Ray Charles - A Message From The PeopleAmerica
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.
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.
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