But Charles didn't really capture the pop audience until 'What'd I Say,' which caught the fervor of the church with its pleading vocals, as well as the spirit of rock & roll with its classic electric piano line. 'This Little Girl of Mine,' 'Drown in My Own Tears,' 'Hallelujah I Love Her So,' 'Lonely Avenue,' and 'The Right Time' were all big hits.

Throughout the '50s, Charles ran off a series of R&B hits that, although they weren't called 'soul' at the time, did a lot to pave the way for soul by presenting a form of R&B that was sophisticated without sacrificing any emotional grit. This is the song most frequently singled out as his pivotal performance, on which Charles first truly let go with his unmistakable gospel-ish moan, backed by a tight, bouncy horn-driven arrangement. It was at Atlantic Records that Ray Charles truly found his voice, consolidating the gains of recent years and then some with 'I Got a Woman,' a number-two R&B hit in 1955. In the early '50s, Charles' sound started to toughen as he toured with Lowell Fulson, went to New Orleans to work with Guitar Slim (playing piano on and arranging Slim's huge R&B hit, 'The Things That I Used to Do'), and got a band together for R&B star Ruth Brown. Charles' first recordings came in for their fair share of criticism, as they were much milder and less original than the classics that would follow, although they're actually fairly enjoyable, showing strong hints of the skills that were to flower in a few years. He got his first Top Ten R&B hit with 'Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand' in 1951. By the late '40s, he was recording in a smooth pop/R&B style derivative of Nat 'King' Cole and Charles Brown.

His parents had died by his early teens, and he worked as a musician in Florida for a while before using his savings to move to Seattle in 1947. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind. The brilliance of his 1950s and '60s work, however, can't obscure the fact that he made few classic tracks after the mid-'60s, though he recorded often and performed until the year before his death.īlind since the age of six (from glaucoma), Charles studied composition and learned many instruments at the St. He was also a superb keyboard player, arranger, and bandleader. Then there was his singing his style was among the most emotional and easily identifiable of any 20th century performer, up there with the likes of Elvis and Billie Holiday. Singers like Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson also did a great deal to pioneer the form, but Charles did even more to devise a new form of black pop by merging '50s R&B with gospel-powered vocals, adding plenty of flavor from contemporary jazz, blues, and (in the '60s) country.

Ray Charles was the musician most responsible for developing soul music.

Ray charles a portrait of ray rar