Brother Ray
Ray Charles' Own Story
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Brother Ray
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Narrated by:
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Andrew L. Barnes
About this listen
Overcoming poverty, blindness, the loss of his parents, and the pervasive racism of the era, Ray Charles was acclaimed worldwide as a genius by the age of 32. By combining the influences of gospel, jazz, blues, and country music, he invented, almost single-handedly, what became known as "soul". And throughout a career spanning more than a half century, Ray Charles remained in complete control of his life and his music, allowing nobody to tell him what he could or couldn't do.
The San Francisco Chronicle calls Brother Ray "an emotional blast as vivid and real, sweaty and straight talking as the man himself".
©1992, 2003, 2004 David Ritz; 1978 Ray Charles and David Ritz (P)2005 Blackstone AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Timbaland is indisputably one of the most innovative music producers working today. The Grammy Award–wining producer, rapper, songwriter, and composer has collaborated with the mega-superstars of pop, rap, hip-hop, and R&B, from Jay Z to 50, Madonna to Justin, Nelly to Björk. His solo album Shock Value has sales tipped in the millions, and the video for his international chart-topping single "Apologize" has been viewed more than 100 million times on YouTube.
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5 out of 5 stars
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It's called a De-esser
- By Ethan on 05-02-16
By: Timbaland, and others
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Purpose
- An Immigrant's Story
- By: Wyclef Jean, Anthony Bozza
- Narrated by: Sam Jean
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Wyclef Jean is one of the most influential voices in hip-hop. He rocketed to fame in the 1990s with the Fugees, whose multiplatinum album, The Score, would prove a landmark in music history, winning two Grammys and going on to become one of the best-selling hip-hop albums of all time. In Purpose, Wyclef recounts his path to fame from his impoverished childhood in "Baby Doc" Duvalier's Haiti and the mean streets of Brooklyn and Newark to the bright lights of the world stage.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great, great, great read!
- By Gbenga Ogunjimi on 04-10-24
By: Wyclef Jean, and others
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Man of Constant Sorrow
- My Life and Times
- By: Ralph Stanley, Eddie Dean
- Narrated by: Ed Sala
- Length: 18 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story5 out of 5 stars 35
In Man of Constant Sorrow, Grammy® Award winner Ralph Stanley opens up about his expansive career as an old-time musician. Stanley grew up in the Virginia mountains and first learned music from his banjo-playing mother. He interrupted his musical career to farm for a short time, but soon returned to music with his brother Carter. Later in his career, Stanley gained popularity after being featured in the hit motion picture soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Bluegrass!
- By Buford T America on 02-24-20
By: Ralph Stanley, and others
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One Way Out
- The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band
- By: Alan Paul
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 304
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 273
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 273
One Way Out is the powerful biography of the Allman Brothers Band, an oral history written with the band's participation and filled with original, never-before-published interviews as well as personal letters and correspondence. This is the most in-depth look at a legendary American rock band that has meant so much to so many for so long. For 25 years, Alan Paul has covered the Allman Brothers Band, conducting hundreds of interviews, riding the buses with them, attending rehearsals and countless shows.
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4 out of 5 stars
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From a non-fan
- By DK on 09-06-14
By: Alan Paul
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The Gospel According to Luke
- By: Steve Lukather
- Narrated by: Steve Lukather
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,361
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,216
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,211
In this incisive memoir, Steve Lukather tells the complete Toto story. He also lifts the lid on what went on behind the closed studio doors, shedding light on the unique creative processes of some of the most legendary names in music: from Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, and Elton John to Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, and Aretha Franklin. Lukather’s extraordinary tale also encompasses the dark side of stardom and the American Dream. Frank, engaging, and often hilarious, The Gospel According to Luke is no ordinary rock memoir.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wow Best Rock Biography Ever
- By Hercules on 09-29-18
By: Steve Lukather
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I Am Brian Wilson
- By: Brian Wilson, Ben Greenman - contributor
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 611
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 549
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 542
As a cofounding member of the Beach Boys in the 1960s, Wilson created some of the most groundbreaking and timeless popular music ever recorded. With intricate harmonies, symphonic structures, and wide-eyed lyrics that explored life's most transcendent joys and deepest sorrows, songs like "In My Room", "God Only Knows", and "Good Vibrations" forever expanded the possibilities of pop songwriting.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Surviving the Minor Keys in Life - Love Overcomes
- By Russell on 12-01-16
By: Brian Wilson, and others
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Save Me from Myself
- How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story
- By: Brian "Head" Welch
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 994
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 890
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Story5 out of 5 stars 884
In February 2005, more than 10,000 people in Bakersfield, California, watched as Brian “Head” Welch—the former lead guitarist of the controversial rock band Korn—was saved by Jesus Christ. The event set off a media frenzy as observers from around the world sought to understand what led this rock star out of the darkness and into the light.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another Way
- By jerry on 04-22-14
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Relentless
- The Memoir
- By: Yngwie J. Malmsteen
- Narrated by: Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Fred Berman
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 177
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 160
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 159
Yngwie Malmsteen's revolutionary guitar style - combining elements of classical music with the speed and volume of heavy metal - made him a staple of the 80s rock scene. Decades later, he's still a legend among guitarists, having sold 11 million albums and influenced generations of rockers since. In Relentless, Malmsteen shares his personal story, from the moment he burst onto the scene seemingly out of nowhere in the early 80s to become a household name in the annals of heavy metal.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Bloviations
- By David A. Kaplowitz on 12-29-19
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Mustaine
- A Heavy Metal Memoir
- By: Dave Mustaine, Joe Layden
- Narrated by: Tom Wayland
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,105
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 945
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 940
James Hetfield, with whom many years ago Mustaine founded a band known as Metallica, once observed, with some incredulity, that Mustaine must have been born with a horseshoe up his ass. That's how lucky he's been, how fortunate he is to be pulling breath after so many close calls. And Hetfield is right. Mustaine has been lucky. He has been blessed. But here's the thing about having a horseshoe lodged in your rectum: It also hurts like hell. And you never forget it's there.
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5 out of 5 stars
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peace sells...I'm buying!!!
- By michael on 09-19-10
By: Dave Mustaine, and others
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Keith Richards
- The Unauthorised Biography
- By: Victor Bockris
- Narrated by: Adrian Mulraney
- Length: 20 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
In 1992, Victor Bockris' celebrated biography was the first to recognize Richards' pivotal role in the legend of the Rolling Stones. Now that book on rock's most incredible survivor has been expanded. Here are the true facts behind Richards' battles with his demons: the women, the drugs and the love-hate relationship with Jagger. His struggle with heroin and his status as the rock star most likely to die in the 1970s. His scarcely believable rebirth as a family man in the 1980s. Illuminated with revealing quotes and thoughtful insights into the man behind the band that goes on forever.
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3 out of 5 stars
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doesn't comapre to LIFE
- By A. Garofalo on 02-20-14
By: Victor Bockris
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My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire
- By: Maurice White, Herb Powell
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 547
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 484
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Story5 out of 5 stars 477
The late Grammy-winning founder of the legendary pop/R&B/soul/funk/disco group tells his story and charts the rise of his legendary band in this sincere memoir that captures the heart and soul of an artist whose groundbreaking sound continues to influence music today. With a foreword by David Foster.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Maurice--Earth, Wind and Fire
- By Linda Ealey on 02-28-17
By: Maurice White, and others
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My Cross to Bear
- By: Gregg Allman, Alan Light
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,074
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 965
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 960
As one of the greatest rock icons of all time, Gregg Allman has lived it all and then some. For almost 50 years, he's been creating some of the most recognizable songs in American rock, but never before has he paused to reflect on the long road he's traveled. Now, he tells the unflinching story of his life, laying bare the unvarnished truth about his wild ride that has spanned across the years.
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5 out of 5 stars
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my cross to bear was awesome
- By the dude on 05-02-12
By: Gregg Allman, and others
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Hit Hard
- By: Joey Kramer
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 128
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
In 1997, amid Aerosmith's sold-out world tour and number one album release, Joey revealed in an interview his ongoing struggles with depression. The response from fans and people battling those same internal demons was overwhelming. Joey now tells the complete story: the early days of the band, glamorous drug-addled events leading up to their eventual sobriety, battles within his family and among bandmates, and the explosive internal dynamics in Aerosmith.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The things we never knew
- By bluestar on 08-22-18
By: Joey Kramer
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Remembering Whitney
- My Story of Love, Loss, and the Night the Music Stopped
- By: Cissy Houston
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 487
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 406
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 406
On the eve of the 2012 Grammy Awards, the world learned of a stunning tragedy: Whitney Houston, unquestionably one of the most remarkable and powerful voices in all of music, had been silenced forever. Over the weeks and months that followed, family, friends, and fans alike tried to understand how such a magnificent talent and beautiful soul could have been taken so early and so unexpectedly. Honest and heartbreaking, this is a mother's story of tears, joy, and her greatest love of all: her daughter, Whitney.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Nobody Knows Whitney Better Than Mama
- By Kimberly Davis on 04-20-14
By: Cissy Houston
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Anger Is an Energy
- My Life Uncensored
- By: John Lydon
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 18 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 279
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 261
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 262
John Lydon is an icon - one of the most recognizable and influential cultural figures of the last 40 years. As Johnny Rotten, he was the lead singer of the Sex Pistols, the world's most notorious band. The Pistols shot to fame in the mid-1970s with songs such as "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen". So incendiary was their impact at the time that in their native England, the Houses of Parliament questioned whether they violated the Traitors and Treasons Act.
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3 out of 5 stars
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I Just Can't
- By notamatopoeia on 12-30-15
By: John Lydon
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Got The Life
- By: Fieldy
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 165
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 138
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 140
By all appearances, Fieldy had the life. But he was on the dark path of excess, alienating friends, families, and loved ones, nearly destroying himself and the band. It took an unexpected tragedy to straighten him out: the death of his father, a born-again Christian, to a mysterious illness. Following his father's dying wish, Fieldy found God. Filled with the spirit of his new faith, Fieldy quit drugs and drinking cold turkey, and found the best part of himself.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good story, poor Narrator!
- By Aaron on 11-01-11
By: Fieldy
What listeners say about Brother Ray
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Liz Hicks
- 03-05-24
Strength
This was an excellent book about Ray Charles...the determination and strength that he had throughout his life. a must read!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Charles
- 04-26-12
Very Candid
Recommended if you really want to know Brother Ray, but be prepared for his candor. He makes no excuses and offers no apologies for his choices. His was a fascinating life and he was an amazing talent. I thought I knew something about him, but how little I knew was revealed with this memoir.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Harry McCoy
- 01-13-21
GREAT book. Terrible read.
The book is a must read for anyone who wants to know about Ray Charles. He told his own story in his own voice and wow, he didn't pull any punches. And sure, he's been dead for a long time now and can't read it himself, but this read is awful. There are paragraphs that have obviously been pieced together from different takes, sentences that the narrator is evidently reading for the first time, and name pronunciations that are plain embarrassing (Ahmet Ertegun & Dinah Washington are rolling in their graves).
Absolutely recommended to read a hard copy yourself, avoid this audio slap-dash-to-make-another-buck-offa-Brother Ray.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Janet
- 10-28-05
Very enlightening
This book was very interesting if a bit graphic. I had seen the movie & it got me interested to learn more about Ray Charles & this book satisfied my curiosity. Great narrator.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Notsokeen
- 10-15-20
I appreciate his gifts...
Ray Charles was undoubtedly a gifted, driven person. He grew from a childhood rich in love, poor in material security. He rose above the challenges life presented him. He lived life on his own terms and with total disregard of the people in his life that lived him. I did not like the guy. His objectifying and verbiage describing women is disgusting and vile. The other painted a clear picture of this very human man.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Benjamin Button
- 02-02-23
Extraordinary life story
Loved this autobiography about Brother Ray. He was truthful and honest about his life, including his opinions about the world and ideas for the future.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- AngieGirl
- 05-02-21
ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS
I truly enjoyed this book. I felt like some of the more "juicier" details of his life were omitted, but that was "their right". The most memorable part to me was the way the author described the end of Ray's life.
Ray's strength in face of adversity should motivate others to do more to advance in life.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ThatGuyHerb
- 12-09-22
Awesome!!
I love Ray Charles’ music. This book made me miss him. I should have read it years ago. So glad I made it part of my weekly listening time. Brother Ray was indeed one of our great American treasures. So glad he shared his talent and love of music with us. Continue to have a great rest my friend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cust with 1st review
- 04-20-23
THAT WAS GREAT!
Waaay better than the movie! Most books are. Learned waaaaay more. What an adventure! I love that he wasn’t scared to follow his heart and he is continuously himself, unapologetically, right or wrong. A book I’d read/listen to again 🙌😮💨
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jennifer McCallum
- 09-04-18
Brother Ray. All Day!!!
This is one for the ages. Give it a listen, you won't be disappointed. 5 out of 5 stars.
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