Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles (5-CD Box Set) [Box set]

Ray Charles long ago graduated from a hit-seeking artist to an omnipresent musical god. His iconic singles, innovative albums and sizzling live performances are so monumental as to obscure the time before they existed. It's all but impossible to recall the excitement of a new Ray Charles release climbing up the charts to popular acclaim and immortality. But Charles' genius was both artistic and commercial, and his growth and triumphs as a musician were paralleled by success on the charts. Concord's 5-disc set gathers the mono A- and B-sides of all 53 singles that Charles released on the ABC label, starting with 1960's "My Baby (I Love Her Yes I Do)" and concluding with 1973's "I Can Make It Thru the Days (But Oh Those Lonely Nights)." Along the route the set stops at eleven chart-topping hits, numerous lower-charting A-sides and a wealth of terrific B's. Thirty of these tracks are making their first appearance on CD, and twenty-one their digital debut.

By the time Charles joined ABC-Paramount, he'd already begun to translate his success on the R&B charts into broader crossover acclaim with the Atlantic singles "What'd I Say" and "I'm Movin' On." His recordings for ABC included both indelible albums (e.g., Genius + Soul = Jazz and Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music), and an incredible string of charting singles that included "Georgia on My Mind" (his first Pop #1), "Hit the Road Jack," "I Can't Stop Loving You," "You Don't Know Me," "Busted" and "Crying Time." Charles repeatedly showed himself to be a master of blues, soul, jazz, gospel, pop and his own brand of country, and a musician (both as a pianist and vocalist) whose brilliance was amplified just as fully by a small combo as it was by an orchestra.

Charles had first expanded his musical boundaries with Atlantic on 1959's The Genius of Ray Charles, augmenting his R&B band with additional players and strings; ABC capitalized on this by providing the opportunity to record with big bands and orchestras. The through line that links the two eras is the soul Charles poured into each vocal, the personal experience he wrote into his lyrics, and the imagination with which he created definitive interpretations of others' songs. Charles' piano playing - particularly on the electric - was as iconic as his voice, and as a bandleader he surrounded himself with exceptional instrumentalists, including tenor saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman, who developed their own notoriety and followings.

It wasn't until Charles' third single for ABC, 1960's career-defining cover of "Georgia on My Mind," that he topped the pop chart and fully exploited his crossover success. It was a feat he'd repeat with 1961's "Hit the Road Jack," 1962's "I Can't Stop Loving You," and with other titles on the R&B chart. Charles' sessions often turned out enough high-grade material to stock both sides of his singles. 1962's landmark cover of Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart," for example, was backed by an even higher-charting take on Governor Jimmie Davis' "You Are My Sunshine." But the biggest hits aren't this set's most intriguing material - it's the lower-charting singles and B-sides, overshadowed by Charles' commercial success, that are the biggest surprise.

Lesser-known highlights include Phil Guilbeau's trumpet work on Percy Mayfield's sly blues "But on the Other Hand, Baby," Gerald Wilson's moody arrangements of "Careless Love" and "Something's Wrong," a sizzling two-part live remake of Charles' 1955 hit "I Got a Woman," the Wrecking Crew's Carole Kaye laying down a funky bass line on "The Train," Charles' cooking original version of Ashford & Simpson's "I Don't Need No Doctor," Jimmy Holiday's southern-tinged blue soul "Something Inside Me," Billy Preston's gospel organ on "Here We Go Again," the bittersweet waltz-time "Somebody Ought to Write a Book About It," the gospel testimony of "Understanding," the Stax-styled "Let Me Love You," and the run of Buck Owens tunes ("Love's Gonna Live Here Again," "Crying Time" and "Together Again") Charles covered in 1965-6.

In the Fall of 1965, Charles began recording in his own RPM International studio, and many of the singles from this era sound pinched (Billy Vera's liner notes say they're "drier"), as though they were mixed and EQ'd narrowly for AM radio. As the timeline rolls into 1966 and 1967, the compressed dynamic range and mono mixes become anachronistic. As Charles' fame grew, he became more dependent on interpreting the songs of staff writers and others. The musical invention of the early `60s settled into a comfortable groove, but Charles' blend of soul, blues, jazz, country and pop never failed to offer something unique. Treats in the latter half of the collection include a superbly wrought cover of Sam Cooke's "Laughin' and Cryin'," a subtle double-tracked vocal on the soul B-side "If You Were Mine," a soulful reworking of "America the Beautiful," and a sharp take on "Ring of Fire" that was Charles' last B-side for ABC.

The five discs are housed in individual cardboard folders, with interior reproductions of a label or picture sleeve. The folders are packed in a heavy-duty box with a linen-textured finish and magnetic clasp. The 48-page booklet includes archival photos, detailed musician credits and release data, and new liner notes by Billy Vera. All 106 tracks are mastered in mono. This is a superb way to get acquainted with the range of Ray Charles' recordings of the 1960s and early 1970s, combining his best-loved hits with superb B-sides and lower-charting singles that remain obscure to many listeners. It's not a substitute for hearing his groundbreaking albums of the era, but an equally worthy profile of the Genius of Soul. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

After a few years with Swing Time Records, Ray Charles signed with Atlantic Records in 1953. He had numerous hits while at Atlantic over the next six years, and during that time Ray Charles broke through the charts and had become a household name. In 1959 he signed a generous recording contract with ABC-Paramount Records, the hits continued, and the rest is history.

But what of the Ray Charles catalog? Unlike artists such as Nat King Cole, The Beatles, or Led Zeppelin who have had complete catalogs available in tidy box sets, the Ray Charles catalog has until recently been somewhat scattered, with some songs unavailable on CD. Then in 2005, Atlantic released its comprehensive box set, Pure Genius: Complete Atlantic Recordings 52-59. And now we have this, the next piece: the complete ABC-Paramount singles box set.

This is a collection of all of the ABC singles (A and B sides, 106 tracks total) spanning 1960 through 1972. The sonic quality of the remastering in this box set is astounding. Consistent with the times in which these songs first hit the airwaves, every song is presented in it's original mono single mix. Thankfully, the remastering has been painstakingly done here and the sound is crisp and clean, not muddy. However, as noted elsewhere, the sound quality of a handful of these singles beginning around 1966 is pretty flat. That's the way they were originally produced, and that sound is preserved here.

For those familiar with modern digital remastering, the sound quality here is reminiscent of the thoughtfully remastered The Beatles Mono Box Set or Bob Dylan's The Original Mono Recordings. I am pleased to report that this box set is NOT another casualty of the "loudness wars" that sadly have ruined the sound quality of the catalogs of class-acts such as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.

For some folks, the monophonic sound will be a hang-up. To me these original mono mixes are quite a relief. My favorite Ray Charles album, Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music 1 & 2, sounds pretty bad in its original stereo mix, especially when listening through a good set of headphones. Home stereos were still in their infancy in the early 60's, and it was common for stereo mixes to have extreme separation between channels. It took a few years until the technique improved and we started to see a lot more natural, pleasant-sounding stereo. As a collection of original singles from this era, mono is the only option.

The box set is sturdy and attractive, and at the same time eco-friendly and minimalistic. The 5 CDs come in simple folding paper sleeves printed with the track listing. The 48-page booklet includes well-written historical background, scores of photographs and extensive notes for each track.

They've really done it right this time: thorough research, excellent song choice and chronological sequencing, careful remastering, and tasteful packaging, all at a very reasonable price. Even if you already have some of these songs in your collection, I can recommend picking up this box set because the completeness and sound quality will amaze you.

How do you top as detailed a review of this five-disc box as was posted by my fellow reviewer hyperbolium? You don't, and I won't try. Like me, he (I can't tell if they are male or female) delved deeply into this set of nearly 125 singles - all superbly mastered. I agree about both the booklet and the packaging (eco-friendly and yet classy looking and space-saving).

I didn't listen to the set in one - or even two - sittings. I spread out my listening (hence it took a while to get through once - a a few of the CDs, twice.). Since I knew that the singles were mono, I took a different tactic to listening the first time through. I played the CDs on various devices - like my clock radio - which have only one speaker. This showed me how good the mono mix was. I was back in the 1960s listening to AM "Top 40" radio but with MUCH improved sound. Even on a mini-boombox, I listened from the other room, turning the sound up. Stereo wouldn't have made any difference. They just sounded great! And what a great mix of tracks! There were the A-side hits and the B-side "I don't remember him doing that song" tracks.

So, yes, I'd recommend this set to any Ray Charles fan (and, really, whom isn't one of those?)

Steve Ramm
"Anyt