Ray Charles

20 September 2009 By Lyov 0 In Blues, Jazz, Soul

Ray (Ost Ray Charles Story)

Unlike the soundtrack for his Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire, director Taylor Hackford didn’t have Ray Charles rerecord his classic songs for the soundtrack for his Charles biopic Ray. Instead, he selected 17 songs of Ray at his ’50s and ’60s peak, skillfully balancing selections from both Atlantic and ABC to create a surprisingly successful and thoroughly entertaining overview.

While 17 tracks can’t contain all of his best work there’s not too much of his jazz playing and just a little bit of his countrysoul recordings, plus singles from “Lonely Avenue” to “Busted” are MIA it does hit all of the bestknown songs (“I Got a WOman,” “(Night Time Is) The Right Time),” “Georgia on My Mind,” “Hit the Road Jack”), mixing in a couple of relatively obscure tracks (such as barnburning, trasncendent early RB cut “Mess Around”) and adding excellent live renditions of such staples as “Hallelujah I Lov Her So,” “What’d I Say” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” The end result may not be definitive, but it surely is a good introduction that will no doubt whet the appetites of listeners that were turned onto Ray Charles based on Hackford’s film.