Blues + Jazz [Import]

Ray Charles, Ray Charles And the Count Basie Orchestra | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 22, 1994)
• Original Release Date: March 22, 1994
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Rhino/Atlantic
• ASIN: B00000338F
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,232 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Someday

2. The Sun's Gonna Shine Again

3. The Midnight Hour

4. Worried Life Blues

5. Low Society

6. Losing Hand

7. Sinner's Prayer

8. Funny (But I Still Love You)

9. Feelin' Sad

10. I Wonder Who

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. The Man I Love

2. Music, Music, Music

3. I Surrender, Dear

4. Hornful Soul

5. Ain't Misbehavin'

6. Doodlin'

7. Sweet Sixteen Bars

8. Undecided

9. Rock House, Pts. 1-2

10. X-Ray Blues

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Got the Right One Ba-by!, January 11, 2002

By 

Darren (Jersey Shore, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blues + Jazz (Audio CD)

For the younger generation who only knows Ray as the "old guy in the Pepsi commercials" and those familiar with only his popular and more commercially successful recordings, who want to get to the roots of the real soul of Ray Charles, this compilation is for you.

This 2 disc compilation includes many of Ray's earlier Atlantic Recordings from the 50's and 60's. The first disc consists of his blues recordings while the second reflects his explorations in the roots of jazz. Both jazz and blues purists will delight in Ray's vocal and instrumental piano blues stripped of the overproduction that characterizes so much of the blues and jazz genres today.

Beyond a couple of rough spots on a few of the earlier recordings, this is a collection of beautiful blues and jazz pieces with a fairly comprehensive 34 page liner notebook which includes information about each individual selection. If you are a blues, jazz or Ray Charles fan, this compilation won't disappoint.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hidden gems..., July 22, 2003

By 

nicjaytee (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blues + Jazz (Audio CD)

40 tracks that fully justify Ray Charles' credentials as an exceptionally gifted blues singer and jazz piano player. But there's more, for hidden in here are several real gems including the rolling work-out of "Early in the Morning", the deeply gospel "I Believe to My Soul" and the ecstatic "What Would I do Without You". Best of all is his rarely found "Worried Life Blues" (originally released as "Someday Baby"): one of the saddest, most soulful renditions of the Big Maceo Merriweather classic you'll ever hear, featuring wonderfully sparse singing and some incredibly understated and controlled piano-playing that quite simply sum-up "the blues". Brilliant, and almost worth the price of the album on its own!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars RC is a genius at breaking the blues down to its essentials., February 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blues + Jazz (Audio CD)

Even when he was cranking out hits on Atlantic, Ray Charles was true to his gospel-inflected blues, either vocal or instrumental. This is simple music that clearly comes from the heart and soul. One disc is smokey gin-joint vocal blues and the other is stripped down piano blues. Excellent work. No need for high production values, studio sweetening or pretense. This stuff satisfies. Four stars. (I'd go for five, but the sound is a bit rough in spots.)