Kicking off the upcoming reissue program that Concord Records has planned for the Ray Charles discography is Genius: The Ultimate Collection, a new set of 21 Charles classics. Ray Charles' back catalog is in need of an overhaul, as many albums remain out of print or simply were never re-released at all.
It is hard to argue with the choice of songs included on Genius, especially since the collection dips back into Charles' days with Atlantic Records. The focus of Concord's reissue campaign is his post-1960 releases with ABC-Paramount, so it's nice that this new set includes a few early classics. I am a bit puzzled, however, by the fact that this tracklist leaves a lot of empty space on the CD. With a running time of about one hour, quite a few additional songs could have been added. It isn't as if there was a shortage of Ray Charles hits from that period.
For anyone looking for a concise, fat-free introduction to Ray Charles, Genius: The Ultimate Collection serves that purpose well. Four #1 R&B hits, dating back to the 1950s, are included: "I Got A Woman," "A Fool For You," "Drown In My Own Tears," and the indelible "What'd I Say." Strangely, only Part 1 of "What'd I Say" is found here. The call-and-response section climaxes that song, which just isn't the same without it. There was more than enough room to include the complete version. A live recording of "Hallelujah I Love Her So" substitutes for the studio original, another odd choice but at least the song is represented.
The non-chronological tracklist is well programmed. Even though these recordings span a decade-and-a-half, the collection flows nicely even as it jumps around from one period of Charles' career to another. Hits from the classic Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music, and it's sequel Volume Two, are accounted for. The heavy string and choral arrangements haven't aged well. Although they were strokes of commercially-oriented genius (winning over millions of listeners who weren't interested in the straight-ahead R&B material), be prepared for some hokiness if you haven't heard these before. Hearing that whitebread chorus sing, "For I never knew the art of making love" (on the otherwise stellar "You Don't Know Me") makes me cringe every time. Still, "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Take These Chains From My Heart" were gigantic, essential hits.
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