Customer Reviews

Ray Charles - O Genio - Live in Brazil 1963

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you liked Jamie Foxx's performance in RAY, you will love this DVD. It's from 1963, the same timeframe as the movie, with the actual people you see featured in the movie including David "Fathead" Newman and Margie Hendrix.

The first "show" is actually a rehearsal (probably both for the band and the camera operators) and is of stellar quality considering it's 40 year old video. The actual show (the second "set") has some annoying video quality and sound buzz, but who really cares? The DVD is very watchable, especially considering most of the songs in the actual show were also captured in high quality during the rehearsal.

While later Ray concert DVDs are of perhaps better video quality (e.g. color), they miss the magic of Ray performing at the very peak of his career (he had already released "Modern Sounds" by the time of this performance).

If you are a Ray Charles fan, just buy this. You won't be disappointed.

I have been a music lover now for over 40 years, and I fully acknowledge the "greats" who shaped the music we listen to in
our time...James,Aretha,Duke,Elvis,Louis,Miles,Buddy and Ray come to mind......but not until seeing this DVD did I come to the full realization that Ray Charles is indeed the greatest and most important musician/performer of this century.
This dvd is captivating....I have over 50 music dvd's in my collection and this one is...well...Ray simply blows the socks off of anything you have seen.....you watch it and if you can't hear andd see what is going on and what is being created by this man.....you are the blind one...
My thanks to the people who unearthed this gem...

Being a lifelong Ray Charles' fan and having the pleasure of seeing him in concert back in the mid-80s, his talent and passion for his music has never diminished. Over the course of the years, footage of his earlier concerts and performances were sparse and rare, however, when I discovered this DVD and that Margie Hendrix & The Raelettes were on this, I immediately purchased it. Thanks again to the great folks at Rhino for again putting a product out to the public that is unique and caters to us hardcore music lovers!

The first concert which is a rehearsal is far better than the second with its sound & picture quality. You know that you're not going to be disappointed when Ray starts out with "What I'd Say" and seeing his Raelettes getting ready to strut their stuff. Margie's powerhouse voice and the Raelettes synchronized moves while singing to a single microphone is visually mesmerizing! You don't see this type of class act anymore in this day and age.

I would say my favorite song was "You Are My Sunshine" with Margie singing a little solo. If you hear close, you can hear O-Genio say in the background "Yeah Margie!" while she squalls. I was blown away!!

A must have for all Ray Charles fans!

I am so glad I found a reference to this video in Oxford Review's article by Roy Blount about Ray Charles. He mentioned the Raylettes and especially Margie. I realized I'd never seen the Raylettes though their voices were always there, creating the ambiance for Ray to do his thing which was wonderful, artistically perfect, uncannily helping us to dream our emotional lives onward. So I got it for Margie, and I was not disappointed. He was right: you can't take your eyes off her. Ray is good to look at, too. And the listening!

The other reviews provide ample warnings about the degraded video and audio quality in the second set of this performance. However, this title is worth buying just to get a look at Ray smoking through the first dozen numbers. It is a much more intense performance than the 1981 Edmonton Symphony recording - and the b&w imagery actually enhances this.

This is one of the greatest DVD's I've seen. Ray Charles was so blessed. He had so much talent it was running over. The songs on this DVD are "out of sight" In 1963 I was a little girl and I did not know Ray Charles was so wonderful. I remember knowing he was famous so I told everyone he was my uncle, because we had the same last name however, I did not know his real last name was Robinson. He has a song on the dvd called "In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down" man, that song is so soulful it's bursting with his great piano playing and his distinct singing, I love it. I also like the way he does "You don't know Me" and I Can't Stop Loving You" these are songs I never paid attention to through the years, but ever since I saw the movie "Ray" I've been interested in all things Ray Charles. If you want to see him when he was young and vibrant, I mean he is practically dancing on that piano stool the man just rocks. It is a treat, and I might add he was very handsome. D.C.

Snap...snap...snap...snap, with the mod 60's paintings (here is the world as it was when I was born ... man how time flies), stylish professional atmosphere, and the piano lid wide open, these people are ALL about music. This is serious stuff! Ray's fingers are dancing and reaching for every possible strand of melody - a beautiful display of accompaniment vs. solo symmetry. Ray is clearly center stage, as he leads the band through jazz thickets, bluesy swamps and gospel revivals! but he lets all others shine when they have their moments in the spotlight. The gals singing four part back-up/harmony (The Raeletts) are incredible with the sassy full-tilt soul treatment, made to look effortless as conversation. Ray even blows the sax nicely during "untitled jazz instrumental"; for some reason I never realized he had mastered another instrument (although I haven't followed him closely over the years, I really only know a few of his big hits well from the radio). They even threw in a couple of period Brazilian commercials - pretty funny. Feeling these put-together songs going through their cycles with the many intricate pieces is a wonderful experience, and takes me back to this golden age. I should revisit more often. What a nice document and great addition to my collection (the second show video quality falls off, but who cares, it is from 1963!). Thanks Ray, Raeletts & all of the other fine musicians, I will try to enjoy this often.

This DVD captures Ray Charles in his prime. Barely more than 30 years old when these video performances were captures, Ray and his powerhouse band tear through the songs that would become standards throughout his long career. Partly due to his youth, and partly due to these songs being relatively new in 1963, Ray's performances have a vitality and passion here that can't be matched in any of his later concerts released on DVD. He never stopped being a Genius - but his voice here borders on Godly. Ray Charles was able to take almost any song from any genre and perform it with such sincerity and passion that you'd swear he was the original author.

The first concert is a trial run for the real show. Taped before a smaller audience, trial runs like these are common as dress rehearsals before important live performances. The black and white video and mono audio have mellowed nicely, and the stark presentation highlights the power of Ray's performance.

The second concert isn't nearly as well-preserved. In fact, it looks like the poor public-doman style material that Goodtimes Home Video used to release. However, it does contain a slightly different set list than the first concert and its well-worth your time to look past the technical flaws. Ray's voice transcends the decaying video source, and its hard to complain about the video of the second concert when the first one looks so fine.

I was lucky enough to see Ray Charles in concert a few years ago, and this DVD brought back a lot of nice memories. This DVD belongs in the collection of anyone who truly loved Ray.

Overall, as the other reviewers have stated, this is an AMAZING performance by Ray Charles in his prime. This is a great dvd to own, but, and it's a big reservation for me, is that the record company chose to use such an abysmally low bitrate on the ac3 audio. 192kbps. I mean come on people! This deserves lpcm audio!! At the VERY LEAST 448Kb's ac3. I know the audio quality of the original masters wasn't as good as what's available today, but they could have at LEAST put a decent bitrate on the audio. Such a performance cries out for good audio. It's such a pity, otherwise I would have given it 5 stars, but the low bitrate audio is a big let down from what would have otherwise been a perfect dvd for me.

WOW!!! That's all I can say. I saw this DVD on sale at Wal Mart for about 6 months and said "whoa someday I'll buy that". When I finally went to get it it was gone. Had to go to 4 stores to find it!!!

On first listen, you won't be all that amazed. But its INFECTIOUS!!! My god. I LOVE Margie Hendricks. She is TOTALLY AMAZING! She takes over when she sings...this is before the era of people who couldn't sing, and before the era when people were told to "not over-do it". Man, does she scream!!!! Talk about power and feel!

Two recordings here, due to how they are played and the emotion involved, are included here...AND THEY ARE TWO OF THE BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER RECORDED BECAUSE OF IT! "Take Me Back to Old Virginny" and "You Don't Know Me"....WOW!!!! The studio version of "You Don't Know Me" pretty much sucks...listen to it here!!! Talk about SOUL!!!! My god. No one can do better.

PERFECT DRY RECORDING (the rehearsal)...NO ADDED REVERB OR STUFF THAT RUINS RECORDINGS LIKE THIS!!!!!

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!

Buy this and hear how Ray Charles REALLY was a genius!!! Not all the normal over-hyped stuff....THIS IS THE REAL DEAL!!!!