Ray Charles
Thanks for Bringing Love Around Again (CrossOver)
Anybody who still feels the steam rising from Ray Charles’ original “What’d I Say” is advised to avoid the dead, depressing version that opens his new album. It isn’t just that he has long since replaced his distinctive boogie-woogie piano with adult-contemporary synths — it’s that Charles sings like he’s sitting in a chair trying to impress a roomful of aerobics instructors. The other 11 songs aren’t quite as dreary; The Genius’ voice still has its riches, and his keyboard solos on the rock ‘n’ rolling “New Orleans” almost make the CD worth buying. But while Charles, 71, is excused for not writing his own material in addition to singing, performing and engineering, he needs to ditch this Billy Osborne fellow. The man’s idea of a lyric, in “Can You Love Me Like That,” is “Bill Cosby loves his Camille.” We’ll take “Lonely Ave.” any day.