September 12, 2000. Copyright, 2000, Graphic News. All rights reserved

HIGH PRIEST OF SOUL TURNS 70
By Mark Keith

LONDON, September 12, Graphic News:  ÒTAKE these tears from my eyes and let me see.Ó So sang Ray Charles in his song ÒTake These Chains From My Heart.Ó
From another singer, it would have been just another lyric. From Charles, blind from the age of seven and one of the finest soul singers the world has ever known, it has always been poignant to the point of painful.
Nobody has been able to convey suffering in song quite like Ray Charles. The plaintive wail of his voice was born from a life spent fighting back from social deprivation, drug addiction and the extraordinary obstacles that had to be overcome by a blind, black orphan in the southern United States of the 1930s.
After losing his sight to glaucoma, Charles learned classical piano and how to compose songs in braille. He developed the ability to arrange songs in his mind and then have someone else write down the details.
So instinctive was his mastery of music, that it encompassed a vast spectrum. Uniquely, he is revered by fans of soul, blues, gospel, rock ÔnÕ roll, jazz and country and western.
In an industry that continually reinvents itself, Ray Charles has been a constant. As he reaches the age of 70, his journey continues from light, to darkness and back into the spotlight he loves so much.
/ENDS