Ray Charles Robinson

Ray Charles (Google.com)

He was born in Albany Georgia by some poor sharecroppers. His parents' names were Bailey and Thomos Robinson. When Ray was a infant their family moved to Greenville, Florida. His father was never really there, because he stayed working and he had another famliy to take care of. So his mother was always watching him & their father's wife, Mary Jane. When Ray was about 5 his brother drowned in an outside tub. And Ray was there to witness him slowly dying. Ray tried to pull him out of the water but he was too heavy for Ray. A few weeks after his brother's death, Ray had to be sent to a different school because he was going blind. His mother made him promise that he would never let anyone treat him as a charity case. Two years after he left, his mother had died. Ray had eventually move to Seattle. He was 16 then. The frist time he started to record he was with the label Swingtime records. The first hit song was "Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand" and it was also his first hit song. He had to shorten his name to Ray Charles so that people would not confuse with him with Sugar Ray Robinson.

Ray had also made another hit. IT was a rap-like version of "It Should Have Been Me." And this was not the only hit that would come from a great man. That song was followed by many other hits like "This Little Girl of Mine," "Drown in My Own Tears," "Hallelujah I Love Her So," and "Lovely Avenue." And half of them were Gospel songs that had secular lyrics. After Ray had an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, he had achieved mainstream success with his new hit "The Night Time(Is The Right Time)." And his signature song, "What'd I Say." His album hit major in the Atlanta area from the tape, but that was months before it was really recorded in the studio. It was in two- part version with better fidelity. Ray had already begun to break the limits of the gospel and blues synthesis while he was still at Atlantic Records. They now call that mixure of music back then, genuis. He mostly always recoreded with many larger orchestras and many different jazz artists. He worked with Milt Jackson & his first country song was with Hank Snow called "I'm Movin On." After that he moved to ABC Records where he got a major deal and control over his music. He had "Unchain My Heart" a few weeks after he was signed.

In the later years of his life, he was involved with drugs. He was introduced to drugs by two men that he went on tours with. While they were in the bathroom he walked in and could smell the smoke. He asked for some and they told him this is not what you want and he said he wanted to find out for himself and he took some and was hooked. In 1965 he was arrested for possession of heroin, a drug that he had been hooked on for 17 years. It was the third time he was arrested for that, but he was never went to jail. He had to go to a clinic in LA. And he also had a year of parole in 1966.

In the late 80's, lots of event were lined up for Ray. In 1985, "Night Time Is The Right Time" was on the Cosby Show. 1986 he performed a rendition of "America the Beautiful" at WrestleMania 2. He had great success with his singing of that song and it was in his own unique way. Ray also was in many films. In one, he was a blind store owner. With his new connetions with audiences, came a spokesman deal for Pepsi. And it was a very successful advertisment. Charles had a very popular catchpahse and I quote, "You've got the right one, Baby!" In the late 90s he did a lot of guest vocals. He worked with the Famous Chaka Khan on her song "Long Time Friends and with the famous Quincy Jones hit, "I'll Be Good To You." That was in 1990.

On June 11 2004, Ray was dead. He died in L.A from an acute liver disease. He was 73 years old when he died. And just before he died he had just finished an album for Concord Records. Even after his death, Ray Charles Robinson still lives. He had a movie based on his great life by the actor, Jamie Foxx. He was one of the best musicians ever and he always will be remembered for that. Even though there were some things that he wished would have never have happened, he still was a hero to me and to many other people.