For a generation of musicians and fans, the late Ray Charles provided the catalyst that fused the previously largely exclusive genres of jazz, blues and gospel music. In an era when jazz and pop music were seemingly poles apart, the impact of Charles' music was truly revolutionary in that it brought together these strands and fans for the first time.This critically acclaimed biography traces Ray Charles' amazing story from the abject disadvantage of being orphaned, black and blind in the South of the 1930s to the height of international success.With many quotes and exclusive interviews, including several with Ray Charles himself as well as from those who worked with, or were simply influenced by, the man who more than anyone else could truly be called the founding father of soul music.Mike Evans was a regular contributor to Sounds, Cream, and Melody Maker. He is also the author of books on The Beatles, Elvis Presley and the music in New York.Paperback edition.

Ray Charles wasn't called "The Genius" for nothing. Charles profoundly influenced the history of black music by fusing secular and church music into the electrifying style called soul. He also overcame astonishing obstacles -- both personal and social -- to become a beloved singer-musician and a genuine American icon.

Traces the life and career of the popular singer, describes his difficult childhood, and assesses his impact on popular music

Ray Charles (1930-2004) led one of the most extraordinary lives of any popular musician. In Brother Ray, he tells his story in an inimitable and unsparing voice, from the chronicle of his musical development to his heroin addiction to his tangled romantic life. Overcoming poverty, blindness, the loss of his parents, and the pervasive racism of the era, Ray Charles was acclaimed worldwide as a genius by the age of thirty-two. By combining the influences of gospel, jazz, blues, and country music, he invented, almost single-handedly, what became known as soul. And throughout a career spanning more than a half century, Ray Charles remained in complete control of his life and his music, allowing nobody to tell him what he could and couldn't do.As the Chicago Sun-Times put it, Brother Ray is "candid, explicit, sometimes embarrassing, often hilarious, always warm, touching and deeply human-just like his music."

A biography of the popular singer, who became blind as a young boy.

A fascinating, multicultural exploration of soul in all its diverse and elusive aspects--from creation myths to beat poetry, religion to rock-and-roll. The editor of The Soul of the World travels across the centuries to trace the evolving context of soulfulness in readings from Socrates to Carl Jung, Herman Melville to Ray Charles.