The Atlanitc output of Ray Charles has been in constant rotation over in these parts for years. And actually, so has his work for the ABC- Paramount label, especially his country and western records. But once we hit the 70's, Brother Ray fell off my radar. I did get to see him live a few times in the 80's and 90's, but that still didn't lead me back to the catalogue.
One record for ABC that eluded me was 1972's "Through The Eyes Of Love," which explains how I hadn't heard his completely trippy cover of Tony Joe White's "Rainy Night In Georgia."
This track is epic.
(h/t soundsource)
That is fantastic. Wow. Thanks for sharing it....
ReplyDeleteGreat rediscover.
ReplyDeleteCaptain Al
Love this. also of note in his later work is the album "My World", which I think you've spoken about before. His version of "A Song For You" alone is worth it.
ReplyDeleteRay is Ray, and this is sublime. A great find. This post led me to Wikipedia where I discovered that the great Toots Thielemans played harmonica on that Brook Benton version that I fell in love with as a young teenager. Didn’t know that.
ReplyDeleteWow !! I tried to find a digital copy of this but can't ... an MP3 to buy, that is. What a version!
ReplyDeleteI loved the 1991 Birth of Soul box set of his Atlantic years 52-59. But other than Modern Sounds in Country and Western and the Genius of Ray Charles, my first exposures were the 1977 True To Life and 1979 Ain’t it So, both on his return to Atlantic, and both featuring wonderful arrangements of classic pop tunes of the 60s and 70s and earlier classics. Purists probably don’t see these as essential, but they are both very fine in my view. I don’t see either on Qobuz. This one you posted is killer.
ReplyDeleteAlso, check out instrumental version of this song by Los Straitjackets- Nick Lowes sometimes backup band.
ReplyDeleters
Great cover indeed.
ReplyDeleteThe album was easy to overlook with the worst cover art imageable. Great track though.
ReplyDeleteGreat cover, but... "get my hands on some Sterno"... because it's a cold night and he's heating up leftovers...??
ReplyDelete