The Genius of Ray Charles is on display in this four-album Tangerine Records Master Series

Ray Charles Robinson, known the world over as multi-award-winning icon Ray Charles, may have departed this world, but his music endures thanks in part to the Ray Charles Foundation. Recently, the Foundation released four albums as part of the Tangerine Records Master Series. Those albums which include Come Live with Me, Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul (1963), Love Country Style (1970), and No One Does It Like Ray Charles were released as individual projects throughout 2025. While Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul (1963) and Love Country Style (1970) were actual albums that are part of Charles' extensive discography (only Love Country was released under ABC-Paramount/Tangerine while Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul fell under the ABC-Paramount imprint only), Come Live with Me, and No One Does It Like Ray Charles are comprised of chart-topping singles, B-sides, and non-LP tracks that were recorded between the 1960s and mid-1970s but never previously featured together on an album.

Charles formed Tangerine Records at the height of his career. While still signed to ABC-Paramount, he realized that, success aside, if he wanted to create music his way, he'd have to do it on his own. In a move that was unprecedented at the time, Charles fought for the right to form his own label and to own his own music. ABC-Paramount Records agreed. Now, more than sixty years after Tangerine Records' founding, Charles, his music, and his artistry in general are back in the spotlight with the re-release of some of his boldest work.

What he created under the Tangerine imprint was masterful. It was Charles at his best because, creatively, he was free. No matter the genre, song style, production direction, choice of collaborators (both professional and personal), or the decision to craft original versus remade work, what Charles created musically during his relationship with ABC-Paramount and under Tangerine Records was a real demonstration of what was possible when an artist bet on themselves. What he built musically influenced a generation of musicians to be innovative and take creative risks long after his passing. That's who Ray Charles was as an artist, and the introduction of the new Tangerine Records Master Series gives listeners real insight into his undeniable genius.

Ray Charles
Come Live with Me
Tangerine Record Corporation
2025

The first album released as part of the Master Series was Come Live With Me. While the title track was originally released as a single on Charles' other label Crossover Records in 1973, Come Live With Me the album is a recording that has brought together some songs that showcase what's beautiful about Charles the balladeer on Side 1 while also highlighting that he's so much more than that with the funk and blues-heavy grooves featured on Side 2. This recording is Charles at his most unrestrained, and it's a well-thought-out and well-crafted work. Ray Charles is an artist of the highest caliber, and it's most glaring on this recording. Lush arrangements, award-winning engineering, and pure, unadulterated soul accentuate his haunting and highly emotive approach to the featured ballads. Stand out tracks include "Til There Was You," "If You Go Away," and "Louise" (also released as a single on Crossover Records).

Ray Charles
Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul
ABC-Paramount/Tangerine Record Corporation
1963/2025

Following Come Live With Me, the series moves back in time to revisit one of Charles' early recorded triumphs: Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul. Originally released in 1963, this record was one of the earliest in his post-Atlantic Records/new ABC-Paramount career. Though he experienced great success during his days with Atlantic, on Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul, Charles' success is rooted in his being himself. Vocally and artistically, Charles took a chance with the music selected for this record. He performed songs that made sense to him, blending and bending jazz and blues stylings into one that became his own. Standout tracks include "Busted" (arranged by Benny Carter), "That Lucky Old Sun" (featuring the Jack Holloran Singers), "Ol' Man River," "In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down)," "Ol' Man Time" (the latter two also arranged by Carter), and "You'll Never Walk Alone" (arranged by longtime collaborator Sid Feller).

Ray Charles
Love Country Style
Tangerine Record Corporation
1970/2025

Love Country Style, the only album originally released on Tangerine Records, includes some of Charles' soulful interpretations of country songs that were written by some of the genre's biggest names. Though this was not his only foray into country music, Love Country Style is an album that demonstrates that a song lyric in the right hands is a beautiful song, no matter the genre. Charles' cover of June Carter Cash's smash hit "Ring of Fire," made famous by her husband, country legend Johnny Cash, is unrecognizable in a good way. With a thumping bass line that permeates the groove and sweetly seductive vocals by Charles himself, the song feels like a stone-cold '70s groove and a naughty little ditty so good that you can't turn away from it all at once. Double-checking the album jacket while the record plays to make sure it really is the song identified in the chorus, only one question comes up: "He did that with 'Ring of Fire?'" Genius! Other standout tracks include "Your Love is so Doggone Good," "Don't Change on Me," and "Show Me the Sunshine."

Ray Charles
No One Does it Like Ray Charles
Tangerine Record Corporation
2025

The final release in the Master Series, No One Does It Like Ray Charles, gathers singles, B-sides, and non-LP tracks recorded between 1962 and 1965. Unfortunately, this recording was not originally part of Charles' discography, because the selections that make up this album are all incredible. From the fun and danceable "My Baby Don't Dig Me" to the heart-wrenching, pleading and longing between Charles and Raelets lead vocalist (and Charles' ex-girlfriend) Margie Hendrix on "My Baby (I Love Her, Yes I do)" to the jazz fueled orchestral arrangements provided by NEA Jazz Master Gerald Wilson on six of the albums twelve tracks, No One Does It Like Ray Charles is flawless from start to finish.

The Tangerine Records Master Series provides listeners with the opportunity to experience Charles in the fullness of his genius. His work as a producer, bandleader, and purveyor of songs was what was most exceptional about Charles the artist, and it's on full display in this series. These albums highlight his insight and creative instinct, while also shedding light on why his work made him one of the most influential artists in music history. All of what country music has become, all of what R&B is, the jazz orchestration present across the recordings feels present in today's jazz band sound; Ray Charles conceived of it all, performed it, remade it, and performed it again, all during a time when, at most, an artist was only expected to sing a song or play a tune as it appeared on paper. Ray Charles saw music in a way that defied characterization and tradition. He made music on his own terms, and he flipped the industry on its head in the process. He didn't make music to please anyone else. He made music to set himself free. Free to create and exist in the world as he saw fit. This Master Series is a place where those familiar with Ray Charles and those who only know his name can come together to experience music in its purest form. No one does it like Ray.

Tracks and Personnel

Come Live with Me

Tracks: Till There Was You; If You Go Away; It Takes So Little Time; Come Live With Me; Somebody; Problems, Problems; Where Was He; Louise; Everybody Sing;

Ingredients in a Recipe of Soul

Tracks: Busted; Where Can I Go?; Born to Be Blue; That Old Lucky Sun; Ol' Man River; In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down); A Stranger In Town; Ol' Man Time; Over The Rainbow; You'll Never Walk Alone.

Love Country Style

Tracks: If You Were Mine; Ring of Fire; Your Love Is So Doggone Good; Don't Change On Me; Till I Can't Take It Anymore; You've Still Got a Place in My Heart; I Keep It Hid; Sweet Memories; Good Morning Dear; Show Me the Sunshine

No One Does it Like Ray Charles

Tracks: My Baby Don't Dig Me; Without Love; The Brightest Smile in Town; Hide Nor Hair; My Baby (I Love Her, Yes I Do); No One; Don't Set Me Free; Something's Wrong; At the Club; Worried Life Blues (Someday Baby); Who You Gonna Love; My Heart Cries For You

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