Ray Charles: the 100 most inspiring musicians of all time

Ray Charles: the 100 most inspiring musicians of all time

Ray Charles Robinson (b. Sept. 23, 1930, Albany, Ga., U.S.—d. June 10, 2004, Beverly Hills, Calif.) was an American pianist, singer, composer, and bandleader.

Ray Charles was a leading entertainer, often billed as “the Genius.” Charles was credited with the early development of soul music, a style based on a melding of gospel, rhythm and blues, and jazz music.

When Ray Charles was an infant, his family moved to Greenville, Florida, and he began his musical career at age five on a piano in a neighbourhood café. He began to go blind at six, possibly from glaucoma, completely losing his sight by age seven. He attended the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind, where he concentrated on musical studies, but left school at age 15 to play the piano professionally after his mother died from cancer (his father had died when the boy was 10).

Ray Charles built a remarkable career based on the immediacy of emotion in his performances. After emerging as a blues and jazz pianist indebted to Nat King Cole’s style in the late 1940s, Charles recorded the boogie-woogie classic “Mess Around” and the novelty song “It Should’ve Been Me” in 1952–53. His arrangement for Guitar Slim’s “The Things That I Used to Do” became a blues million-seller in 1953.

By 1954 Charles had created a successful combination of blues and gospel influences and signed on with Atlantic Records. Propelled by Charles’s distinctive raspy voice, “I’ve Got a Woman” and “Hallelujah I Love You So” became hit records. “What’d I Say” led the rhythm-and-blues sales
charts in 1959 and was Charles’s own first million-seller.

ray charles free sheet music & pdf scores download

Ray Charles’s rhythmic piano playing and band arranging revived the “funky” quality of jazz, but he also recorded in many other musical genres. He entered the pop market with the bestsellers “Georgia on My Mind” (1960) and “Hit the Road, Jack” (1961). His album Modern Sounds in
Country and Western Music (1962) sold more than one million copies, as did its single, “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” Thereafter, his music emphasized jazz standards and renditions of pop and show tunes.

Browse in the Library:

Total Records Found in the Library: 12469, showing 120 per page
Artist or Composer / Score nameCoverList of Contents
Waltz For Debby – Bill Evans (Musescore File).mscz
Waltz From The Balet ‘coppelia’ (Musescore File).mscz
Waltz In A Minor F. Chopin (Musescore File).mscz
Waltz In E Minor Op. 39 No. 4 – Johannes Brahms (Musescore File).mscz
Ward-Jackson’s Gymnastics For The Fingers And Wrist – based On Anatomical Principles (By Edwin Ward-Jackson) 1874 sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti
Watermark (Musescore File).mscz
Watermelon Man (Musescore File).mscz
Waters of Irrawaddy (Hans Zimmer) from the movie Beyond Rangoon
Wave – Vou Te Contar Jobim (Musescore File).mscz
Wayne Shorter – Ana Maria sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
Wayne Shorter Artist Transcriptions The New Best of free sheet music download Wayne Shorter Artist Transcriptions The New Best of
Wayward Sisters – Nocturnal Animals OST (Abel Korzeniowski)
We are the champions (Queen)
We Are The World Songbook we are the world
We Shall Overcome Essays on a Great American Song (Book) by Victor B.Bobetsky free sheet music pdf
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
We Wish You A Merry Christmas – Anonymous (Guitar arr. sheet music with TABs) We Wish You A Merry Christmas – Anonymous (Guitar arr. sheet music with TABs)
We Wish You A Merry Christmas – Guitar TABlature sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
We Wish You A Merry Christmas (piano solo sheet music) free sheet music download
We Wish You A Merry Christmas Trad. English Christmas carol sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
We Wish You A Merry Christmas Trad. English Christmas carol.mscz
Weather Report – A Remark You Made (Guitar TABS) Weather Report – A Remark You Made (Guitar TABS)
Weather Report – The best of Weather Report (Full score) free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras Weather Report – The best of Weather Report (Full score)
Weather Report Best Of Weather Report Band Score Book free sheet music & scores pdf Best Of Weather Report Us Book
Weber – Der Freischütz (Ouvertüre) Piano Solo arr sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
Weber – Der Freischütz (Ouvertüre) Piano Solo arr.mscz
Weber – Der Freischutz Overture piano solo arr. sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti
Weber op 65 Invitation to the Dance (Invitation to the Waltz)
Weber’s Last Thought – C.M. von Weber free sheet music pdf
Wedding Collection for Piano Solo free sheet music & scores pdf download Wedding Collection for Piano Solo
Wednesday Morning 3 A M – Simon & Garfunkel (Musescore File).mscz
Weight Of The World – Nier Automata Piano Collections (Musescore File).mscz
Weissenberg En Avril A Paris (April In Paris) Charles Trenet free sheet music partitura partition noten
Well Tempered Praise – Mark Hayes piano free sheet music download Well Tempered Praise – Mark Hayes piano
Well Tempered Praise II by Mark Hayes free sheet music download Well Tempered Praise II by Mark Hayes
Well Tempered Praise III – Mark Hayes piano free sheet music download Well Tempered Praise III – Mark Hayes piano
Well Tempered Praise Vol 4 Gospel Classics by Mark Hayes free sheet music download Well Tempered Praise Vol 4 Gospel Classics by Mark Hayes
Well-Known Piano Solos – How To Play Them (By Charles W Wilkinson) (1915) sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti
Wes Montgomery Wine And Roses By Henry Mancini Solo Guitar sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
Wes Montgomery – Unit 7 Solo Transcription Wes Montgomery – Unit 7 Solo Transcription
Wes Montgomery – Artist Transcriptions for guitar by fred Sokolow free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras Wes Montgomery – Artist Transcriptions for guitar by fred Sokolow
Wes Montgomery – Au Privave transcription free scores download
Wes Montgomery – Days of wine and roses transcription free scores download
Wes Montgomery – Take The A Train transcription free scores download
Wes Montgomery Essential Jazz Lines (Mel Bay) partitions gratuites Wes Montgomery Essential Jazz Lines (Mel Bay)
Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Artistry arr. by Zafar Soood with TABs free sheet music downloadpartitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Artistry arr. by Zafar Soood
Wes Montgomery Jazz No Blues Guitar sheet music partitura partition noten spartiti
Wes Montgomery The Early Years (Mel Bay) Jazz Guitar Solos Tablature free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras Wes Montgomery The Early Years (Mel Bay) Jazz Guitar Solos Tablature
Wes Montgomery The End Of A Love Affair Guitar Tabs partitions gratuites
West Side Story – Somewhere (Voice and Piano) Leonard Bernstein West Side Story – Somewhere
West Side Story (The Musical) Vocal Score Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti noten West Side Story Vocal Score – Leonard Bernstein
Westlife – Cant Lose What You Never Had
Westlife – Flying Without Wings
Westlife – If I Let You Go
Westlife – Mandy
Westlife – You Raise Me Up Guitar arr. with TABs Westlife – You Raise Me Up Guitar arr. with TABs
Westlife Unbreakable Greatest Hits Westlife songbook free download sheet music & scores pdf
Wet Wet Wet – Love Is All Around
Wexford Carol (Musescore File).mscz
Wham , George Michael And Me By Andrew Ridgeley (Book) sheet music partitura partition noten spartiti
Wham Make It Big Piano Vocal Guitar Chords free sheet music partitura partition noten Wham Make It Big Piano Vocal Guitar Chords
What a Wonderful World – Thiele & Weiss sheet music download partitura partition spartiti
What a wonderful world – Louis Armstrong.mscz
What A Wonderful World (Lead Sheet With Lyrics ) Musescore File.mscz
What a Wonderful World (lead sheet) – Thiele & Weiss What a Wonderful World (lead sheet) – Thiele & Weiss
What A Wonderful World (Musescore File).mscz
What a wonderfull World (Jazz Standard) Guitar Tablature TABs What a wonderfull World (Jazz Standard) Guitar Tablature TABs
What A Wonderlful World (Lead Sheet) (Musescore File).mscz
What You’re Made Of – Même Si (Lucie Silvas – Grégory Lemarchal
What’s That Sound An Introduction To Rock And Its History By John Covach And Andrew Flory (Book) <img src="https://sheetmusiclibrary.website/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Yugo-Kanno-Il-Vento-Doro-Golden-Wind-212x300.jpg" alt="sheet music download" width="212" height="300" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-45541" />
When A Man Loves A Woman Calvin Lewis & Andrew Wright free sheet music & scores pdf
When Almonds Blossomed – Giya Kancheli When Almonds Blossomed – Giya Kancheli-1
When Almonds Blossomed (Musescore File).mscz
When I Fall In Love – Victor Young (Bill Evans Ver.) (Musescore File).mscz
When I fall in love Bill Evans version When I fall in love Bill Evans version
When I’m Sixty-Four (Beatles)
When Lights Are Low (Benny Carter) As Played By Miles Davis (Musescore File).mscz
When The Saints Go Marchin In – Gospel Traditional Folk song (Piano solo with Lyrics) When The Saints Go Marchin In – Gospel Traditional Folk song (Piano solo with Lyrics) SAMPLE
When The Saints Go Marching In – Fun piano arrangement When The Saints Go Marching In – Fun piano arrangement
When you told me you loved me (Jessica Simpson)
When You Wish Upon A Star (Musescore File).mscz
When You Wish Upon A Star (From The Film Pinocchio) Easy Piano Solo Arr. Sheet Music (Musescore File).mscz
When You Wish Upon A Star (Leigh Harline and Ned Washington) from Pinocchio Jazz Piano Solo arr. sheet music When You Wish Upon A Star (Leigh Harline and Ned Washington) from Pinocchio Jazz Piano Solo arr. sheet music
When You Wish Upon A Star (Solo Piano Arr ) David Dinh partitions gratuites
When You’re Gone (Avril Lavigne)
When You’re Smilling (Musescore File).mscz
Where have all the-flowers gone (guitar & voice) Where-have-all-the-flowers-gone (guitar & voice)
While your lips are still red (Nightwish)
Whistling away the dark (Darling Lili OST) Henry Mancini
White Album 2 Ending 3 Sayonara No Koto free sheet music & pdf scores download
White Christmas -Irving Berlin – Piano sheet music
White Christmas Irving Berlin (Musescore File).mscz
White Christmas Medley (Liberace)
White skin like the moon (Jane Eyre 2011 OST) Dario Marianelli
Whitesnake – Here I Go Again free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti
Whitesnake Guitar Collection with TABs sheet music partitura partition noten spartiti Whitesnake Guitar Collection with TABs
Whitesnake Is This Love Piano Vocal Guitar Chords Whitesnake Is This Love Piano Vocal Guitar Chords
Whitney Houston – Jesus Loves Me Sheet Music free sheet music download
Whitney Houston The Best Of free sheet music & scores pdf download Whitney Houston, The Best Of
Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You
Whitney Houston – It’s Easy To Play Whitney Houston Whitney Houston – It’s Easy To Play Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston – Saving All My Love For You
Whitney Houston – The Greatest Hits sheet music Whitney – The Greatest Hits
Whitney Houston – The Greatest Love Of All
Whitney Houston I will always love you Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You
Whitney Houston My Love Is Your Love free sheet music & score pdf Whitney Houston My Love Is Your Love
Who wants to live forever (Queen)
Whole New World Sheet Music, A – Alan Menken Noten sheet music score partitura partition
Why Jazz? A Concise Guide – Kevin Whitehead (book) free sheet music & pdf scores download
Wicked The Musical Sheet Music Full song Book Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz free sheet music & scores pdf Wicked the musical contentsWicked The Musical Sheet Music Full Book
Wieck – Piano Studies
Wiklund Adolf Fran Mitt Fonster (From my Window) Piano Solo sheet music partitura partition noten spartiti
Wild – Fantasy On Gershwin’s Porgy And Bess Wild Fantasy On Gershwin’s Porgy And Bess
Wild Gershwin Seven Virtuoso Etudes Wild Gershwin Seven Virtuoso Etudes
Wild, Earl – Gershwin Étude No. 4 based on Embraceable You Piano Wild, Earl – Gershwin Etude No. 4 based on Embraceable You Piano
Wilde Theme (Debbie Wiseman)
Wilhelm Kempff Musik Des Barock Und Rokoko – Nr. 13 Menuett G-Moll G.F. Händel (Musescore File).mscz
Will B. Morrison – Melody in F (Syncopated Waltz) sheet music free sheet music download
Will Young – Anything Is Possible
William Best I Love You For Sentimental Reasons (Jazz Standard) William Best I Love You For Sentimental Reasons (Jazz Standard)

From 1955, Ray Charles toured extensively in the United States and elsewhere with his own big band and a gospelstyle female backup quartet called The Raeletts. He also appeared on television and worked in films such as Ballad in Blue (1964) and The Blues Brothers (1980) as a featured act and soundtrack composer. He formed his own custom recording labels, Tangerine in 1962 and Crossover Records n 1973.

The recipient of many national and international awards, he received 13 Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement award in 1987. In 1986 Charles was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a Kennedy Center Honor. He published an autobiography, Brother Ray, Ray Charles’ Own Story (1978), written with David Ritz.

Download Ray Charles’ sheet music from our Library.

Ray Charles in Copenhagen 1973

Track List:

0:00 Intro 5:29 Hallelujah I Love Her So (Ray Charles) 9:08 Georgia On My Mind (Hoagy Carmichael & Stuart Gorrell) 15:09 You Made Me Love You (James V. Monaco & Joseph McCarthy) 18:12 Yesterday (Paul McCartney) 23:43 Feel So Bad (J. Johnson) 30:05 Goin’ Down Slow (“St. Louis” Jimmy Oden) 37:27 Goin’ Down Slow (Bis) 39:45 Intro Raelettes 44:16 Rocksteady (Aretha Franklin)

48:55 I Can’t Stop Loving You (Don Gibson) 54:48 Look What They Have Done To My Song, Ma (The New Seekers) 59:58 Indian Love Call (Nelson Eddy & Jeanette MacDonald) 1:14:40 Eleanor Rigby (Paul McCartney & John Lennon) 1:18:47 Introduction John Henderson 1:23:10 Shake (Ray Charles) 1:27:35 Ray introducing Raelettes by name; in call and response improv) 1:39:20 Leave My Man Alone (Vernita Moss) 1:42:54 Introduction band 1:43:41 So Soon (John Henderson) 1:48:30 What’d I Say (Ray Charles)

sheet music library

It’s nice to meet you.

Sign up to receive our new posts in your inbox.

This field is required.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.