Ray Charles Remembered As an Innovator
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - As Ray Charles played and sang, his stiffly swaying shoulders suggested some invisible tug of war between a devil and an angel. Charles, who died Thursday at age 73, was a musical innovator who combined the rollicking ``bad boy'' free-spiritedness of rock 'n' roll with the pious aching of gospel and soul to create a new style in such hits as ``What'd I Say,'' ``Hit the Road Jack,'' ``Georgia on My Mind'' and ``I Can't Stop Loving You.''
``There will never be another musician who did as much to break down the perceived walls of musical genres as much as Ray Charles did,'' said music producer Quincy Jones, who described Charles as a ``brother in every sense of the word.''
Charles died of acute liver disease at his Beverly Hills home at 11:35 a.m., surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - As Ray Charles played and sang, his stiffly swaying shoulders suggested some invisible tug of war between a devil and an angel. Charles, who died Thursday at age 73, was a musical innovator who combined the rollicking ``bad boy'' free-spiritedness of rock 'n' roll with the pious aching of gospel and soul to create a new style in such hits as ``What'd I Say,'' ``Hit the Road Jack,'' ``Georgia on My Mind'' and ``I Can't Stop Loving You.''
``There will never be another musician who did as much to break down the perceived walls of musical genres as much as Ray Charles did,'' said music producer Quincy Jones, who described Charles as a ``brother in every sense of the word.''
Charles died of acute liver disease at his Beverly Hills home at 11:35 a.m., surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney.
