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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superlative box set -- probably the best in my collection, August 2, 2001
This review is from: Ray Charles: The Complete Country & Western Recordings 1959-1986 (Audio CD)
The soul and spirit in this collection is far beyond description. The feelin' starts on track 1 of disc 1 and continues on to track 22 of disc 4, and stays with you long after that. Sure, Ray Charles is a household name. But I don't think many people realize how deep of a soul singer and songwriter he is. If you have any inkling as to who Ray Charles is and what he's about--and it appeals to you--then you will *LOVE* this entire collection (FORGET about "country"/"R&B" classifications--it is SOUL music). Some box sets are overkill with the content, making it hard to truly enjoy everything from beginning to end. This is a major exception. The songs range from the 1950s to the 1980s, and, to my wonderful surprise, the 1980s tracks don't have that fake, overproduced sound that most records from the 1980s have. And the tracks from the 1950s and 60s, of course, have that wonderful "live" sound that only recordings from that time could have. It's all good! I was hesitant to buy this entire collection, and it makes me so happy to know that I took the chance because I wouldn't know what I was missing if I had simply gotten the "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" album. Ray Charles RULES!
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Ray Of Pure Light, December 5, 2002
This review is from: Ray Charles: The Complete Country & Western Recordings 1959-1986 (Audio CD)
With the exception of cd no:4 (which sounds too eighties for me) this is simply marvellous. I wouldn't call it soul, jazz or country - it's none of that, and all of it at the same time. "Take Me Home Country Roads" is way better than John Denvers version, "Ring Of Fire" sounds better than when Johnny Cash plays it. And the list goes on and on. "You Are My Sunshine" is another classic that Ray Charles breathes new life into. This cd-box is quite expensive, but it's worth it. Three discs or four...
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing Got By This Guy, January 13, 2005
This review is from: Ray Charles: The Complete Country & Western Recordings 1959-1986 (Audio CD)
It seems as if Ray kept an ear on country music throughout his life, long after the success of 1962's Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. This fine package goes on for YEARS after that. And they are all very good beause of his delivery. He starts out with "Bye Bye Love" done up by both Webb Pierce and the Everly Brothers in the 50s AND "You Don't Know Me" co-written by Cindy Walker, a prolific songwriter, and its singer "Tennessee Plowboy" Eddy Arnold (although Eddy actually was sort of an early "Countrypolitan" singer with about 30 #1 hits.) The package continues on with songs by longtime writer/singer Floyd Tillman, Ted Deffan ("his "Born to Lose" and "Worried Mind" were on the 1962 album though he never made the big time himself), governor Jimmie Davis, Don Gibson, Hank Williams, Sr.,Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, The Browns, Chet Atkins, Willie Nelson; the list goes on and on. The only one I question is "What Am I Living For?", the last song of King of the Stroll Chuck Willis, a black blues shouter, before his early death. Whatever. I bet if Ray was still with us, he'd still have an ear out for country music. If you think country music is hokey--maybe sometimes it is--it isn't so when the Genius does it. Trust me.
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