Ray Charles: Man and Music [Hardcover]

Michael Lydon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 1999

A founding editor at "Rolling Stone" presents a full-length biography of the man called "The Genius of Soul", from his experience of being blinded at age six to his five-decades-long career.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In 1954, Atlantic Records honchos Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler visited an Atlanta club where one of their artists was gigging. Ray Charles and his band blew into a new song when the men entered. It was "I Got a Woman," the tune that marked the blind Albany, Georgia-born singer-pianist's evolution from an able imitator of Nat "King" Cole and Charles Brown into an artist who would transform American music. In Ray Charles: Man and Music, veteran music journalist Michael Lydon imbues the familiar story with fresh detail upon fresh detail. Charles's early years spent scuffling on the chitlin circuit, his embrace of everything from pop chestnuts and country hits to hip jazz as an audaciously eclectic record maker, and the many hours given over to womanizing and a heroin addiction at the height of his stardom are given a cinematic immediacy here. More than most artists, Charles followed his instincts to huge artistic rewards and the love of many listeners who recognized their own voices in his sound. Lydon captures as much of the offstage man as is likely to ever make it to the page--the man who himself once insisted, "My life was what it was. Whatever it became, I made it so." --Rickey Wright

From Publishers Weekly

The singer, pianist and composer Ray Charles is such a fixture on the American music scene that a fan once told a reporter "I can't even remember when there wasn't a Ray Charles." His sensual growl responding to the Raelets sultry church choir, his nostalgic crooning of "Georgia on My Mind," his memorable performances of "America the Beautiful" at both Republican and Democratic presidential inaugurations, all have made him a star of almost unparalleled magnitude and longevity. Lydon (Boogie Lightning) is informative and engaging when discussing Charles's prolific output?his 1963 album Ingredients in a Recipe of Soul is described as "musical meat-and-potatoes blended in a stew of blues-jazz-C&W-R&B-and-pop"?and the discography he includes is a useful guide to a career spanning 50 years. His examination of Charles's life is just as enlightening. A driven businessman, according to Lydon, Charles is also cruel and insensitive to those close to him, never faithful to any woman ("a venerable joke declares, to be a Raelet, a lady must let Ray") and a tyrant to musicians in his band, paying them little and fining them $50 for being late to rehearsal. Lydon depicts him as stubborn and controlling, as when he netted an unheard-of contract with ABC Records in 1959 that allowed him to own his master tapes, making him the exemplary "artist as a businessman-producer." The singer's independence and resistance to musical trends didn't always pay off: they caused his recording career to nosedive two decades ago. However, at almost 70, he's still touring and still a star, and fans of Brother Ray?and of soul music more generally?will appreciate this comprehensive portrait.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 436 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Books; First Edition edition (January 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573221325
• ISBN-13: 978-1573221320
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,023,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Composers & Musicians > Rhythm & Blues

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Music Fans Only, June 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ray Charles: Man and Music (Hardcover)

If you only reading this book because you want to know exactly how friendly Ray Charles is, you might end up disliking him. This book is a tell it like it is. After reading it, I developed mixed emotions towards Brother Ray, that I didn't have before reading it. However, this book is truly a musician's favorite.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent, comprehensive biography, February 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ray Charles: Man and Music (Hardcover)

I found this book extremely readable and comprehensive. Charles has lived a huge life, and this book does justice to that life. While some might think it is too insular regarding Charles and his music, that would seem to be a true reflection of his life as he lived it. Many of the minor characters are vividly drawn. Lydon's style is graceful and evocative. Music fans should rush out and buy this book!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The newly expanded paperback version of a classic biography, April 4, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ray Charles: Man and Music, Updated Commemorative Edition (Paperback)

Now in a newly updated edition from Routledge, Ray Charles: Man And Music by Michael Lydon ("Rolling Stone" founding editor and an influential music journalist) presents and documents the live and contributions to contemporary American music by Rhythm & Blues singer and musician Ray Charles. Afflicted with blindness at an early age, suffering the loss of his family at fourteen, Ray Charles went on to become one of the best known and best liked American music performers. This outstanding biography doesn't flinch from Charles struggle with heroin addiction or his problematic career at Atlantic Records. Originally published in 1995, this new edition now includes chapters on the last seven years of his life making Ray Charles: Man And Music very strongly recommended reading for anyone who has enjoyed his music and admired his ultimate triumph over adversity.