Statement of Intent
I am going to write an article about ray Charles success though out his life and also some downsides to his life. I’m going to talk about Ray’s achievements and awards he earned in his life. I am writing this article for a magazine about the legends of early music. My audience is for people age around 20 and over.
The Success of Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson was one of the early pioneers of soul music during the 1950s by mixing rhythm and blues, gospel and blues. He is one of the most beloved musicians that have ever live. He has received all sorts of awards and titles during his life but how did he achieve them all? He had 13 Grammy awards and many national and international awards. He was ranked 10 on the list of ‘100 Greatest Artist of all Time’ in 2004 by Rolling Stone.
What was Ray’s childhood like? And did it affect his musical performance? Well Ray was born in 1930 in Albany Georgia and died in 2004. When Ray was 6 years old there was a huge turning point in his life when his brother George drowned in his mother’s wash tub at the age of 4 while Ray watched in shock and horror. This moment in Ray’s life made him feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. After this incident, Ray started going blind at the age of 6 from a decease called Glaucoma and lost his sight at the age of 7. This was a dramatic turn in his life but made Ray who he is today.
Ray grew up in Greenville, Florida in a poor black community where he went to a deaf and blind school called St. Augustine. He started his musical studies there, where he learnt classical music but he really wanted to play Jazz and Blues.
His father Baily Robinson died when he was 10 years old and his mother Aretha Robinson who was very important and a role model to Ray throughout his life died 5 years later from cancer. After this Ray left St. Augustine at the age of 15 to play the piano professionally. He went from gig to gig until he decided to start his own band. This was the beginning of Ray’s long and successful life.
In 1953-1959 Ray worked with his first record company called Atlantic Records. He made many successes while he was with Atlantic. He scored many hit singles like ‘Mess Around’, ‘It should have been me’ and ‘Don’t you know’ all made the charts in 1953 and 1954. But the song that brought him fame and to national prominence was ‘I got a woman’. The song reached the top of Billboards R&B singles Chart in 1955. He also recruited a young group of girls call the Raelettes for his background singing group.
Ray had many down sides to his life. One of them was his addiction to heroin. He got his first taste of heroin from his road life with his band. Ray quickly got addicted to the drug and got arrested three times but never served jail time. The effect this had on his life affected his family and friends around him. He fought his drug addiction at the Southern California drug rehab centre in1965 where he came out clean. Ray quoted “Some of the biggest records that I ever had is during the time when I was on drugs”, “You see, but that ain’t to say that it was the drugs that created the big records”.
Atlantic wasn’t the only record company Ray was with. After his contract with Atlantic finished in 1959, Ray got offered a new contract with ABC Paramount Records. They offered Ray a lot more royalties than Atlantic and a $50 000 annual advance. So with an offer that Atlantic couldn’t compete with, Ray took the contract. He also made many successful hit singles at ABC like ‘Georgia on my mind’. This song received national acclaim and a Grammy award in 1960. He also earned a Grammy award for his hit ‘Hit the road Jack’. But Ray’s sudden change from Jazz and Blues to Country and Western boosted Ray’s fame to what it is today. He released his album ‘Modern sounds in the country and western music’ which sold more than a million copies.
The many successes, achievements and awards Ray received throughout his life inspired and influenced thousands of people all over the world. His fame music is now recognised everywhere. His music is still played today whether it’s the original or in another song.
Written by Oliver Oolders
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560 162-649346.html#ixzz1jHoafmvy
http://www.swingmusic.net/Ray Charles Biography.html
http://www.biography.com/people/ray-charles-9245001
http://heroin.net/heroin-addiction/heroin-addicts/celebrity-heroin-users/ray-charles/
I am going to write an article about ray Charles success though out his life and also some downsides to his life. I’m going to talk about Ray’s achievements and awards he earned in his life. I am writing this article for a magazine about the legends of early music. My audience is for people age around 20 and over.
The Success of Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson was one of the early pioneers of soul music during the 1950s by mixing rhythm and blues, gospel and blues. He is one of the most beloved musicians that have ever live. He has received all sorts of awards and titles during his life but how did he achieve them all? He had 13 Grammy awards and many national and international awards. He was ranked 10 on the list of ‘100 Greatest Artist of all Time’ in 2004 by Rolling Stone.
What was Ray’s childhood like? And did it affect his musical performance? Well Ray was born in 1930 in Albany Georgia and died in 2004. When Ray was 6 years old there was a huge turning point in his life when his brother George drowned in his mother’s wash tub at the age of 4 while Ray watched in shock and horror. This moment in Ray’s life made him feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. After this incident, Ray started going blind at the age of 6 from a decease called Glaucoma and lost his sight at the age of 7. This was a dramatic turn in his life but made Ray who he is today.
Ray grew up in Greenville, Florida in a poor black community where he went to a deaf and blind school called St. Augustine. He started his musical studies there, where he learnt classical music but he really wanted to play Jazz and Blues.
His father Baily Robinson died when he was 10 years old and his mother Aretha Robinson who was very important and a role model to Ray throughout his life died 5 years later from cancer. After this Ray left St. Augustine at the age of 15 to play the piano professionally. He went from gig to gig until he decided to start his own band. This was the beginning of Ray’s long and successful life.
In 1953-1959 Ray worked with his first record company called Atlantic Records. He made many successes while he was with Atlantic. He scored many hit singles like ‘Mess Around’, ‘It should have been me’ and ‘Don’t you know’ all made the charts in 1953 and 1954. But the song that brought him fame and to national prominence was ‘I got a woman’. The song reached the top of Billboards R&B singles Chart in 1955. He also recruited a young group of girls call the Raelettes for his background singing group.
Ray had many down sides to his life. One of them was his addiction to heroin. He got his first taste of heroin from his road life with his band. Ray quickly got addicted to the drug and got arrested three times but never served jail time. The effect this had on his life affected his family and friends around him. He fought his drug addiction at the Southern California drug rehab centre in1965 where he came out clean. Ray quoted “Some of the biggest records that I ever had is during the time when I was on drugs”, “You see, but that ain’t to say that it was the drugs that created the big records”.
Atlantic wasn’t the only record company Ray was with. After his contract with Atlantic finished in 1959, Ray got offered a new contract with ABC Paramount Records. They offered Ray a lot more royalties than Atlantic and a $50 000 annual advance. So with an offer that Atlantic couldn’t compete with, Ray took the contract. He also made many successful hit singles at ABC like ‘Georgia on my mind’. This song received national acclaim and a Grammy award in 1960. He also earned a Grammy award for his hit ‘Hit the road Jack’. But Ray’s sudden change from Jazz and Blues to Country and Western boosted Ray’s fame to what it is today. He released his album ‘Modern sounds in the country and western music’ which sold more than a million copies.
The many successes, achievements and awards Ray received throughout his life inspired and influenced thousands of people all over the world. His fame music is now recognised everywhere. His music is still played today whether it’s the original or in another song.
Written by Oliver Oolders
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560 162-649346.html#ixzz1jHoafmvy
http://www.swingmusic.net/Ray Charles Biography.html
http://www.biography.com/people/ray-charles-9245001
http://heroin.net/heroin-addiction/heroin-addicts/celebrity-heroin-users/ray-charles/