Ray, the 2004 Brother Ray biopic starring Jamie Foxx, is a box office smash that's earned massive critical raves, popular acclaim, and Oscar buzz. This new compilation follows up Rhino's Ray! Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The disc features soundtrack selections that Foxx depicts onscreen as part of his stunning portrayal of Ray Charles, as well as a lineup of additional songs that are among Charles' definitive classics...each and every one is an original Ray Charles master.
This follow-up to the soundtrack of director Taylor Hackford's acclaimed Ray Charles biopic contains key film tracks (like the rehab-centered "Lets Go Get Stoned") left off the first collection, as well as a number of non-movie songs said to "inspire" the film. But far from mere marketing gambit, those tracks (which date mostly to the late 1950s and early '60s) help make this an even grittier, more blues-centered sketch of the incomparable icon in his prime. The included bonus DVD contains just two songs, bracing performances of "Don't Set Me Free" and "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" culled from a 1963 Brazilian TV show chronicled on Rhino's O-Genio video. But the collection's greatest treasures are bluesy, 2003 live-in-the-studio takes of "Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand" and "Drown In My Own Tears/You Don't Know Me" by Charles himself, film dub tracks for which no other appropriate recordings existed. Listening to the Legend time-trip across decades is as serene as it is surreal, especially with "Baby"'s understated guitar solo being delivered by unlikely sideman Slash. The set concludes with Charles' magnificent, mid-70's gospel vamp of "America the Beautiful." --Jerry McCulley
