[.ca] Genius & Soul: 50th Anniversary Collection (5CD)

Amazon.com essential recording:
If anyone deserves his own section in record stores, it's Ray Charles. Witness this Charles box set, a full five-disc career retrospective that follows smaller packages concentrating on his early R & B (The Birth of Soul) and Blues + Jazz work. In addition to those styles, we get Ray's stabs at Nat "King" Cole/Charles Brown urban blues ("Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand"), handfuls of country songs ("I Can't Stop Loving You"), definitive readings of the American songbook ("Georgia on My Mind," "Come Rain or Come Shine"), and personal claims on the '60s soul he made possible ("I Don't Need No Doctor"). Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran Charles fan, this impeccably selected box is for you. --Rickey Wright

From Amazon.co.uk:
If anyone deserves his own section in record shops, it's Ray Charles. Witness this Charles box set, a full five-disc career retrospective that follows smaller packages concentrating on his early R & B (The Birth of Soul) and Blues + Jazz work. In addition to those styles, we get Ray's stabs at Nat "King" Cole/Charles Brown urban blues ("Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand"), handfuls of country songs ("I Can't Stop Loving You"), definitive readings of the American songbook ("Georgia on My Mind", "Come Rain or Come Shine"), and personal claims on the '60s soul he made possible ("I Don't Need No Doctor"). Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran Charles fan, this impeccably selected box is for you. --Rickey Wright

Wow:
I have bought many things from Amazon and this is the first review I have written. Why am I writing this? Because this collection of music blows my mind. I have been a Ray fan for a few years and this is the most definitive collection I have seen. BUY IT!

Unparalled collection of music.:
Just like Sinatra's Reprise Years box set, this is a massive massive set of work. I guess that the only way to get more great Ray Charles music would be to collect everything he ever did. Until then, this is the very next thing (and it sure is fine!). Ray made musical history, and he did so over an incredible period of time. Few musicians do not credit his influence, be they country, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, or even rap. This collection spans much of that time -- more that forty years worth. It starts with some old classics, like "Nighttime is the Right Time" and the even funkier "Let the Good Times Roll", and then moves to the gentle hit "That Lucky Old Sun". The collection then takes us to several of his classics from the seminal work 'Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music', like "Take These Chains From My Heart", "I Can't Stop Loving You" and the tragic, magic "Born To Lose". Ray's more recent work is also well represented, like his version of "America The Beautiful", "Still Crazy After All These Years" and Stevie Wonder's classic "Livin for the City". Perhaps my favorite cut of all the discs however, was his collaboration with Willie Nelson, "Seven Spanish Angels". I had never heard this song before, and together, they made one very special piece of music. Willie's plaintive wail was masterfully interwoven with Brother Ray's soulful depths and together they created something to positively revere. If you have some Ray Charles, this is worth adding, because it will certainly have something new to try. If you have none of Ray's work, this is a wonderful way to get caught up in one single purchase. If you have never heard him, you are probably deaf, and that would be the only way this would not be a worthwhile purchase.

Immortality:
Count me among the group of music fans who may have taken Ray Charles a little for granted when he was alive. I think I saw him as a timeless musical giant who seemed like he would always be around. Mr. Charles' death earlier this year convinced me to listen to the two CDs of his that I owned and to go through the handful of anthologies I have that include the great singer's music -- an exercise that left me looking for more. Enter this 50th Anniversary Collection, just about the most comprehensive compilation of Mr. Charles' work possible. The song list includes (almost) everything the singer ever recorded, from his awe-inspiring version of "Confession Blues" to the melodic "Georgia on my Mind" to the playful "Shake Your Tail Feather" from the Blue's Brother's movie. I can only think of one song puzzlingly missing from this collection, but it's a biggie: Mr. Charles' immense version of Maceo Merryweather's "Some Day Baby". In my book, that's an omission significant enough to cost the collection a five-star rating, though not one serious enough to instead recommend the much less ambitious Genius Sings the Blues, the only CD I know of that has that song on it. Many collections of this size sadly water down a collection by mixing the performer's best material with inferior music recorded simply to occupy the B side of 45 rpm singles or that was removed from the singer's song list before being completely refined. All 102 songs on this five-CD set are clearly not of equal quality, but the scope and the start-to-finish quality of this collection make it clear that Mr. Charles is among a small handful of artists for whom a collection like this is not overkill. This is an essential addition to any music lovers' library, and one that assures that at least musically, Mr. Charles really will always be around.

I started with this, and it remains the best!:
Actually, I started with Ray Charles with Rhino's single disc called "Anthology". I've found it to be so good, that I decided to expand on his collection. So, I bought this box set, and then I even began to pick up more of Ray Charles albums on CD released by Rhino and/or Atlantic. At one time, I had about 14 Ray Charles CD's, and of course, many of his essential tracks were duplicated many times over. So, reality set in: I've got too many CD's of Ray Charles. Ray does have some dull moments. Even this box set tends to drift into some dull tunes on the fourth and fifth disc, but, it does pick up towards the end. He's got a few country duets that he released in the mid-eighties that are pretty good. And his version of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" is a pretty good comeback for Ray. Ray's got so many albums. I doubt they would ever, all, be released on CD. His best songs from his many albums are already available on this "Genius and Soul" box set. Rhino did a fabulous job at selecting key tracks. So, I started to just give away some of my Ray Charles CD's because the best thing I had, and probably, all I, or anyone else, ever needs, is just this one Box Set. His album, "Modern Sounds in Country and Western", is definately a keeper by itself. Even, "The Genius Hits the Road", has some pretty good non-hit selections. But, everything else that matters from Ray Charles is pretty much covered in this Box Set. I suggest you jump on it, who knows how long Rhino will be able to continue to release it.

ALL MUSIC STYLES HERE:
When You Hear Ray Charles's Music then You Know The Music Category thing is a SIck Joke.Cuz Brother Ray Covers all Bases.Whatever style you want he Gives it Ten Fold.This Multi-Set Highlights The Genius & Power of His Work.His Work Covers Alot Of Time.Unlike the Factory Product Artists of Today Brother Ray Took Real Time in His Craft & Presentation.RAY Charles is One Of The Fathers Of Music Before & Since as we Know it.His Work is TImeless.the next time somebody puts a Label on Something Musically tell them about RAy Charles He Covered Them all Very Well as this Must Have Set Shows.Very Essential.

• Confession Blues - Ray Charles, Maxin Trio
• Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand
• Kissa Me Baby
• It Should've Been Me
• Don't You Know
• Come Back Baby
• I Got a Woman
• Fool for You
• This Little Girl of Mine
• Blackjack
• Greenbacks
• Drown in My Own Tears
• Hallelujah, I Love Her So
• Lonely Avenue
• Leave My Woman Alone
• Ain't That Love
• Swanee River Rock (Talkin' 'Bout That River)
• My Bonnie
• Rock House, Pts. 1-2
• Night Time Is the Right Time
• What'd I Say, Pts. 1 & 2
• Tell the Truth
• I Believe to My Soul
• Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying
• Let the Good Times Roll
• Come Rain or Come Shine
• Tell the Truth \oLive\c
• Drown in My Own Tears \oLive\c
• I'm Movin' On
• My Baby! (I Love Her, Yes I Do)
• Sticks and Stones
• I Wonder
• Georgia on My Mind
• Them That Got
• Ruby
• Hard Hearted Hannah
• I've Got News for You
• One Mint Julep
• I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town
• Hit the Road Jack
• Danger Zone
• Unchain My Heart
• But on the Other Hand Baby
• Baby, It's Cold Outside - Betty Carter, Ray Charles
• Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye - Betty Carter, Ray Charles
• At the Club
• Hide nor Hair
• I Can't Stop Loving You
• Bye Bye Love
• Born to Lose
• You Don't Know Me
• You Are My Sunshine
• Your Cheatin' Heart
• Take These Chains from My Heart
• Brightest Smile in Town
• Without Love (There Is Nothing)
• Busted
• That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)
• Ol' Man River
• Smack Dab in the Middle
• Makin' Whoopee
• Without a Song, Pts. 1 & 2
• Cincinnati Kid
• Crying Time
• Let's Go Get Stoned
• I Chose to Sing the Blues
• Together Again
• I Don't Need No Doctor
• Eleanor Rigby
• Yesterday
• Understanding
• Driftin' Blues
• Here We Go Again
• In the Heat of the Night
• Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You
• I Didn't Know What Time It Was
• If It Wasn't for Bad Luck - Ray Charles, Jimmy Lewis
• We Can Make It
• Don't Change on Me
• Feel So Bad
• Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma
• Spirit in the Dark (Reprise) - Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin
• Booty-Butt
• I Can Make It Thru the Day (But Oh Those Lonely Nights)
• Rainy Night in Georgia
• America the Beautiful
• Living for the City
• Till There Was You
• Am I Blue
• How Long Has This Been Going On?
• Jealous Kind
• Is There Anyone Out There?
• Don't You Love Me Anymore
• One of These Days
• Seven Spanish Angels - Ray Charles, Willie Nelson
• We Didn't See a Thing - Chet Atkins, Ray Charles, George Jones
• Two Old Cats Like Us - Ray Charles, Hank Williams, Jr.
• Shake a Tail Feather - The Blues Brothers, Ray Charles
• I'll Be Good to You - Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Chaka Khan
• That's Where It's At - Ray Charles, Lou Rawls
• Song for You
• Still Crazy After All These Years