We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago….
He was called a genius by many including Frank Sinatra. Others knew him as simply Brother Ray. But whatever you called him ,most everyone agreed that Ray Charles was an American treasure.
After melding R & B, jump blues and gospel to help form the “soul music genre” in the 50s. Charles continued to re-invent himself with forays into country music and almost every other kind of music in the 60’s.
He had tons of hits but by 1972 those had mostly dried up. So he grabbed producer Quincy Jones and a host of solid session pros to cut “Message From The People”. While not as hip as topical LPs from Marvin Gaye & Curtis Mayfield, Charles did manage to address some of the social ills of the day while also recording some American classics and current hits as well.
He delivers his gospel chops on “Lift Every Voice & Sing” and “America The Beautiful”. He tries to pull people together with songs like “Heaven Help Us All” and “There Will Be No Peace Without All Men As One”. “Hey Mister”, an open letter to Congress, actually got played at a Congressional Hearing in 1972.
I think you’ll enjoy his takes on “Abraham, Martin & John” and “Take Me Home Country Roads” and he has some fun with a cover of Melanie’s “Look What They Done To My Song Ma”. And gets funky with a song called ‘Every Saturday Night”.
Also, a song like “Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong” could have been written today.
The players on this are top-notch. Freddie Hubbard, Joe Newman, Hubert Laws, Toots Theilemans, Eric Gale, Carol Kaye, Chuck Rainey, Ray Brown & Grady Tate. And the Raelettes are here as the response to Ray’s call.
Call it a protest album if you must….but protesting the plight of the poor and forgotten was not just a “cause” of the early 70’s, it was a requirement and duty.
Here is a remake of Heaven Help Us All” that he cut for his famous duets LP. Stevie Wonder also took a crack at this one.
Here is the LP in one post.
1. 00:00–03:08 Lift Every Voice and Sing 2. 03:11–07:21 Seems Like I Gotta Go Wrong 3. 07:25–11:32 Heaven Help Us All 4. 11:34–15:22 There’ll Be No Peace Without All Men As One 5. 15:26–19:18 Hey Mister 6. 19:20–23:01 What Have They Done to My Song 7. 23:04–27:56 Abraham, Martin, and John 8. 27:58–31:30 Take Me Home, Country Roads 9. 31:33–34:54 Every Saturday Night 10. 34:56–38:28 America the Beautiful
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