Ray Charles - A Message from the People Audio CD
A fair review of the Ray Charles "A Message from the People" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all
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Band: Ray Charles
Title: A Message from the People
Rating: 
Release Date: 2009-05-05
Media: Audio CD
Tracks: 1: Lift Every Voice and Sing 2: Seems Like I Gotta Go Wrong 3: Heaven Help Us All 4: There'll Be No Peace Without All Men As One 5: Hey Mister 6: What Have They Done to My Song 7: Abraham, Martin and John 8: Take Me Home, Country Roads 9: Every Saturday Night 10: America the Beautiful
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+1/2 -- Brother Ray takes stock of America in 1972 The ten songs, arranged by Quincy Jones, Sid Feller and Mike Post, take stock of post-60s America, consolidating the progress of the civil rights movement, but not casting a blind eye to the continuing plight of a black man in America. Originally released in 1972, A Message from the People, was one of Charles' last albums for his own Tangerine imprint. The album opens with a rousing version of "Lift Every Voice and Sing. " Based on a poem used to introduce Booker T. Washington at a celebration of Lincoln's birthday in 1900, the song version was adopted by the NAACP as the Negro National Anthem, and became a favorite at black churches. The celebratory mood fades with Charles' powerful cover of the Whisper's "Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong" and its contemplation of injustice and social invisibility.
Charles continues to alternate hope and concern as the gospel-soul "Heaven Help Us All" gives way to the questioning "There Will Be No Peace Without All Men as One. " The album's second half finds Charles' stretching into pop material with covers of Melanie ("What Have They Done to My Song, Ma"), Dion ("Abraham, Martin and John"), and John Denver ("Take Me Home, Country Roads"). None are revelations, though Charles mines a deep vein of soulful sorrow with Dion's work. The album closes with a rendition of "America the Beautiful" that would eventually become one of Charles' signature performance pieces; at the time, however, it failed to attract much attention. This is a good album, but doesn't live up to the promise of its first three tracks. 3-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com].
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