Quote

When I started to sing like myself - as opposed to imitating Nat Cole, which I had done for a while - when I started singing like Ray Charles, it had this spiritual and churchy, this religious or gospel sound. It had this holiness and preachy tone to it. It was very controversial. I got a lot of criticism for it.

Ray Charles

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Ray Charles
Age: 71 †
Born: 1932
Born: September 23
Died: 2004
Died: June 10
Composer
Jazz Musician
Music Arranger
Musician
Pianist
Recording Artist
Saxophonist
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Soul Musician
Vocalist
Albany
Georgia
Ray Charles Robinson
Raymond Charles Robinson Peter
Sound
Opposed
Spiritual
Tone
Preachy
Done
Gospel
Cole
Like
Sing
Imitating
Criticism
Charles
Singing
Controversial
Started
Rays
Religious
Holiness

More quotes by Ray Charles

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I don't think any of us really knows why we're here. But I think we're supposed to believe we're here for a purpose.
Ray Charles
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Hit the road Jack, don'tcha come back no more, no more, no more, no more. Hit the road Jack, don'tcha come back no more.
Ray Charles
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Now Listen You know I work so hard, all day long Everything I try to do, Seem to always turn out wrong That's why I wanna stop by on my way home and say Let's go get stoned
Ray Charles
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I can't help what I sound like. What I sound like is what i am. You know? I cannot be anything other that what I am.
Ray Charles
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I had to pawn my clothes just to pay my rent.
Ray Charles
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Art Tatum -- he was a genius. And Einstein, not me.
Ray Charles
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I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water.
Ray Charles
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I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won't lay, a big stack of bills that gets bigger each day.
Ray Charles
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There's such a thing as too much happiness and sadness. What I'm after is contentment.
Ray Charles
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Dreams, if they're any good, are always a little bit crazy.
Ray Charles
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Other arms reach out to me, Other eyes smile tenderly, Still in peaceful dreams I see, The road leads back to you.
Ray Charles
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Music is nothing separate from me. It is me... You'd have to remove the music surgically.
Ray Charles
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Sighted people, you gotta deal with them.
Ray Charles
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There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we're here to explore new possibilities.
Ray Charles
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You got to set your mind right and the rest will come to you naturally. No restrictions, no hang-ups, no stupid rules, no formalities, no forbidden fruit - just everyone getting and giving as much as he and she can.
Ray Charles
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Crying's always been a way for me to get things out which are buried deep, deep down. When I sing, I often cry. Crying is feeling, and feeling is being human.
Ray Charles
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I'm a firm believer in God himself, but that's as far as I can go. I'm not any denomination. I'm not Catholic or Presbyterian or Baptist or Methodist or Jewish or Muslim. I'm none of those things. And I'm sure that's just fine with God.
Ray Charles
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Many times during auditions, I was told that I couldn't carry a note with a bucket, and that I sure couldn't play the piano.
Ray Charles
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I'm not into the money thing. You can only sleep in one bed at a time. You can only eat one meal at a time, or be in one car at a time. So I don't have to have millions of dollars to be happy. All I need are clothes on my back, a decent meal, and a little loving when I feel like it. That's the bottom line.
Ray Charles
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I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't been able to hear.
Ray Charles