Ray Charles
Brother Ray hasn't sung this well on disc in many years, so we can thank producer Richard Perry for coaxing such painfully rich vocals from the great man. Many of the tunes, though, are forgettable, and the arrangements often sink to generic pop-soul and pop-funk, without a trace of Charles's throbbing piano. The album can be very satisfying, especially when that voice gets sympathetic support, as on Leon Russell's "A Song for You." But too much of it treats Charles as a zircon, not as the multifaceted diamond he is. (Warner Bros.)
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