RAY CHARLES (who passed in 2004) would currently have been in his 90s and to mark that landmark, Tangerine Records (the label he founded in 1962) will be releasing a special box set, aptly called ‘True Genius’.
The set will contain 90 of Charles’ greatest recordings – the hits, of course, alongside the important and influential recordings that have become standards in modern music history. The box contains 6 CDs and includes a bonus disc of eight previously unreleased tracks, recorded live in Stockholm in 1972. The bonus disc is only available with the purchase of the physical box set.
Amongst the many highlights are the ground-breaking ‘What’d I Say’ and ‘I Got A Woman (both cornerstones in the building of the soul genre), the heart-breaking ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ (Ray’s biggest pop hit) and several duets with people like Willie Nelson, Norah Jones and Billy Joel.
Ray Charles’ ‘True Genius’ is officially released on September 10th and rarely has an album been so aptly named… indeed it was no less an artist than Frank Sinatra who first applied the epithet to Charles when he declared that Uncle Ray was the only “true genius” in music.
