Blind jazzman. Ray Charles: biography, best songs, interesting facts, listen

That is why our today's hero has remained the standard for many, many musicians on our planet for many years in a row, as well as the number one star for all connoisseurs of quality music.

Early years, childhood and family of Ray Charles

At the age of five, another thing happened in the life of little Ray Charles. severe shock. While swimming in a tub, his younger brother George drowned. The child died right before the eyes of the future musician. Five-year-old Ray tried to help his brother, but was unable to pull him out of the deep tub.

This event shocked our today’s hero so much that very soon he began to experience vision problems. By the age of seven, Ray Charles was completely blind. Subsequently, the version about psychological nature The musician's blindness was the most popular among all his fans.

However, many years later, American doctors who examined the musician put forward the version that the loss of vision occurred as a result of glaucoma.

Returning to the topic of the outstanding master’s childhood, we note that the turmoil in the musician’s life did not end there. Already in 1945, the singer lost his mother, thus remaining in the care of his elderly grandmother.

Perhaps it was a series of life blows that laid the foundations for the famous musical style Ray Charles. After all, his music always contained a lot of melancholy and very little joy...

Musical career of singer Ray Charles

Ray Charles. One of the most popular songs.

It was from this moment that his passion for music began. After all, there was essentially nothing else in his life.

At the age of seventeen, our today's hero moved to the large and vibrant Seattle, which at that time was considered the American capital instrumental music. Here such trends as soul, blues and jazz were especially popular. That's why Ray Charles chose to continue his musical career namely Washington State.

In Seattle, our today's hero founded his first musical ensemble and soon it became quite popular in the northern United States. Famous performer Lowell Fulson invited him to work together. Subsequently, representatives of well-known record companies also began to approach Ray Charles with offers of long-term cooperation.

Thus, in 1949, our today’s hero recorded his first full-scale hit, “Confession Blues,” which very soon began to be heard even on federal radio stations in America. From that moment on, Ray Charles began to frequently tour various cities in the United States, giving small concerts and recording performances for national television.

Ray Charles - Confession Blues

In 1953, a talented black singer recorded the singles “It Should Have Been Me" and "Mess around", which three years later formed the basis of his first solo album – « The Great Ray Charles."

Throughout his career, our today's hero has released more than a hundred (!) albums, as well as official recordings of concert performances. The geography of his tours stretches from the USA to Japan and from Germany to Russia. Many of his compositions - such as "Hit The Road Jack", "You Are My Sunshine", "Unchain My Heart" - became immortal hits. That is why the influence of Ray Charles on world music is very difficult to overestimate. As recognized figures of the scene note, it was the music of Ray Charles that laid the foundations for such trends as modern jazz, blues and even rock and R&B.

Ray Charles' awards include his own star on the Walk of Fame, as well as 17 Grammy Awards, the Order of Arts and Letters, the National Medal of Arts and several other awards. Currently, the name of the great musician is listed simultaneously in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in the Jazz Hall of Fame. Several streets in the United States and even an entire post office are named after Ray Charles.

The last years of Ray Charles' life

On June 10, 2004, the outstanding master of music died at his home in Beverly Hills. Two months after his death, his final album, Genius Loves Company, was officially released in the United States. At the farewell concert, the musician’s songs were performed by BB King, Elton John, Van Morrison and many other outstanding musicians who considered themselves friends and followers of Ray Charles.

Personal life of Ray Charles

The musician spent the last years of his life with a woman named Norma Pinella

Ray Charles, a musician who performed compositions in the style of jazz, rhythm and blues and soul, became one of the most famous American musicians. The result of it creative activity became the release of more than seventy albums, multiple Grammy awards (13 times), as well as membership in the Hall of Fame of individual musical genres (rock and roll, jazz, country, blues).

United States contains hits by Ray Charles, and famous words, said by Frank Sinatra, call him the only genius in show business.

Ray's childhood

Born Ray Charles Robinson, he saw the world in Albany in 1930. The town was small, and the financial and social situation of Ray's family was unfavorable. A few months after his birth, the whole family had to change their place of residence: they now called the small gray area of ​​Greenville (South Florida) their home.

His father's role in the musician's life was short and insignificant, since he left when the boy and his brother George were very young. He was raised by his mother Aretha and grandmother Mary Jane Robinson.

Tragic incident

Biography of Ray Charles contains one sad known fact, associated with the death of his brother. This happened when the future musician was only five years old, and George was four. Having plunged headlong into a deep tub of water that stood on the street, George was unable to get out and began to choke. Seeing his brother drowning, Ray tried to save him, but he did not have enough strength to pull the child out.

The resulting shock had a profound effect on Ray. He himself assumed that it was for this reason that his vision began to deteriorate until it disappeared completely. Complete blindness occurred when he was seven years old. Later, glaucoma and its consequences were considered the probable cause of blindness.

There are rumors claiming that the musician, having achieved fame, tried to find a donor for a one-eye transplant. However, the operation was never carried out due to the opinion of doctors who considered this step pointless and risky.

Ray Charles: music training

The formation of the musician’s future career was directly influenced by a pharmacist who played the piano and lived not far from Ray’s house. First manifestations musical talent the boy's appearance was already noticeable when he was three years old.

Therefore, after completely losing his sight, his mother made sure that Ray entered a specialized boarding school. It was located in St. Augustine, and here Ray Charles studied organ, piano, trombone, saxophone and clarinet. Thanks to his success in music, the boy was enrolled in the Baptist choir.

1945 was the year of Ray's mother's death, his father died two years later.

Musical career: first steps

Further Ray's biography Charles (the period after completing his studies at the boarding school) is replete with the names of numerous musical projects, in which he took part. They often performed country or jazz. Greatest influence Ray's style and manner of performance were influenced by such famous jazzmen as Count Basie, Art Tatum, and Artie Shaw.

The first group of which the musician became a full member was called The Florida Playboys.

A trip to Seattle in 1947 became very significant event for seventeen year old Ray. With $600 saved up and the support of guitarist Gossady McGee, he founds and develops the MacSon Trio. To record the first compositions, Ray resorted to collaboration with the group famous performer Lowell Fulson. Ray's task was to accompany the musicians on the piano. Two years later, Ray Charles's first rhythm and blues song was released. Then several more compositions were released, which later became hits.

Musician's activities in the 50s

The new decade was marked for Ray Charles Robinson by a change of label and a shortening of his name. This measure was necessary, since a boxer with a similar name was popular at that time.

Ray's first marriage lasted only a year. Started in July 1951, living together musician and Eileen Williams has not stood the test of time. The next time Ray joined the barque three years later, he married Della Beatrice Robinson (nee Howard). They lived together until 1977.

The biography of Ray Charles in the mid-50s is full of successful songs, written independently or in collaboration with other musicians. It is during this period that a recognizable and original unique sound is formed.

Ray Charles's songs sold millions of copies, bringing popularity to the musician himself and the styles in which he worked. Ray's repertoire included gospel songs on secular themes and blues ballads. The popularity of gospel and R&B owes much to the work of this musician, whose work attracted a large number of new fans. There were representatives of both black and white audiences. Ray Charles, as one of the first performers in the style of rhythm and blues, is credited with the impressive spread of “black” music.

The end of the fifties brought Ray universal popularity, participation in the Newport Festival, recording large quantity hits, as well as his first Grammy Award.

Biography of Ray Charles: 60s

After receiving worldwide recognition, Ray moved to a huge mansion in Beverly Hills. As one of the few top-earning artists, he began to use his creative freedom to expand his approach to music. As a result, his works became closer to pop and mainstream styles. Despite the fact that the new compositions were strikingly different from what he had done before, Ray's music was consistently successful. The breadth and variety of the musician's repertoire has reached amazing volumes.

The song "Georgia On My Mind", which became the anthem of Ray Charles' home state, was published in the early 60s. What followed significant event: release of the album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. The hits included in it belong to the country genre, which, in combination with racial identity Ray became a kind of revolution.

The musician's anti-racist sentiment

Coming from the lowest social class Ray Charles was a lifelong activist for racial equality. An excellent example of his attitude to this issue can be seen in the cancellation of a concert in Augusta in 1961 due to the fact that black and white spectators were planned to be seated separately. In addition, Ray contributed (including financially) to King's activities and openly expressed disapproval of the policies of J.F. Kennedy.

Some sources mention a twenty-year ban for Ray from entering Georgia, but in reality he simply did not plan to go there.

Ray Charles and his "monkey on his back"

This is how the musician allegorically called his addiction to heroin. Having learned what it was at age 16, he spent the next two decades dependent on the drug.

In 1961, during a search of Ray's hotel room, illegal drugs were found, but there was no trial because the procedure was violated (there was no warrant). In subsequent years, the musician was repeatedly found using drugs, and in 1965 in Boston he was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana and heroin.

Life with a clean slate

The decisive step after which Ray Charles said a decisive “no” to drugs was long-term treatment at a clinic in Los Angeles. This measure saved him from being in prison; the court limited himself to assigning a rather lenient punishment: one year of probation. After completing a rehabilitation course, Ray Charles did not return to using, finding inspiration and solace exclusively in music and performances.

“Ray,” a film about Ray Charles, covers the theme of the musician’s drug addiction in great detail.

Mainstream and Ray's later years

Freed from drugs, the musician finds a new style, approaching the mainstream. A feature of this period is the absence of their own compositions in favor of fantastic performances of songs by other musicians.

With the onset of the 80s, Ray Charles expanded his range of activities: participation in the filming of the film "The Blues Brothers", in the popular television show, as well as in Pepsi advertisements.

The musician accepts invitations from organizers of charity events, works together with popular young performers and performs at the inauguration social events Ray Charles' career ended in 2004 in Los Angeles, when his last performance took place.

In the last years of his life, the musician suffered from liver cancer and severe consequences of surgery performed on his hip. Despite this, he showed up at his RPM studio every day to do his job. In one of his interviews, he noted that it doesn’t matter how long life is, what matters is how beautiful it is.

After Ray Charles died in 2004, his memory was honored with the release of a posthumous album. He has received eight Grammy awards. Later, another collection would be released, including joint compositions by Ray Charles and other performers.

As part of the memorial ceremony, many musicians and thousands of loyal fans said goodbye to Ray.

“The Eighth Wonder of the World”—that’s what famous producer Clarence Paul called the ten-year-old black boy after his first audition. At 12 years old young musician recognized as a genius. But a few years earlier, the parents of little Stivland Hardaway Judkins did not even let him out of the house, fearing that the blind boy would not be able to fend for himself. Steve could not agree with the sentence of spending his entire life locked up.

Stevie Wonder, a legendary musician, was born in May 1950 in Michigan, USA. The boy was born premature, very tiny, with huge dark eyes. Many years later it turns out that in those first days of the baby’s life a fatal medical error, leading to complete blindness. At that time, doctors were confident that they were doing everything to treat a typical disease of premature babies - retinopathy. Retinopathy is a non-inflammatory lesion of the retina of the eyeball, which leads to a disorder of the blood supply to the retina. The cause of the disorder is underdevelopment of blood vessels. Fifty years ago, doctors knew only one way to combat retinopathy - supplying oxygen to the baby's incubator. Stevie also received this treatment, but a large dose of oxygen only worsened the process of developing blindness. Today bad influence This treatment method has already been proven. Newborn Stevie didn't stand a chance.

All early childhood Stevie spent at home. The baby's mother did not want him to even just play with other children, because they could offend her blind boy. At the age of 4, Stevie’s parents separated, the boy remained with his mother, who intensively began raising her son. She taught him to read using not only Braille, but also a regular children's primer. Stevie's fingers had such increased sensitivity that he could easily distinguish the outlines of letters even in ordinary printing ink. Stevie became toys musical instruments, which his mother brought him so that he would not get bored locked up. The harmonica and drum replaced the boy's soccer ball and tag. But real passion It turned out to be a piano for the baby. According to Wonder, as a child it was the combination of tactile sensations and sound production that aroused his interest. The child’s idol was the black musician Ray Charles, whose blindness did not prevent him from receiving 17 Grammys and getting into the halls of fame of rock and roll, jazz, country and blues. Stevie chose his path and started it in the local church choir.

Fame came to Stevie very early and very unexpectedly. Young talent They quickly noticed that Stevie was invited to audition for the producer of the then popular group “The Miracles”. The eleven-year-old blind musician impressed the producer so much that he immediately signed him to the first contract in the boy’s life. “Stevie is the eighth wonder of the world!” - said the enthusiastic producer. This pseudonym remained with the boy for the rest of his life: Stevie the Miracle, Stevie Wonder.

Stevie was barely 11 years old when his first record was released. She did not gain much popularity. But 2 years later, Stevie’s name thundered throughout the country - the song “Fingertips”, where Stevie acted as a vocalist and performer on bongos and harmonica, became a hit on the American charts. A blind black boy was recognized as a genius. You could forget about life locked up in your parents' house.

Amazing singing range of four octaves, sophisticated technique vocal performance, mastery of the piano, harmonica, drums, all types of keyboards and clarinet - it seemed that Stevie Wonder had absorbed a dozen musical geniuses. But the young musician was no longer going to stop there. He wanted people to simply forget about his physical disability; no one should even think about his blindness. In 1964, Stevie made his film debut: Wonder played himself in the film. Less than six months later he is back on the screens.

Stevie is no longer a little boy, no longer need to be afraid that someone will offend him. The matured “miracle” begins to work as a composer in a record company, he writes songs for his colleagues, and at the same time works on his own album of soul-jazz compositions. Soul singer, composer, arranger, drummer, pianist - by the age of 20, Stevie Wonder is already firmly on his own two feet, he “sees” his path and follows it.

Personal life is also going well. Steve marries songwriter Sairita Wright. A creative tandem becomes a family. The young wife helps Wonder produce his next album, which is destined to become a cult, conceptual album, opening a new page in the work of the miracle singer. For the first time, the singer became a full-fledged producer of his own album - he himself acted as a composer and arranger. Today, years later, this album is considered a classic of soul music. On his 21st birthday, Stevie Wonder received his first million dollars, according to his contract.