Arguably, no one did more to bridge the gap between black gospel and modern R&B than Ray Charles. This five disc, 125 song anthology brings together the singles that he released during his long a colorful career, beginning with his early blues days, through R&B, then a side route into Country and Western and finally becoming an icon of modern pop.
Many people don’t remember that Charles initially started out as a blues crooner in the style of Nat Cole and Charles Brown, as songs like “Confession Blues”, “Honey Honey” and “Sittin’ On Top Of The World” will attest. He finally put together a larger ensemble with the saxes of Hank Crawford and David “Fathead” Newman, hitting stride with swingers “Mess Around” and “Roll With Me Baby”. It was at this point that he took black spirituals and turned them into secular love songs, such as “This Little Love Of Mine” and “Hallelujah, I Love Her So”, while “Green backs” is simply a hoot!
He then had a slew of smoky hits like “Lonely Avenue” and “Let The Good Times Roll”, but it was the mega hit “What’d I Say” that put him on the map for jazz, R&B and pop. He then rides the wave through “Hit The Road, Jack” and then becomes the pop icon with “Georgia On My Mind”, even taking on the country scene with “I Can’t Stop Loving You”. Charles shows his jazz chops on pieces like “One Mint Julep” and reaches into Americana with “You Are My Sunshine”. This is not just jazz, R&B, pop or soul, it’s the heart of America.