Ray Charles - Genius & Friends (Mcup)
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Artist: Ray CharlesEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-09-20
Music Label: Rhino / Wea
Soundtracks:
- ALL I WANT TO DO Â? with Angie Stone
- YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE Â? with Chris Isaak
- IT ALL GOES BY SO FAST Â? with Mary J. Blige
- YOU WERE THERE Â? with Gladys Knight
- IMAGINE Â? with Ruben Studdard & The Harlem Gospel Singers
- COMPARED TO WHAT Â? with Leela James
- BIG BAD LOVE Â? with Diana Ross
- I WILL BE THERE Â? with Idina Menzel
- BLAME IT ON THE SUN Â? with George Michael
- TOUCH Â? with John Legend
- SHOUT Â? with Patti LaBelle & The Andrae Crouch Singers
- SURRENDER TO LOVE Â? with Laura Pausini
- BUSTED (Live) Â? with Willie Nelson
- AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL Â? with Alicia Keys
Music reviews of Genius & Friends (Mcup)
Music Review: THIS MAY NOT HAVE THE BITE THAT 'GENIUS LOVES COMPANY' HAVE, BUT IT WORKS QUITE WELL...JUST POOR PROMOTION ON RHINO RECORDS PART
Rating: 5 Stars
This album holds it's own ground quite well (Ray's vocals are much better on this project). 11 (Eleven) Tracks were recorded between 1997 & 1998 and shelved for reasons we'll never know. 2 (Two) Tracks were recorded in 1991 and 1994. 1 (One) Track was recorded in 2005...Remember Ray died in June of 2004, so it's safe to say his Vocals (Which was probley recorded in 90's) was spliced in. So I think it's safe to say these 3 (Three) Tracks were 'Added' in to fill the Compact Disc, thus giving you 14 (Fourteen) selections. The version of "America The Beautiful" with Alicia Keys could have/should have been removed, and replaced with something else...It's nothing to write home about.
On the Up Side...The cut: "Touch" with John Legend could have been released as a Single! This has "Hit' written all over it! It has an Al Green-Sly Stone feel to it...Let me put it this way...It's one of Ray's most funkiest tune in his career! "Shout" with Patti LaBelle & The Andrae Crouch Singers is another Single worthy track! This cut showcases Ray's contemporary gospel side. Upon listening to this once, you'll find yourself singin' along. The WHOLE ABLUM (Except for the Alicia Keys cut) is SOLID FROM START TO FINISH!
Put the blame of poor Marketing/Promotion on Rhino Records, especially for the warm receiption this album recieved. It should have done much better Air-Play and Sales-Wise, but don't let this be the reason for you passing this album up...JUDGE FOR YOURSELF!
Oh!, and let's not forget Rhino Records RUSH RELEASED this right on the heels of the 2004 Grammy Winner "Gunius Loves Company" just to capitolize and Cash in on sales of that album's success, which was done in poor taste. Even with this being as low as $1.00! (One Dollar!)...Isn't that enough to tempt you to buy it??? Even if you didn't like it, you can't say it set you back for a lot of money! Once you get more people saying how good this album really is the price WILL go up!
Description of Genius & Friends (Mcup)
Before the legendary Ray Charles passed away last year, he laid out plans to use a set of recordings produced in 1998 to create an album of superstar duets with some of his favorite contemporary artists. It was among his last requests to his management that the project be completed and released. Now the Genius must be smiling up above as this stunning collection, finding him in tremendously strong voice on a lineup of memorable songs, is released on Rhino. Produced in conjunction with Ray Charles Enterprises and Ray's fellow music legends Ahmet Ertegun and Phil Ramone, Genius & Friends follows on the heels of the phenomenally popular Genius Loves Company, and it shines throughout as Charles and an all-star roster of vocal partners serenade in sublime harmony.It doesn't take a lot of marquee names to sell a Ray Charles record, but the Genius proved long before 2004's Genius Loves Company that he was a master collaborator as well as a very natural one. On Genius & Friends, Rhino Records smartly capitalizes on Charles's gift for investing any duet with both backbone and bluesy, velvety soul by rounding up recordings he made in 1997 and 1998 and swelling them with the sounds of artists he inspired. The result is both brilliant and frustrating: brilliant because artists like Mary J. Blige, Gladys Knight, and Patti LaBelle so reliably tread their tracks with care and affection, reining in all that raw vocal power where a song requires it; and frustrating because it would have been incredible to hear each of the very different artists gathered here trading verses with Brother Ray in real time--producer Phil Ramone fused these songs together. (In two cases, we do get the pleasure: "Big Bad Love", recorded in 1994 with Diana Ross for the film The Favor, and "Busted," recorded live in 1991 with Willie Nelson.) To the producers' credit (add Ahmet Ertegun and Quincy Jones to Ramone) the audio wizardry required to make this disc does not once interfere with the sense it conveys that the chosen artists really were Ray Charles's friends. Hear it especially on the Idina Menzel heartwarmer "I Will Be There" and Blige's "It All Goes By So Fast," as silkily convincing as it is bittersweet. --Tammy La Gorce
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