Ray Charles
Thanks for Bringing Love Around Again
Crossover Records

by William Michael Smith

It's been six years since Ray Charles recorded fresh material. Now with his own record label, he is free to record when and what he wants. While he remains visible through his occasional television appearances on various specials and continues to play shows, it seems his music is seldom heard these days except on oldies radio. It was a pleasant surprise to unexpectedly received Mr. Charles's Thanks for Bringing Love Around Again because no matter his age and visibility, it is always interesting to see where Ray Charles is musically at any given moment. This being his first recording in the new millennium simply added to the mystery of "Where is Ray at now?"

Well, if you thought Ray Charles was ready to toddle off to the old folks home or to rest on his considerable laurels and just keep reviving his evergreen songs like "What'd I Say" or "Georgia on My Mind," forget that. Charles, a resident of Los Angeles, is obviously still plugged in to the music scene as his funky new album shows. For a man of his age and accomplishments, it is filled with vigor and life.

OK, so I stretched the truth a little bit (I'm from Texas; we call it liberal use of hyperbole). Charles opens the disc by reprising "What'd I Say," but this is an elaborate deep-groove blues-funk fusion with Charles backed by a Raylettes-like vocal trio and some funky string fills that serve to totally modernize this classic tune. I suspect listeners will be as surprised as I was at how strong and supple Charles's voice remains. The old growl is still there among the buttery-smooth blue tones of one of the most recognizable voices in modern popular music.

By the time we reach the chorus of the second track, "Can You Love Me Like That," it is fairly obvious that Ray is still the love-man. A syncopated soul duet with beyond-cool counter-point horn arrangements, there is little doubt that this is no half-hearted recording by an enfeebled old-timer. This track screams "you're as young as you think you are." And "How Did You Feel the Morning After" is pure old-time Ray Charles playing the smart blues in a modern mode. Who said a guy in his 70s can't have a lady-killer voice? Charles proves here he's still on the cutting edge of coolness.

Oh, baby, I never want you to be with someone else
I got to have you all to myself
After last night I really know the score
All through the day I wanted more and more

Amazingly, Charles just keeps building on the blues funk. I kept expecting a let-down, a weak track, a musical cliché, a place where Charles would begin to repeat or even unknowingly mimic himself. Didn't happen. "I Love You More Than I Ever Have" is as good a small ensemble track as Charles has ever laid down as he and the rhythm section find a wonderful blues-soul-funk hipster booty-shaking dance groove. The production embellishments are just colorings, the candy sprinkles on the icing.

And the guy just kept building tighter, harder, funkier grooves. "Really Got A Hold on Me" reminds me of something Arsenio Hall said years ago about black music. "We need plenty of bass, lots of bass, big bass."

The title track is one of those jazzy blues-pop tracks for urban sophisticates that sounds like a movie theme. It also serves as another reminder of what an expressive voice Mr. Charles has always possessed. With its lush string arrangement, this is late-night, lights-down-low, whiskey-and-soda romantic music of the highest order.

But Charles segues out of this sugary orchestral track right back into that bass-driven, horns-blastin' soul-funk with the Raylettes' call-and-response breathy vocals accenting his every phrase and nuance on the sexy "Save Your Lovin' Just For Me." The love man is back, ladies. Never was gone.

On the quiet, smoldering "Ensemble" Charles once again takes us back to his world of sophisticated blue-tinted melodies. This is another of those rug-on-the-floor, fireplace-burning-low torchers more in the Streisand or Eartha Kitt blue-pop vein than what we normally consider as a blues ballad. This is Charles in his classical, orchestral mode, working with one of his quiet but complex melodies.

Charles throws us a curve on "New Orleans" as he channels the bayou funk of Professor Longhair and his disciples. Ray can still pound the keys, folks. He follows up with a quiet talking blues, "Mr. Creole," that highlights Charles's ability to take a simple riff in a certain style and expand on it until it becomes a huge, sophisticated musical canvas. Charles leaves out the strings and horn fills, opting to work with a basic ensemble of drums, bass, guitar, and keys. As always, Charles is the ultimate of cool as he lays down his hipster story.

While there are spots where the arrangements sound a bit sterile, this doesn't come as much of a surprise as Charles has always been known for pop leanings in his work. And there is no pretense that this is the Ray Charles of the original "What'd I Say" era. This is very much a smooth, urban, big-city album that says where Ray Charles is musically right now and what he finds worth recording. It may not appeal to the hip-hopsters, but I suspect there will be a lot of Boomers who find this quite palatable indeed.

* For information on the inimitable Ray Charles, there is now a www.raycharles.com Go there to read all the latest on the new line of Ray Charles slot machines.



Contact William Michael Smith at: wms-at-rockzilla.net

 
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