At the tender age of 14, I had never experienced the tragic circumstances being revealed in the sad but mesmerizing song pouring forth from my little radio. None of the real or imagined dramas of my life at that point could compare to the pain this poor guy was going through, but oh how I loved to sing it with Brother Ray...

"It brings the tears, Into my eyes, When I begin, to re-a-lize, I've cried so much, Since you've gone, I guess I'll drown in, myyy own tears..."

Oh that soulful voice, and that gospel-style piano played like a church hymn taking an unprecedented turn down a dangerous alley. How could anybody make words and music that grandly forlorn so irresistibly listenable?

The answer, of course, was, and despite his recent departure from this planet, still is, Genius. The sheer musical genius of Ray Charles.

As well as any earthly thing can endure, the wonderful music he created and left as his legacy will continue to be heard as long as there are people with the soul and ears to receive it. Never one to be, as he termed it, "put in a box," Ray Charles put his inimitable stamp on the entire range of the rich and varied musical genres he embraced – blues, soul, rock, pop, rhythm and blues, jazz, country, country western, symphonic, and on and on – whether it was composed by him or somebody else. Ray could play, it sing it, arrange it, make it live.

The music of Ray Charles had already spanned generations when it grabbed me in my pre-teens, but my mom and dad had been fans since the late 40s, when Charles was just beginning his prolific recording career. I think I was about 12 when he came out with I Got A Woman, which was soon followed by Drown in My Own Tears and another of my very favorites, Halleluja I Love Her So. Toward the end of my high school days, What'd I Say became a part of my life's soundtrack. Now, four years into a new century and 136 and counting albums later, his music continues to find new audiences of all ages.

My mom and dad saw Ray Charles in concert a couple of times after I was already married and living in the midwest. But my first opportunity to see the Genius came a couple of weeks after the second issue of Entertainment Fort Smith Magazine had been published. On Sept. 15, 2000, the University of Central Arkansas celebrated the opening of its 1,200-seat Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall with something better, and more intoxicating to a music love, than champagne – Ray Charles.

He was 70 then, but except for his silver hair, you couldn't tell it. From the time he walked onstage, acknowledging his first standing ovation of the night from the capacity crowd with his trademark, dazzling smile, he appeared, and sounded, as vibrant as he did when I first fell in love with his music in the early 50s.

Accompanied by UCA's Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble and Concert Choir, plus his own musicians and musical director, The Genius treated us to a musical buffet of some of his jazz, pop, soul, gospel and patriotic standards. He sang Georgia, Lucky Old Sun, A Song For You, Almost Like Being in Love, and America. Ray Charles seemed to be so filled with music he could never play or sing it all out of his heart and soul. It poured out of him like an endless, glistening fountain, refreshing and energizing as a drought-ending rainfall.

Halfway through a rousing version of All I Ever Need Is You, Charles unexpectedly stood up at his piano, strapped on a saxophone and delivered a delectable sax solo. Later, he paused in the program for an uncharacteristic chat with his audience. It seems the day before he had heard himself criticized on a radio show by someone who had seen Ray Charles in concert and was complaining that all the musician did was play and sing, and never had a word to say to the audience.

"So," Brother Ray drawled, as he "looked" straight out at his 1,200 delighted fans with a mischievious grin, "how you all doing?" The crowd erupted with laughter and applause.

There will likely always be endless discussion and debate by his legions of fans over their favorite Ray Charles recordings, and most would be hard-pressed to choose just a handful, much less one. But I think if my dad and I had to make a single choice of all our many favorites, it would be one that many have never heard. Dad discovered it years ago, in a bargain bin, on a cassette tape I believe was titled The Country Side of Ray Charles. We played If You Were Mine, so many times we finally wore out the tape, then couldn't find another copy. Perhaps it had been one of those (unofficial?) compilation tapes, because I haven't seen that title in any of the Ray Charles discographies I've found on the Internet.

Finally, however, If You Were Mine appeared on The Complete Country and Western Recordings of Ray Charles released in 1998, and my friend and managing editor Lynn Wasson found it in her mother's record collection and gave me a copy. Now, if you want to see a smile on my 81-year-old father's face, just play that Ray Charles gem for him, and turn up the volume. We're still listening, Brother Ray.

 

Linda Seubold, editor of Entertainment Fort Smith Magazine, can be reached at lindaseubold@efortsmith.com. Read her archived columns and articles online.

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