Another Side of Ray Charles

That Ray Charles one of, greats is quite was, and will be, was already clear to me before I heard this CD. And that it is too large for each drawer, is a truism. He is one of those musicians who were in almost every genre at home. He has already received a lot of country classics, so it was only a matter of time that he would record a whole album together with country musicians. 1984 the time had come.

This CD hit me in record time from the chair: Ray Charles with ten different duet partners shows that Soul and Country can match like a glove when dranmachen just the right experts. The right-rounder, which are here in order of appearance: Hank Williams Jr., The Oak Ridge Boys, George Jones + Chet Atkins, Janie Fricke, BJ Thomas, Ricky Scaggs, Mickey Gilley, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.

Is common to all parties that they must have made a lot of fun working with Ray Charles. And the result - Beyond Imagination. Unimagined listening experiences en masse: For example, the Oak Ridge Boys as veritable soul background choir for Ray Charles, a steel guitar as Soul instrument, etc. As for the illustrious duet partner: Not only Merle Haggard with all his roughneck charm shows here Soul unimagined feeling. Ray Charles, in turn sounds like a dyed in the wool country singer, notwithstanding that he has repeatedly recorded Country numbers à la Ray Charles. And on a duet of two great champions of "interpretation of songs from foreign pen" Ray Charles and Johnny Cash I have long speculated car without believing.

The old mnemonic that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, true to "Friendship" (also titled "Ray Charles & Friends" known) to allererfreulichste way: If get together two rounders, they run quite often to his best and surpass themselves. This is true for the whole album, but especially it applies to the following tracks: "Two Old Cats Like Us" (with Hank Williams, Jr.), "This Old Heart" (with The Oak Ridge Boys), "Who Cares" (with Janie Fricke), "Friendship" (with Ricky Scaggs), "Little Hotel Room" (with Merle Haggard) and "Crazy Old Soldier" (with Johnny Cash).

This album was indeed recorded in 1984, but the individual tracks have become never known for some unknown reason. They are found nowhere else, on any sampler, anywhere. Here is one better than the other. For this reason alone you should get this one.