Welcome ( Register)

Ray Charles Sings for America (Import)

Charles,Ray - CD

Ray Charles Sings for America (Import) Ray Charles CD
Zoom More Images
  • Artist: Ray Charles
  • Format: CD
  • Year: 2002
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • UPC: 081227609825
  • Item Number: RHI60982
  • Release date: 09/03/2002
  • 1. America the Beautiful
  • 2. Imagine
  • 3. Let It Be
  • 4. New York's My Home
  • 5. Over the Rainbow
  • 6. That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)
  • 7. Ol' Man River
  • 8. Carry Me Back to Old Virginny
  • 9. Take Me Home, Country Roads
  • 10. Ray Reflects on America
  • 11. My God and I
  • 12. Lift Every Voice and Sing
  • 13. There'll Be No Peace Without All Men as One
  • 14. Light Out of Darkness
  • 15. Heaven Help Us All
  • 16. Abraham, Martin and John
  • 17. Hey Mister
  • 18. Sail Away
  • 19. Danger Zone
  • 20. God Bless America Again [Previously Unreleased]
List Price: $32.99
Price: $19.16
You Save: $13.83 (42%)
You Save: $13.83 (42%)
Free Shipping
on Orders Over $25
Unavailable

Sorry, this item is currently unavailable

Print Page

Ray Charles Sings for America (Import) by Ray Charles on CD


The theme of this collection is, in large part, songs of patriotism, about specific American places, or testaments to the American spirit. Still, you do get the sense that the concept's rather vague, or at least has been applied pretty liberally in order to snag 20 songs that could fill up a collection to appeal to the national mood at the time of its release (about a year after September 2001). "Let It Be" and "Imagine," for instance, are classic songs, but (even leaving aside that they were written by Englishmen) how exactly do they embody the American character? Likewise, "That Lucky Old Sun" and "Over the Rainbow" might be venerated American songs, but they doesn't plug into a specifically American viewpoint as readily as, for instance, "New York's My Home" or even his cover of "Abraham, Martin and John." It's better to treat this as something of a ride through Ray Charles' take on Americana, which goes through country music, popular standards, gospel, covers of rock hits, and not a whole lot of the hard-driving soul for which he's most esteemed. It's an erratic set, spanning the early '60s to the inevitable 2001-2002 re-recording of "God Bless America," featuring Slash and Billy Preston, with six of the songs (including the equally inevitable "America the Beautiful") hailing from his 1972 album A Message From the People. Some of it's excellent, like "New York's My Home," the cover of Percy Mayfield's "The Danger Zone," and "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny"; some of it's fair; and the 1970s material, which comprises the bulk of the disc, too often tends toward the overly sentimental in both song selection and production. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi
  • Artist: Ray Charles
  • Format: CD
  • Year: 2002
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • UPC: 081227609825
  • Item Number: RHI60982
  • Release date: 09/03/2002
  • Label: Rhino
  • Genre: R&B
  • Style: Soul, Early R&B

Click image to view larger

  • Ray Charles Sings for America (Import) Ray Charles CD
Ray Charles Sings for America (Import) Ray Charles CD