If you’re wondering why people can’t seem to stop talking about music legend Ray Charles since he died in June, the hourlong special, “Genius: A Night for Ray Charles,” at 9 p.m. Friday on KIRO-TV is a good primer.
It’s difficult to create an adequate tribute to a man who gave rare meaning to the ever-elusive American dream, and the CBS special by no means achieves it perfectly. But it would do people good to sit for just one hour and watch as some of today’s top performers pay their respects to Charles, singing some of his classic songs.
The show was taped earlier this month at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and features performers such as Elton John, Mary J. Blige and Norah Jones. Jamie Foxx, who plays Charles in the film, “Ray,” which opens in theaters Oct. 29, hosts the program.
It’s easy to be cynical about the obvious cross-promotion that’s going on here – the TV special, indeed, includes clips from the movie – but we’d do well to put that all aside for an hour.
Truth is, CBS could have given us a little more than 60 minutes of the Charles tribute. It’s somewhat crudely edited, with a very abrupt finish, and it’s too much music and doesn’t tell us much about the man himself.
But that’s probably the best tribute “The Genius” could ask for. In his autobiography, Charles wrote about the first time he wrote an arrangement of his own, at age 12.
“The first time I wrote an arrangement and heard it played back to me, you can’t imagine how excited I was,” he wrote. “I mean, to write something and then have musicians play it back to you, and you hear it and you hear your ideas, your thoughts – that was the most exciting thing to me.”
Still, hearing his songs and seeing images of Charles flash on screens at the back of the stage throughout the night make you wish he’d somehow reappear with that classic open-mouthed smile and break out into, “What’d I Say?” or “Unchain My Heart.”
Charles’ story truly is one to marvel at, and really the stuff movies are made of. As Foxx says, “He’s been rich, he’s been poor. He’s been honored, and he’s been jailed.”
Born in Georgia in 1930, Charles lost his sight at 7 years old, and one of the few things he did see for himself was his younger brother’s drowning in a tub when Charles was 5.
His mother died when he was 15 and not long after that, he started playing with bands in Florida. He then played on his own and, when he decided to move on, according to his biography, he asked a friend to find him the farthest point in the continental United States from Florida. He landed in Seattle, where he started a band called the McSon Trio and moved to Los Angeles to record an album.
Charles’ sometimes controversial blend of gospel and blues is credited as the beginning of soul music, and he had more than a half-century of performing to prove he did all right.
Overcoming blindness and segregation, Charles’ music endures, and it’s on display Friday night on CBS. It isn’t as much as we’d like, but just sit back and enjoy the tunes.
That’s all he ever wanted.
Columnist Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
Associated Press
A CBS special Friday night pays tribute to Ray Charles.
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