CD Review: Ray Charles - The Complete Swing Time and Down Beat Recordings 1949 - 1952
This two CD set represents the first three years of Ray
Charles recording career, working for a fellow named Jack Lauderdale and his
Down Beat (later Swing Time) record label. As that label was going down, Ray
signed up with Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic, came into his own artistically, and
became rich and famous.
These recordings were not particularly big sellers, and he would never have
become that big a name on the basis of these recordings. They're good pop music,
but nothing that amazing. He was learning the ropes, and didn't have a
particularly unique or noteworthy sound yet. To put it differently, this is very
skillful jazz trio pop music, but Ray hasn't yet quite figured out how to fully
insert his unique personality into the mix.
You could compare this to listening to the first Rolling
Stones album or the first Beatles
record. They're all pretty good, but "Love Me Do" is perhaps more
interesting as a historical artifact than as a listening experience in itself.
It's the seed from which sprung Sgt Pepper. The Rolling Stones already had a
pretty compelling way with a Chuck
Berry cover, but they weren't really the Stones just yet.
Likewise, these early recordings of Ray Charles are basically genre exercises,
straightforward r&b pop. These recordings have been compared to several
different contemporary acts, but the obvious one is Nat King Cole. These early
recordings sound pretty much like Ray aiming for that nice down market supper
club soul.
That sounds a little bad so far I fear, when I don't intend it as such. Ray
Charles could do Nat King Cole just almost better than the man himself. His
sound was still embryonic. He hadn't fully found his own voice, but this was
young, hungry Ray Charles- and some of that comes through.
The worst knock against these recordings would be to say that basically polite
pop records, without the depths of emotional commitment that mark his mature
artistry. Singing about shooting his woman in the "Blues Before
Sunrise" doesn't carry that sense that he would at least seriously consider
it. When Howlin' Wolf sang "Goin' Down Slow" he sounded like someone
on their death bed. Ray here just does not. He sounds like a young pop singer
trying to get a nut.
Thus, for my part, I'd say the stuff with the lighter emotional tones works the
best. My big main favorite pick out of all 45 tracks is "The Ego Song
(Sweet As Can Be)." It's just the cutest thing hearing Ray bopping along
cheerfully explaining why all the girls in town are crazy about him. Don't hate
him because he's beautiful. This is probably the catchiest and most undeniable
song here.
He also gets good mileage with other bouncy cool-guy cuts like "I'll Do
Anything But Work." Likewise "She's On the Ball" has a nicely
understated hip swing, and some especially enjoyable piano jamming. This was the
b-side of what the liner notes list as the first record put out under the name
Ray Charles, the 1949 release "Honey, Honey" b/w "She's On the
Ball" (Down Beat 218).
But pretty nearly all of this stuff has a consistently high quality. He's got a
tight jazz trio sound going, and he already knows his business. He's got a
pretty sweet way with the creamy stuff like "Don't Put All Your Dreams in
One Basket." "Alone in This City" would sound good back to
back in your iPod with Jackie Wilson's "There's No Pity."
The liner notes give a nice basic history of Ray's time with Lauderdale. They
helpfully note the names of some of Lauderdale's main session musicians working
on these early sessions as including bass players Billy Hadnott and Ralph
Hamilton, saxophone player Marshall Royal and guitarist Mitchell
"Tiny" Webb
However, nowhere does this package include songwriting credits. Really, the kind
of folks who are going to be buying these recordings in 2006 are going to be the
kind of geeks who would be real interested in studying such things. That's real
critical information they should have. There are a few obvious traditionals,
like "See See Rider." Other than that, I haven't a clue where any of
these songs came from.
You can hear some of the pre-formations of later Ray Charles records as he heads
into 1950 and 1951. He's edging away from the jazz trio, with more instruments,
and the first hints of that gospel fervor. It's not yet "I Got a
Woman," but "Kissa Me Baby" is starting to show some of that
jumpin' brass. The liner notes credit horns by among others Stanley
Turrentine, Marshall Royal, Earl Brown, and Jack McVea on these later sessions. "The
Snow Is Falling" puts across considerably more powerful testifying than his
earliest sessions.
This material might do you most good mixed in with other stuff. One piece at a
time in the iPod, every piece sounds pretty good. But all together, 45 cuts
(including a couple of alternate takes) might start running together a bit. For
starters, these were originally being released on 78s, so they weren't designed
to be one big presentation.
Overall, this would rate as a pretty highly rated CD to have. If you don't have
any Ray Charles, you're probably best to start with Genius & Soul: The
50th Anniversary Collection. That five disc set is the basic serious entry
for Ray. I'm also casting a greedy eye at Pure Genius: The Complete Atlantic
Recordings (1952-1959), which covers the name-making era with Ahmet Ertegun
right after leaving Lauderdale's label. However, that's a really expensive eight
CD set, a lot to digest, and has a lot of the same stuff covered in the main
box.
While you're thnking on that, you might want to drop back and get this groovy
and less expensive set. It's particularly highly recommended to Nat King Cole
fans, but it's an absolute necessity for serious Ray Charles fans.
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