Ray Charles' Influence on Music in 1960's - Essay Example

Ray Charles, an African America jazz musician was born on the 23rd September 1932, Ray Charles Robinson. He later adopted the stage Ray Charles,to avoid being confused with the boxer Ray Robinson. His father, Bailey Robinson was a mechanic and handyman, while his mother Heather Robinson, worked in a sawmill. His blindness came about as a result of untreated glaucoma. His family moved to Greenville, Florida from Albany, Georgia. At Greenville, aged 5 years old, Charles went blind in one eye. His right eye was removed at the age of seven and thereafter he lost his eyesight completely. Ray Charles was enrolled at the Saint Augustine School for the Blind in Florida, where he learnt Braille. He also learnt to play the piano and clarinet/saxophone. He had to rely heavily on his excellent memory for music as he did not have the advantage of sight. Ray Charles also had a gift of perfect pitch, which greatly aided his musicianship. At only 15, he lost his mother and after two years, his father also passed on. His suffering inspired him to greater heights. He graduated from St. Augustine School an started traveling with country music road bands. This enriched his quality of music when he later added western music to his repertoire. He also toured with rhythm and blues bands as an instrumentalist. Among the instruments he played are the piano, clarinet and saxophone. He also an arranger and composer. His early influences as a singer were: blues singers, Guitar Slim and Parcy Mayfield. Lloyd Glenn influenced his piano. Eventually, it was his mixed styles, his voice texture and his versatile falsetto range and his emotional appeal that combined to bring out a unique vocal artistry. (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2003) Ray Charles also invented soul, combining gospel music with rhythm and blues. He's remembered as having secularized the gospel hymn "My Jesus is all the World to Me". In the late 2005, John Burk, Concord Records A & R chief and producer of Ray Charles Grammy Award wining blockbuster album "Genius Lovers Company" came upon some tapes recorded in the 70s, apparently concert tapes. The tapes were made by the legendary impresario producer Norman Granz. (All About Jazz, 2006). Though the tapes recovered were not the greatest quality, the music was recorded to produce a beautiful, authentic and irreplaceable work of music. His music from the 60s combines with the latest technology to bring about yet another astounding performance from Ray Charles. Whatever beauty the technology in the 60s couldn't capture, the new technology has been able to capture and in the process, still manage to show the uniqueness of Ray Charles' genius. Ray Charles once said that in music, there's only either good or bad music. That also, in music you just can't escape when something is good (Ray Charles Biography 2004). Ray Charles set the aesthetic standards for more than 50 years across the board; Blues, R&B, Country. He has inspired many in the music industry as no other can. Indeed he has fans even out of the entertainment industry inspired by him. In an answer to those who thought that his being influenced by both secular and gospel music was sacrilegious, Ray said that one could not run away from themselves. He was brought up in the church, but at the same time, he would listen to secular music from jukeboxes. It was this open mindedness in music that led him to pioneer a new style in music hence opening the door for many young performers to follow. He has inspired many new stars in the music industry who admired his talent and independent spirit. Growing up in the south in the 50s and 60s where racism was deeply rooted, Ray fought racism and against its divisions. Once he was booked to perform in a concert. He had no idea it was going to be segregated. The white members of the audience were downstairs while the black fans sat upstairs. He told the music promoter he didn't mind performing, as long the black people sat downstairs, closer to him. (Ray Charles: A giant of American Music 2004). In his efforts against racism, he specifically participated in a 1963 concert to integrate entertainment in Birmingham, Alabama. This was despite mistreatment by city authorities who denied the entertainers, him included, food and accommodation. There were also bomb threats against them when they left. He stood out, not just as a music legend, but also as a man who stood for what he believed in. (Ray Charles & Count Basic Orchestra; Ray Sings, Basic Swings, 2006). From this we see that racism did not affect Ray Charles' music. He instead overcame it, poverty and blindness to go on and shine his genius to the world. Ray Charles is respected to date in the music industry for being proficient in piano. There's a popular saying that its not what Ray Charles played that made magic, rather how he played. He was an expert of rhythm and tempo, enlivening his performances. He was a member of the jazz, rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues halls of fame. He is, as already mentioned, credited with inventing 'soul' music. Like many famous people come before and after him and like any other mortal, Ray Charles was not a perfect man. His struggle with drugs, specifically heroine, is well documented. (Forever Ray, 2004). So frank was he about his addiction to the vice that he actually admitted to the media that he 'loves getting high'. Some level of setback from indulgence in this vice was inevitable. However, Ray Charles bounced back into his genius self, setting off with a cheeky titled "lets go get stoned". He is also said to have been a womanizer. He didn't try to counter this either, admitting that he 'loved women alright'. He was twice divorced, with 12 children and some grandchildren and great grandchildren. There is no clear indication that this aspect of his life in any way influenced his professional life. His own personal suffering and trauma combined to inspire in him a wellspring of deep emotion. This combined with the keenest musical mind of the 20th century, long ago established him as an American cultural idol. Later in his life, Ray as he is commonly called established the Ray Charles Robinson Foundation for the hearing impaired. This foundation engages in auditory physiology research as well as hearing implantations. The concert incidence in Augusta, GA, where Ray Charles refused to play to a segregated audience propelled him into an active role in civil rights activism and the fight for racial justice. This thus earned him friendship and moral support of Rev. Martin Luther King, an acclaimed civil rights activist of the 1960s America (Hungry Blues, 2004). Ray Charles personally met Martin Luther King and explained him that though it might not be possible for him to participate in the front line marches in demonstrations, he said he would endeavor to be helpful in raising money to help demonstrators pay lawyers' fees for legal research, court fees as well as for food for the demonstrators. Racist violence and racist terror groups touched on the life of Ray Charles not just as a black man during the1950s and 1960s but also as an entertainer. This is because no concerts could be held for some time due to the immense tension in the air. The concert however went on despite the Alabama Musician Union refusing to permit Negro and white musicians to play on the same stage (Show Business, 1956). This was the bringing together of the black and white communities in an integrated performance. This was one of the many things that Ray Charles is credited with. The successful performance by black and white entertainers to a mixed audience helped to phase out racism in the music industry. It showed that black people could hire and work with white people (Baldwin, 1963). As earlier mentioned, Ray Charles was grounded in Christianity as his mother brought him up to love himself rather that n engage in self pity and self sympathy. She always reminded him that this loss of sight did not mean the loss of mind (American Foundation of the blind, 2004). His mother's tough love bred in him confidence and led him to believe that he could do anything anyone else could do and she showed him that the didn't have to be scared of anything. This firmness that he was brought up with compelled him to stand up, fight racism, poverty and rise against the stereotypes that normally held back people with physical disabilities. Not only did he fight inequalities in the fore front, but he also spoke up against apartheid, a segregation policy in far off South Africa. He spoke out when a promoter wanted him to participate in a segregated concert. It is no wonder then that he is considered up to today a very influential artist in the history of American music (Spark, 2004). It was when he was on the road traveling with is troupe of traveling musicians that Ray Charles experienced first hand the realities, evils, injustices and even the ludicrous moments of segregation (afgen.com, 2004). Some argue that he made a mess of his personal life with some even saying that it even affected his music career. I say he came out alright, not unscathed but not scarred. Due to his determination not to le this blindness dictate to him what his limits in life were, the American Foundation for the blind in 2004 awarded him with the Helen Keller Personal Achievement Award, which honors individuals who have significantly improved the lives who are blind or visually impaired. In addition, he appeared at the American Foundation for the blind's symposium in 2003, which was dubbed "Vision Loss in the 21st Century - Everybody's Business." Along with him was his good friend Quincy Jones, who was also in support of expanding the opportunities of people who live with visual impairments. So outspoken was he against those things that he considered wrong that he released a song titled "America the Beautiful" in 1992, a response to the American version of Vietnam. This was his voice of protest against the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, this song is often used to drum up feelings of patriotism, not a bed feeling in itself, but that fact that they neglect the inspiration of the song. This seems to the main factor that waters down the memory of Ray Charles. Ray Charles once said that the music greats of his time and later did not really love all that talent that in fact, they just took what was or had already been produced or done before by black musicians. He said that black musicians were really talented in the first place, and so others were doing their music over in a new style. His moral choices affected his musical career ever so slightly as he bounced back to his old self after controversies, mush to the delight of his fans and supporters. His contribution to the music industry is mostly is that he is remembered as the inventor of soul music, through fusion of rhythm and blues, country music with overtones of jazz. In recent times, his music has been improved technologically, using his original voice recordings while improving on the background vocalists, instruments and sound quality. REFERENCES. All about Jazz (2005). Brother Ray. Ray Charles'. Last retrieved form the World Wide Web on 23rd February, 2008 at http://www.allaboutjazz.com American Foundation for the blind (2004). Ray Charles Trailblazing Artist and Advocate (1930-2004). Last retrieved form the World Wide Web on 23rd February, 2008 at www.americanfoundationfortheBlind.com BeliefNet (2008). Between the Church & the Honky-tonk. Last retrieved form the World Wide Web on 23rd February, 2008 at http://www.beliefnet.com Digitally Obsessed (2008). The Dick Cavett Show: Ray Charles Collection (1972 -3). Last retrieved form the World Wide Web on 23rd February, 2008 at http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/index.php3 Hungry Blues (2004). Ray Charles helped integrate Birmingham. Last retrieved form the World Wide Web on 23rd February, 2008 at http://afgen.com/ray_charles.html New York Times (2004). Ray Charles, Bluesy Essence of Soul, Is Dead at 73. Last retrieved form the World Wide Web on 23rd February, 2008 at www.newyorktimes.com Ray Charles Bibliography (2008) Ray Charles the Man. Last retrieved form the World Wide Web on 23rd February, 2008 at http://www.raycharles.com Spark (2004). Ray Charles: A giant of American Music. Last retrieved form the World Wide Web on 23rd February, 2008 at http://www.the-spark.net/index.html UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography (2003) Ray Charles. Last retrieved form the World Wide Web on 23rd February, 2008 at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5229 Wikipedia (2008). Zeitgeist. Last retrieved form the World Wide Web on 23rd February, 2008 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/zeistgeist Read More