Life and Music of Ray Charles Essay Example
Life and Music of Ray Charles The history of musicians is a very interesting subject. There are thousands and millions of interesting types of musicians. Ray Charles was a very talented musician. His focus was on Soul Music, which was Jazz combined with Gospel music. Jazz was also a big focus of his music. Ray Charles wasn’t like other musicians. He was a blind musician. Many often wonder how someone can be blind and also be a musician, but Ray Charles was a fine example to show that it was possible. Ray Charles was born on September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia. His family was a very poor family. His father’s name was Baily and his mother’s name was Aretha. He was born during the Great Depression. When he was still just an infant him and his family moved to Greenville. Ray was a very happy young boy until he was five years old. He lost his one and only sibling, which was his younger brother, from drowning in a water tub. His childhood was somewhat sad and miserable. After he lost his brother due to the tragic drowning he slowly began losing his eyesight. It was a gradual process, but by the time he was seven years of age he had completely lost his eyesight. He went through many tragedies in his somewhat early childhood. Only ten years after his younger brother died his mother died. He was only fifteen years old when his mother passed away. He always enjoyed music from the time he was a very small young boy. Ray Charles was always very interested in music starting at a very young age. He went to a school in Saint Augustine, Florida for the deaf and blind. The school in Florida was where Ray learned more about music and learned how to compose music and also learned to read and write Braille. He learned to play many different musical instruments. A day for Ray consisted of studying all day, playing music, and also listening to different music. When his mother died he left school and joined a group who toured all over the south playing in various locations.