Genius & Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection [Box]

Performer: Ray Charles
Artist: Betty Carter; Willie Nelson; Aretha Franklin; George Jones; Chet Atkins; Hank Williams, Jr.; Chaka Khan; Lou Rawls
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: GENIUS & SOUL collects tracks from Ray Charles' time at Down Beat, Atlantic, ABC/Paramount, Columbia and Warner Brothers. Personnel includes: Ray Charles (vocals, acoustic & electric piano, organ); Betty Carter, Jimmy Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, George Jones, Hank Williams, Jr., Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls, Renald Richard, Margie Hendrix (vocals); Chet Atkins, Steve Khan (guitar); Buddy Emmons (steel guitar); David "Fathead" Newman (alto & baritone saxophones, background vocals); Cecil Payne, Bennie "Hank" Crawford (baritone saxophone); Johnny Coles, Clark Terry (trumpet); Steve Turre (trombone); Richard Tee (piano, organ); Billy Preston (organ); Ray Brown (bass); David "Panama" Francis, Connie Kay (drums); Jerry Wexler (tambourine); Siedah Garrett, Syreeta Wright, Phil Perry, James Ingram, The Cookies, The Raelettes (background vocals); Quincy Jones. Producers include: Lloyd Glenn, Ahmet Ertegun, Herb Abramson, Jerry Wexler, Nesuhi Ertegun. Compilation producers: James Austin, David Ritz, Billy Vera. Recorded between 1949 and 1993. Includes liner notes by David Ritz, Billy Vera, and Bill Dahl. GENIUS & SOUL: THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Album Notes and for Best Historical Album. As the first comprehensive, multi-label box set assembled on Ray Charles, the five-disc, 102-song Genius & Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection is an extensive overview of one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. Charles produced a body of work so rich and diverse that even five CDs only scratches the surface of his accomplishments. None of his instrumentals are on Genius & Soul, nor are his jazz and traditional pop efforts spotlighted. Instead, the box traces the evolution of his career, as he moves from an R&B pioneer to a mainstream pop crooner to a country-pop vocalist to a contemporary soul singer. Charles was a gripping, captivating vocalist, capable of making even bland music sound vital, but the fact is, his '70s and '80s recordings pale in comparison to his seminal '50s and '60s sides. Which means that the set becomes less compelling as it reaches the fifth disc, but the first three and a half discs are filled with timeless music that remains exciting, vital and altogether wondrous. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Seriously, what can you say? If you have the slightest interest in soul, R&B, jazz, early rock & roll, and even country music--the MODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY AND WESTERN albums are utterly essential--then there is no reason for you not to own GENIUS AND SOUL, the five-disc Ray Charles Rhino anthology. Covering Charles' entire career and all of his myriad musical styles, it's not definitive--if there's anyone you could make a case for owning every recorded note by, it's Ray Charles--but it's superior to his other box sets in its depth and scope. Other boxes tend to focus on only one of the musical styles that Charles mastered, when it's the sheer variety of his gifts that's so remarkable. Buy this and know the meaning of the word soul.

Spin (1/98, p.88) - Ranked #3 on Spin's list of "Top 10 Reissues." - "...a can't-miss Stanley Kaplan class in the evolution of rock, R&B, soul, and schmaltz." Entertainment Weekly (9/5/97, p.74) - "...with 101 songs spread over five discs, Ray Charles' GENIUS & SOUL: THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION is meaty, lean and packed with hits..." - Rating: A Down Beat (1/98, p.54) - 5 stars (out fo 5) - "This package stands as a testament to one of the great voices of American song....he developed his own version of soul so deep you can't touch bottom....the sound overall is warm, rich and wonderful..." JazzTimes (12/97, p.145) - "...anthology specialists Rhino have done the near impossible-definitively cracking the cipher of perhaps the greatest musical fusionist of the 20th century..." Vibe (12/99, p.158) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century

There are few musicians in modern pop music who can truly be called "genius," but in the case of Ray Charles, the term applies. His innovative singing, drawing on both gospel and pop, has inspired legions of great singers. With a long, prolific recording career that began in 1949, Charles became perhaps the finest interpreter of pop music in the postwar years. A gifted pianist, songwriter, and vocalist, he was a master of every style he attempted, be it R&B, country, blues, or soul. The man who wrote such indelible R&B classics as "I Got a Woman" and "What'd I Say" passed away in 2004, a legend several times over. The same year, a remarkable performance by Jamie Foxx in the biopic RAY served as a fitting cinematic eulogy.

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