Artist	Song
Ray Charles	Ain't That Love
from Ray Charles (2005)
Ray Charles	Feel So Bad
from Volcanic Action of My Soul (2009)
Ray Charles	How Long Has This Been Going On
from True to Life (2009)
Ray Charles	We Didn't See A Thing
from Friendship (2005)
Ray Charles	I'm Movin' On (Stereo Version)
from The Ray Charles Story, Volume Two (2005)
Aretha Franklin	Spirit In the Dark (Reprise with Ray Charles) [Live February 7, 1971]
from Live at Fillmore West (2008)
Ray Charles	Just for a Thrill
from The Genius of Ray Charles (2005)
Ray Charles	Mary Ann
from Ray Charles (2005)
Ray Charles	Don't Set Me Free
from The Unforgettable Voices: 30 Best of Ray Charles Vol. 2 (2011)
Ray Charles	Living for the City
from Renaissance (2009)
Ray Charles	Come Back
from Ray Charles (2005)
Ray Charles	Understanding
from A Portrait of Ray (2009)
Ray Charles	Sail Away
from Renaissance (2009)
Ray Charles	Yes Indeed
from Yes Indeed! (2005)
Ray Charles	Your Cheating Heart
from Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music, Vol. 1 & 2 (2009)
Ray Charles	Bye Bye Love
from Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music, Vol. 1 & 2 (2009)
Ray Charles	Oh What a Beautiful Morning
from True to Life (2009)
Lou Rawls	That's Where It's At
from At Last (1989)
Ray Charles	The Long and Winding Road
from Volcanic Action of My Soul (2009)
Ray Charles	Mess Around
from Ray Charles (2005)
Ray Charles & The Maxin Trio	Confession Blues
from The Best of the Blues Vol. 1 (2007)
Ray Charles	I Can't Stop Loving You
from Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music, Vol. 1 & 2 (2009)
Ray Charles	You Don't Know Me
from Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music, Vol. 1 & 2 (2009)
Ray Charles	Take These Chains from My Heart
from Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music, Vol. 1 & 2 (2009)
Ray Charles	You Are My Sunshine
from Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music, Vol. 1 & 2 (2009)

Comment:

While latter-day pop stars ravage the Great American Songbook for material, Ray Charles always had his ears finely tuned to what was going on around him, as we'll hear in our Deep Cuts. The stately bigness of Lennon-McCartney's "The Long and Winding Road" gets a much-needed booster shot of soul, as Ray bends the backing orchestra to his vocal will, always in command, never overpowered. His funk-fortified electric piano snarls while the [i]wah-wacka-wah[/i] guitar lays down a greasy groove on Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City," but you [i]gotta[/i] skip to about three-and-a-half-minutes in, just to hear Ray in full-blown Pentecostal preacher mode, ticking off a list of all the things that tick him off. And what better way to cap Mr. Charles' incredible career than his sentimental-but-not-schmaltzy reflection on days gone by, in the last-call-nightcap of Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years."

Feedback: