Ray Charles

AK

Musi

4/22/2016

The Life of Ray Charles

Ray Charles crossed countless music genres throughout his career. He was a major influence to many artists of today’s time. He has countless hits and his music means a lot to generations of people. He is a genius, he is influential, and legendary.

He was born in Albany, Georgia on September 23, 1930. Growing up, Ray had a poor and traumatizing childhood but he says he was a happy kid (Legends of Music History, 2011). He witnessed his younger brother drown in a laundry tub. He went completely blind at seven years old and attended the Saint Augustine School of Blind and Deaf where he learned to play the piano, clarinet, and saxophone. He learned to read, write, and arrange music in Braille (Legends of Music, 2006). Both of his parents were dead by the time he turned seventeen (PBS, 2006).

Since he was poor and had no remaining family, he became a traveling musician throughout Florida and Washington State (PBS, 2006). He was only allowed to perform in black dance halls because of racial segregation in the south. While traveling, he was inspired by Nat King Cole but began to find his own cool sound and style. He started to listen to all genres of music as he traveled including Chopin, Duke Ellington, and Art Tatum. He even listened to hillbilly twang, gospel, and opry (Legends of Music, 2006). He played the piano while singing with country and jazz bands. In 1945, he met Quincy Jones who was only 14 years old at the time. Ray taught Jones how to compose music and Jones began to help him write songs. They made Ray’s first three recordings in Tampa, Florida called “Guitar Blues”, “Walkin and Talkin”, and “Wonderin and Wonderin” (Legends of Music, 2006). He signed a recording contract with Downbeat Label in 1949 and moved to Los Angeles California. Ray Charles and his band called the McSon Trio made a hit on the United States Rhythm and Blues chart with the hit “Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand” (Legends of Music,...