and "Lonely Avenue," half of them gospel songs converted with secular lyrics, and the others blues ballads. The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning (2002). His first hit in this mode was "Mess Around," which was based on the 1929 classic "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" by Pinetop Smith and written by Ahmet Ertegun, his producer at Atlantic Records. Chicago XXVI - Live in Concert (1999). For example, Charles controversially adapted secular lyrics to many gospel songs, and then played them with jazz backgrounds. Chicago 25: The Christmas Album (1998). After joining Atlantic Records, Charles' sound became more original. The Heart of Chicago 1967-1998 Volume 2 (1998). He toured with Lowell Fulson and worked with Guitar Slim and Ruth Brown. The Heart of Chicago 1967-1997 (1997). While his first recordings were only skillful imitations of his heroes, Charles' music soon became more innovative. Night and Day: Big-Band (1995). Early influences on his work were Nat King Cole (both his vocals and piano playing) and Charles Brown. Chicago Twenty 1 (1991). After he left school, Charles began working as a musician in Florida, eventually moving to Seattle, Washington in 1947. He soon started recording, achieving his first hit song with "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" (1951). Chicago Greatest Hits (1982-1989) (1989). While he was there, his mother, who had raised him, died. Chicago 19 (1988). Augustine, Florida as a charity case; he learned how to read Braille, as well as to write music and play various instruments. Chicago 18 (1986). Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Chicago 17 (1984). He attended school at the St. Chicago 16 (1982). Just before his eyes began to fail, he had seen his younger brother, George, drown in a washtub. Chicago Greatest Hits Volume II (1981). He said that the causes were undiagnosed, but many believe it was as a result of glaucoma. Chicago XIV (1980). Charles began going blind at around age five and was totally blind by age seven. Chicago 13 (1979). He was born Ray Charles Robinson in Albany, Georgia, shortening his name when he entered show business to avoid confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. Hot Streets (1978). Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), commonly known as Ray Charles, was a pioneering pianist and soul singer who helped shape the sound of rhythm and blues and brought a soulful sound to everything from country music to pop standards to a now-iconic rendition of "America the Beautiful." Frank Sinatra has called him "the only genius in the business". Chicago XI (1977). Doubleday; (October 1, 1978). Chicago X (1976). Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story by Ray Charles & David Ritz (Da Capo, ISBN 0306813351). Chicago Greatest Hits (1975). (2004) Genius Loves Company. Chicago VIII (1975). (1991) The Birth of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm and Blues Recordings. Chicago VII (1974). (1962) Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. Chicago VI (1973). (1959) The Genius of Ray Charles. Live in Japan (1972). Download OGG sample of "What'd I Say". Chicago V (1972). Anything I’ve fantasized about, I’ve done." — (Los Angeles Times, 1989). Live at Carnegie Hall (1971). "The fact of the matter is, you don’t give up what’s natural. Chicago III (1971). If I’m trying to sing something and I can’t get it, I’m going to keep at it until I get where I want it." — (Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 1998). Chicago II (1970). If there’s something I want to do, I’m one of those people that won’t be satisfied until I get it done. Chicago Transit Authority (1969). That comes from my mom. "Do it right or don’t do it at all. I got a lot of criticism for it." — (San Jose Mercury News, 1994). It was very controversial. It had this holiness and preachy tone to it. "When I started to sing like myself — as opposed to imitating Nat Cole, which I had done for a while — when I started singing like Ray Charles, it had this spiritual and churchy, this religious or gospel sound. |