Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American composer, singer, songwriter, and pianist, who was often referred to during his life as "The Genius." 
Blinded during childhood due to glaucoma, Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles. He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s and became one of the first Black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company. 
== History ==
=== Early Life (1930 - 1945) ===
Ray Charles Robinson was born in 1930, in Albany, Georgia, to a 15 year old girl named Aretha Williams. The father, Bailey Robinson, abandoned them shortly following his birth. Aretha was assisted in raising Charles by Mary Jane, who was Robinson's at the time of the affair. Only one year later, a brother, George Williams, was born. At the age of three, Ray became interested in music, after hearing Boogie Woogie played on an upright piano in a local cafe. Only a few years later, Ray would begin to lose his eyesight as a result of glaucoma.
At the age of 7, Charles attended the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida, it was here where he was taught to play classical piano. 
His mother died at age 40, an event which caused Charles to abandon school at age 14. This same year, he moved to Jacksonville to break into the local music scene.
=== Music Career (1945 - 2004) ===
Ray Williams found work exceedingly hard to find in a post World War II environment, and barely made enough not to starve. It was on the Floridian music scene where he met and began to play with guitarist Gossie McKee. McKee and Williams, likely now using the pseudonym Ray Charles, decided to move to Washington in March of 1948, knowing that the biggest radio hits were all recorded in the north. It was in Seatltle, Washington where the duo met with bassist Milton Garrett, whom they formed the band Maxim Trio with. 
The trio recorded and released four singles in 1949, producing and instantly produced the hit Confession Blues, which reached number 2 in the R&B charts. Being children at this time, it is unknown how aware The Residents would've been of this song, but it is possible that they heard it. In 1950, Charles moved to California, where he started his solo career. As the 1950s progressed, Charles grew in popularity among black audiences, but never seemed to break through to the mainstream white charts, until 1957, when his song 'Swanee River Rock' reached number 34 in the Billboard US charts. At this time, The Residents were in their tweens, and may have been fans of the song. As the 1960s began and The Residents entered their teens, Charles reached new heights of popularity, starting with his number 1 hit single, Georgia on My Mind, followed in 1961 by Hit the Road Jack. 
If The Residents weren't made aware of him before, they were definitely aware of him now, the band loved Jack, and would later cover it. Charles was certainly an early favorite of the group who would later become The Residents.
At the same time as Charle's rise in the mainstream, a pre-Cryptic Corp Homer Flynn and Hardy Fox, first met as roommates in college at Louisiana Tech in 1963, and bonded over a shared love of Ray Charles' music. Both of them had two separate pressings of an album of his, and also had two recorded players. Likely due to teenage curiosity, the two played the records at the same time, to see what would happen. This got them reported to a disciplinary meeting with the Dean of Men).Jason Roth, "Behind The Eye of Hardy Fox, Composer For America's Weirdest Band", NPR Music, November 7th 2018
As the 1960s concluded and the 1970s progressed, mainstream music seemed to advance past Charles' relatively easy listening medleys, and he stopped receiving significant airplay. In 1985, he participated in the We Are The World charity recording, which was written by Michael Jackson, and also featured Bob Dylan.
=== Use in Residents Project (1986 - 1997) ===
In November of 1986, The Residents began working on what was to be the third part of their American Composers Series of cover albums, an album that covered the music of Ray Charles, and Sun Ra. Sessions for the album continued into May of 1987, before being abandoned completely. But not wanting the sessions to be a complete waste, the band released Hit The Road Jack as a single in June.
The group would later cover We Are The World in 1997, as part of their live Disfigured Night show.
== See also ==
* The American Composer Series
* "Hit The Road Jack"
== External links and references ==
* Ray Charles at Wikipedia
* "Hit The Road Jack" at The Residents Historical
Category:American Composers
Category:The American Composer Series
Category:Hit The Road Jack
Category:Other Artists
Category:Deceased people