Ray Charles | A Message From The People

Originally
released on Ray’s Tangerine label in 1972, this concept album includes
his classic, unforgettable version of “America the Beautiful”

LOS
ANGELES, Calif. – It was 1972, the turbulent ‘60s were winding down,
and the music world was about to fork off in several directions: the
Soft Rock of James Taylor and Carole King, the Outlaw Country of Waylon
and Willie and soon . . . Disco.

America was on people’s minds:
Don McLean with “American Pie” and there was even a band named America.
Our nation was at war in Vietnam; we had landed on the moon.
African-Americans were emboldened and encouraged by the progress they
were achieving.

The album A Message From the People, produced
by Ray and recorded at his RPM International Studio, contained a song
that did not chart at the time, but went on to become one of his best
loved recordings: “America the Beautiful.” He would perform it
countless times on TV and in live concert for the rest of his life.

“Mr.
Charles wanted A Message From the People to include ‘America the
Beautiful’ because of his tremendous love for our country, ” stated
Valerie Ervin, President of the Ray Charles Foundation. “Throughout his
career he performed ‘America’ at a Super Bowl, a World Series game and
for seven U.S. Presidents, ” she added.

On May 5th, Concord
Records will reissue, in its entirety, this landmark album for the
first time on CD and digital download as part of its extensive reissue
program of Ray Charles’s post-1960 catalog which, as part of his deal
with ABC-Paramount Records, was owned and controlled by Ray himself. A
Message From the People is the first in a series of albums to be
reissued by Concord, which will include his classics Modern Sounds in
Country & Western Music, Volumes 1 and 2; The Genius Hits the Road
and Genius + Soul = Jazz, among others.

For A Message From the
People, Ray chose some of the world’s finest musicians including
Freddie Hubbard, Ray Brown and Jean “Toots” Thielemans. The charts were
written by his old friends Quincy Jones and Sid Feller, plus TV
soundtrack meister Mike Post.

The songs Ray selected include
“Lift Every Voice and Sing, ” also known as the Black National Anthem;
Dion DiMucci’s hit, “Abraham, Martin and John”; “Stevie Wonder’s plea
for brotherly love, “Heaven Help Us All”; “John Denver’s loving ode to
America’s heartland, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”; and Melanie’s “Look
What They’ve Done To My Song, Ma, ” which was also a hit single for Ray.

Ray
even came up with the idea for the album’s cover featuring the faces of
Abe Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King and Jack and Bobby Kennedy, and
commissioned artist Al Willis to bring it to fruition.