Customer Reviews

Early Years

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From 1949 to 1952 before he signed to Atlantic he was 19 to 22 years old. He first signed to Downbeat (which became Swingtime) Records. It's clear from listening to the Listen buttons here that almost all or all of these 16 songs are from this period. There are apparently 42 known songs from this period and 41 or 42 of them appear on The Complete Swing Time & Down Beat Recordings 1949-1945 and also on Ray Charles 45 Great Performances, both 2xCD sets. I'm a massive fan of this period. He sounds like a grown man already. Kissa Me Baby could be my favorite song of all time and I love rock and punk too. There's several songs where he has strong horns supporting him. There's none of the hokey back up singers like in I Can't Stop Loving You in these recordings. Frankly, this stuff is special. No massive 50's and 60's hits of his. [...]

It's interesting to listen to these late 40's recordings and hear the heavy Nat Cole Trio influence in Ray's early sound. This is a few years before he became the innovator who took Gospel and R&B sounds, combined them with Pop and created a new genre of music. Ray was the master and fans will enjoy hearing these cuts.

The early works of Ray Charles(avaliable in many collections)were culled from his Swingtime label 78's, mainly recorded in Los Angeles in the late 40's and early 50s. All are heavily influenced by the Nat "King" Cole trio. (Cole's early period in which he played jazz and blues in a trio setting and with the all-star Jazz At The Philharmonic groups. Ray and Nat both would later sell millions with smaltzy orchestrated pop ballads.Best of Nat King Cole Trio: Vocal Classics 42-46Cool Christmas Blues)Another key influence was Charles Brown, another uptown bluesman who played piano.

My father had an old 45 of Ray Charles singing St Pete Florida Blues and I must have heard it 1000 times as a kid. I purchased this CD about a month ago strictly for that track and, in addition to some great memories, it gave me some insight into Charle's soulful and heartwarming style. I'm going to get the CD for dad!