Buy this for the bonus DVD
Kevin R. Oppendike | Midwestern US | 09/01/2004
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The music on this CD seems to be drawn from various sources, primarily recordings from Ray's early days when he was trying to sound like Nat King Cole. As such it is okay but not that much like his later Atlantic and ABC recordings.
There is a bonus DVD containing 2 programs included with this CD. First there is a 30 minute "documentary" about Ray Charles. This is a total joke. It is 30 minutes of intercutting of 4 people talking about Ray Charles. These are not known historians, critics, or musicians but rather "music enthusiasts". None of these people appear to have ever met Ray Charles. It seems that maybe they each have read a biography on Ray or perhaps watched a video or two. Occasionally a photo of Ray pops up but there isn't even any video footage of him playing, just these four average schmoes spewing factoids and giving their opinions about events in Ray's life. Pretty Lame.
The second program is a 60 minute documentary "Anatomy of American Pop" and it alone is well worth the purchase price of this CD. Apparently this must be a public domain item which was stuck on here to pad the DVD. It appears to be a mid 60's TV documentary and is chock full of cool vintage footage of pop, rock, country, & jazz performers in action. The black & white film hasn't been restored at all but is still quite watchable with passable sound. It has segments with Tony Bennett in the recording studio, the Supremes and Temptations recording at the Hitsville studio with the Funk Brothers. Footage from the Grand Old Opry. A New Orleans funeral procession with a traditional brass band. The Rascals and the Dave Clark 5 live on stage (not together) and much more. I have never seen any of this footage elsewhere.
So if you want some typical Ray Charles music or a documentary about Ray look elswhere, but at this price this is still worth buying just for the tagged on documentary. If this particular film were cleaned up a bit and put on its own DVD it would be well worth the typical $20 DVD price for anyone who has an interest in American music, so buying it here is a real bargain."