Ray Charles
★★★★
Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul
TANGERINE. CD/DL/LP
One of Brother Ray’s greatest albums reappears.
A maverick who didn’t follow pop trends and instead combined R&B, gospel, jazz, and country elements to forge a sui generis style, Ray Charles enjoyed his biggest commercial successes at ABC/Paramount Records in the 1960s. Long out of print, Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul was the follow-up to his second volume of groundbreaking Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music, and found Charles reconnecting with his bluesy roots. Hooking up with elite arrangers Sid Feller, Marty Paich and Benny Carter, Charles wends his way through Sinatra-esque big band numbers (Ol’ Man Time), jazz standards (Over The Rainbow), string-laden nocturnes (Born To Be Blue), and sonorous spirituals (Ol’ Man River). The standouts are the Grammy-winning hit single Busted, with its brassy swagger, and That Lucky Old Sun, which, despite its dated, syrupy backing vocals, still packs a cathartic emotional punch.