I’d heard the song from time to time when I was growing up, of course; but as a kid I listened to rock. I never really knew who Ray Charles was. Maybe I caught him on a variety show; but I never really paid any attention.
Then I saw a claymation film at a school assempbly. It was Jimmy Carter sitting at his desk in the Oval Office. As he worked into the wee hours, he looked up and Ray Charles started singing Georgia On My Mind. The clay Carter lip-synched, as it were.
From that point on, I realised who Ray Charles was. He had a magnificent, down-to-Earth voice. Truly one of the greatest performers who ever lived.
Farewell, Ray, you were American music like no one before or after. The true voice of America. His passing means far more than any politician, because Ray Charles sang America’s very soul.
One of the best tributes to him ever was by Flip Wilson doing a skit about Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus.
— You gonna discover America? What you gonna discover in America?
— Well, for one thing, Ray Charles.
— You gonna discover Ray Charles? Honey, get this man a boat!
Ray Charles was truly one of the greats. If you had to make a list of the greatest musical artists in the last 100 years, I think he’d be way up toward the top by anyone’s estimate.
My wife gave me a 5 CD Ray Charles box set for Christmas two years ago called “50 years of Genius”, and it chronicles his career since he started in the 1940’s. Amazing stuff. You can’t listen to without realizing he was a true genius in his profession.
Crap, I screwed up the name of the boxed set. It’s “Genius And Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection”. If you’re a Ray Charles fan, you must have this set.
A few months back, I saw Brother Ray on a CMT Special. He was performing Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors”, and it was smack-yo-mama amazing. One of his many gifts that always impressed me was his ability to take just about any song and put his specialized custom stamp on it. Not just the voice, not just the piano, but the whole package he was.
If you don’t own it already, go out right now and buy Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music. This album is one of the greatest Country Music pieces every released.
Oh, and I hear that Ray dabbled in a little soul and R&B music, too.
Talk about transcending your boundaries!
His musical genius aside, Ray Charles was also a genuinely nice guy. Always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. Brother Ray had his foibles, but he was just so likeable you forgave them.
The Atlanta paper today reports that when the Georgia Legislature named Ray Charles’s version of “Georgia on My Mind” the official state song in 1979, they rose as one and gave Ray an extended standing ovation. Ray Charles was so touched that he wept. How can you not love the guy?
And speaking of weeping, I will admit to shedding a manly tear when I heard this awful news.
We saw the man at Wolf Trap about ten years ago. He played a bit of a joke on the audience by coming on stage looking somewhat feeble. He sat down at the piano, sort of slouched over, and I thought “Oh, no…he’s on a downhill slide.” Not to mention that I thought I probably wasted big bucks for those orchestra seats. Even his playing was tentative when he started out.
It was all a put-on. After the first number, he launched into “What’d I say?” and tore that place apart, doing his usual gymnastics at the keyboard and vocally. Great show. Great man. Greatly missed.
