Ray Charles: With a Song from His Heart

When Ray Charles was just a little boy growing up in the small Florida town of Greenville, he would run next door to the general store and listen to the boogie-woogie piano of Wylie Pittman, the store owner.

“He’d let me sit on the stool and I’d bang upon the piano, but he never got angry and made me leave,” Charles reminisced. “He was probably the biggest influence on my career, because I don’t know if I’d be doing what I am today if it wasn’t for him.”

Of course, Charles likely could become a ragtime piano player in a Southern barrelhouse. But his interests and ambitions were much greater.

He was destined to become one of the most influential performers in the history of modern music.

Charles, 51, will be appearing in concert Saturday at 8 p.m. in the DeVos Hall of the Grand Center. Joining him on stage will be the Raeletts and his 17-piece Ray Charles Orchestra.

Few musicians have been so efficient in switching musical styles as Charles. He’s been comfortable playing jazz, gospel, blues, soul, country/western and pop, the many interests coming from his formulative years as a piano player.

“When I was a boy, anything that was music excited me,” said Charles, who went blind from glaucoma during his childhood. “I didn’t care what it was. I’d listen to everything. But as I got older, I became more discriminating.”

Still, the multifaceted Charles doesn’t believe in delineating musical styles.

“If somebody’s got a good song, it doesn’t matter what it is.”

It was 1962, in fact, that Charles recorded his landmark album Modern Sounds in Country and Western. The disc shocked many critics, but one of the singles, “I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You,” went on to sell more than 3 million copies.

The record, a significant departure from his jazz and soul stance, proved to be one of his most successful. So it shouldn’t be surprising to find that Charles is preparing another country album, due for release sometime this fall.

“It’ll have a country and western flavor, but it’ll be different from the album I made back in the ‘60s,” he said. “It’s country, but it’s me. The music’s contemporary and has more of a soul feeling than a jazz sound.”

Among the songs Charles might include on the record are compositions by Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, George Jones, and Willie Nelson. Like always, he’s being very selective about what he’ll use.

He canvassed some 300 songs when he recorded his first country LP.

“I’m one of those people who like to play strictly what I feel. If I don’t record a song, it doesn’t mean the song’s no good, it’s just that I wasn’t able to get the right feeling out of it. I do what my heart tells me.”

When he’s looking for a good song, it’s usually the lyrics which first attract Charles’ attention.

“I like the words to say something to me. The lyrics have got to have some substance and meaning. It’s like Ray Stevens’ song, ‘The Streak,’ from a few years ago. To me that song was a very clever, well-done thing.

“But if a song doesn’t have good lyrics, then it has to at least have some exciting, rhythmic pattern, like my song ‘What’d I Say.’ Lyrically it was not what you’d call very well-done, but it had that beat. Man, you could hear it everywhere.”

“What’d I Say” was one of the pivotal songs in Charles’ career. Along with “I Got a Woman,” it drew kudos for its daring mixture of spirited black gospel with sexy pop melodies.

That combination was, for the most part, the genesis of soul music as it was to become known.

The influence Charles has had on other musicians cannot be denied. He’s been credited as the inspiration for such diverse rock artists as Joe Cocker, Eric Burdon and Steve Winwood as well as countless jazz, blues and country performers.

Frank Sinatra once called him “the only genius in the business,” to which Charles replies:

“Art Tatum, he might have been a genius. Or Charlie Parker or somebody like Einstein, but not me. I just do what I do. Everything I do is natural. I’m glad people feel I’m making some kind of contribution.”

Charles has drawn much of his own inspiration from such people as balladeer Charles Brown, blues guitarist T-Bone Walker and especially, the swing of Nat “King” Cole.

“Nat Cole was a tremendous influence. I loved his music. He did what I always wanted to do – he was able to play the piano very tastefully and gracefully behind his singing. When I was young, I tried my best to imitate him.”

Fortunately, Charles became convinced that he was better off trying to be himself. His trend-setting music in following years helped change the face of American pop music.

Among the classic tunes he’s performed are “Hit the Road Jack,” Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia on My Mind,” Rogers and Hammerstein’s “Some Enchanted Evening,” and Stevie Wonder’s “Living for the City.”

Charles still works about eight months a year, roughly from late April to mid-December.

“Thank the Lord I’m blessed in that I’m still working. With the economy the way it is these days and so many people out of jobs, I think I’ve been real lucky.”

His concerts are still well-attended, Charles said, even though the average American is beginning to have trouble making the wallet stretch with rising ticket prices.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but so far we’ve come out good.”

Charles has no intention of slowing down.

“As long as people come to hear me and appreciate listening to my music, God knows I want to play it. I’ll keep performing until the good Lord says enough is enough.”

When he finally retires, what does he want people to remember about Ray Charles?

“I just hope that somebody can say, ‘You know that the music Ray played was always what he felt.’ Because that’s what it is. I want to be remembered for music that was really and truly sincere.”

Originally published May 14, 1982.