| “Sometimes I’m asked about my biggest musical influence as a kid. I always give one name: Mr. Wylie Pitman. I called him Mr. Pit. Now you won’t find Mr. Pit in any history of jazz, and the man’s not in the DownBeat Hall of Fame. But, sweethearts, you can take my word for it: Mr. Pit could sure enough play some boogie-woogie piano.”—from the book
Ray Charles (1930-2004) led one of the most extraordinary lives of any popular musician. In Brother Ray, he reveals his life story unsparingly, 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 or couldn’t do.
The San Francisco Chronicle calls Brother Ray“an emotional blast as vivid and real, sweaty and straight talking as the man himself.” |
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