Ray [Original Soundtrack]

Performer: Original Soundtrack/Ray Charles
Producer: Herb Abramson; Jerry Wexler; Ahmet Ertegun; Sid Feller; Ray Charles; Taylor Hackford; Stuart Benjamin; James Austin
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Composer: Ray Charles. Audio Remasterer: Bill Inglot. Liner Note Author: Taylor Hackford. Photographer: Nicola Goode. Arrangers: Gerald Wilson; Jesse Stone; Ahmet Ertegun; Marty Paich; Ralph Burns; Ray Charles. Unlike the soundtrack for his Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire, director Taylor Hackford didn't have Ray Charles re-record his classic songs for the soundtrack of his Charles biopic, Ray! Instead, he selected 17 songs of Ray at his '50s and '60s peak, skillfully balancing selections from both Atlantic and ABC to create a surprisingly successful and thoroughly entertaining overview. While 17 tracks can't contain all of his best work -- there's not too much of his jazz playing and just a little bit of his country-soul recordings, plus singles from "Lonely Avenue" to "Busted" are MIA -- it does hit all of the best-known songs ("I Got a Woman," "(Night Time Is) The Right Time," "Georgia on My Mind," "Hit the Road Jack"), mixing in a couple of relatively obscure tracks (such as barnburning, transcendent early R&B cut "Mess Around") and adding excellent live renditions of such staples as "Hallelujah I Love Her So," "What'd I Say," and "I Can't Stop Loving You." The end result may not be definitive, but it surely is a good introduction that will no doubt whet the appetites of listeners who were turned onto Ray Charles because of Hackford's film. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Even though RAY, the 2004 biopic featuring Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, hit the theaters after the singer's death, Charles was heavily involved in the process of putting the film together, and co-produced the soundtrack. Consequently, the album functions as an extremely effective primer on the genre-transcending musical giant's career. As one might expect, it's heavy on Brother Ray's late-1950s/early-'60s salad days, digging into the gospel-inflected fervor of "I've Got a Woman," the gritty R&B of "Mess Around," and the soul-wracking distress call that is "Unchain My Heart." A number of live cuts are included as well, demonstrating the spontaneous invention that was part and parcel of Charles's gift, as on the jubilant "Hallelujah I Love Her So" and raw, sensual "What'd I Say." Ray's majestic way with a ballad is heard on two versions of his signature tune "Georgia on My Mind," and his pioneering R&B/country crossover work is ably represented by a live take on the sorrowful Eddy Arnold tune "You Don't Know Me." While there's no shortage of extant Charles anthologies, fans of the movie who take the soundtrack route to discovering the Genius's music will certainly not be short-changed.

Mojo (Publisher) (p.105) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[A]chievement in corralling all forms of black music and country & western is captured gloriously..."

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