Ray Charles - Ol' Man River

I noticed that there is only one Ray Charles version of this song on youtube and it is bad quality so I decided to upload a good quality version, it is an amazing song and I enjoy this version a lot.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ray
• Charles
• Ol'
• Old
• Ol
• Man
• River
• Paul
• Robeson
• Cover

[dfarmbrough]

It's just like Ray to completely ignore standard interpretations of this song and do his own thing :)

[skybendu]

Disagree about the singers. They provide a great foil for Ray's time-stretching/soulful delivery. Can't imagine a better contrast than this! My major complaint is that they seem to use the same ending a lot (listen to "Standards" album & hear for yourselves). Classic version in any case! Love the way those strings hit w/ the intro "Mississippi" motif @ the end... sends chills.

[oak71]

Thanks for posting. Can't find this in iTunes. Beautiful song. No one did it like Ray.

[tlee51ftw]

@chazdesimone If I had to choose only one RC song it would be a bunch of them..... : )

Unlike some of the fans I don't really have an opinion of the orchestra and back up singers but I would have liked to have heard it with just Ray and the piano just to see. It's hard for anyone to screw up a Ray Charles song no matter how they arrange it.

[chazdesimone]

@tlee51ftw If I had to choose only one RC song it would be this one. You can hear the genuine strife in his singing here, and I was told he was going through a rough time and they caught the mood in just one take. "...and so ssssick of trying..." says it all. I actually like the backup singers and rich orchestration (the singers could be more gospelly, though).

[Mackingcole]

Love this version of a Classic song, by one of the greatest song interpreters ever. Got to admit I love the singers on this too - an awesome track. Thanks for uploading.

[pierluigi471]

Tanks for his excellent version.

[wingzfreak365]

goosebumps every time

[dogkelp]

@wdrayr

I agree on the singers' ill-conceived backing, but they're probably not the "Ray Charles singers" per se but rather a team of backing vocalists assembled by ABC when it was put together. The Ray Charles Singers were run by a different Ray Charles, an arranger, though they recorded on a subsidiary of ABC when Ray the singer did, so it's an open question whether they ever worked together. Confusing, but doesn't ruin genius.

[tlee51ftw]

I used to have an album of Ray Charles greatest hits that had this on it. I've hunted for it before and never found it, until now. The best version ever, I think. Thanks for posting.

[vinobody]

@Chris180Z and how he comes out at around 5:00

[stenocrate]

thnak you ray, sei il più grande, i love all your songs... !!!