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Brother Ray

Ray Charles' Own Story

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Brother Ray

Written by: Ray Charles, David Ritz
Narrated by: Andrew L. Barnes
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About this listen

 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 32. 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".

©1992, 2003, 2004 David Ritz; 1978 Ray Charles and David Ritz (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks Entertainment & Celebrities Celebrity
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What the critics say

"A delight." (The New York Times)

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worthwhile

this book is a result of a very close collaboration with the writer and Ray Charles. This close relationship is detailed in an added bonus chapter at the end of the book. it would have been nice to know a bit more about this at the beginning, so that it could inform the rest of the book and make it more enjoyable. it was very heartening to know that Ray Charles meticulously went over every word and had full editing power.

I commend the reader. But, it was quite an awful performance. Not the worst. But, pretty bad. I had to speed up the playback, and it still drug too much sometimes. there must have been a lot of edits, because the voice changes very often, sometimes in the middle of sentences.

All that said, it's a wonderful book about a wonderful man that is quite enjoyable despite the setbacks

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