Ray Charles Research Paper

“And even when I was close to defeat, I rose to my feet, my life is like a soundtrack, I wrote to the beat.” Meaning when I was about to fail, I kept fighting and made what was going to happen. And because of that now today Dr.Dre has won many awards and had movie made about his life. Why? Because Dr.Dre is a great rapper.

Ray Charles was born on Sept. 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia, and grew up in Greenville, Florida. At the young age of five, he began losing his sight, and became completely blind by the time he was seven. However, this did not hinder Ray Charles at all, as he continued to persevere in developing his musical talents. One of the most unique aspects of Ray Charles was his unparalleled ability to crossover different genres of music. He mixed together genres such as blues, jazz, gospel, R&B, pop, and even country. With this integration, he created smash hits such as “I Got a Woman,” “Hit the Road Jack,” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” When a listener listens close enough to one of Charles’ songs, aspects of the various styles he incorporated can be heard not only through the way the lyrics are

He was born on 1886 in Lenox, Massachusetts, the 2nd oldest of six siblings, and was a skilled violinist since he was a kid (The Black Past). When he got a promotion at his magazine job when he was 14, he got his first camera. He was one of the first people in his town to own a personal camera so it was up to him to photograph lower class African American life at the time. At least until he, his brother Walter, and his dad would move to the Big Apple where he would work as an elevator operator and a waiter. While there,

If I had a chance to meet anyone in this whole entire world, it would be my favorite football player Ray Lewis. Ray Lewis emerged from a small town in Bartow Florida to become the best NFL most feared defensive linebacker of the modern era. He was recruited by the University of Miami back in 1996 as a first round pick for the Baltimore Ravens. He played seventeen exciting long years in the NFL before retiring. I truly believe he is the most inspiring athlete of all time. I grew up watching Ray Lewis at the tender age of 1. He has been an inspiration in my life forever.

The eldest of George and Lucille Ray’s nine children was born on March 10, 1928 in Alton, Illinois (“James Earl Ray”) (“James Earl Ray Biography”). During Ray’s early childhood, the family moved several times (“James Earl Ray Biography”). In 1935, the family suddenly left and moved to Ewing, Missouri after police started looking for the father for a forgery charge (“James Earl Ray

His talent is not a result of education but is deeply rooted in his natural abilities. He attended Armstrong Technical High School.(Tirro 1993) He was on a journey to complete high school but left before obtaining a diploma. Instead of school he worked various jobs in the day and was able to make a breakthrough in the music scene at night. (Tirro 1993) His parents recognized his gift and placed him in piano lessons at the age of seven but he did not follow through with the classes.

A legend of the modern music was born on 21st of May, 1904 to humble and religious parents in an uptown state of New York. Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller, or simply known as Fats Waller, mom was a well-known instrumentalist who had influenced the boy from his early childhood. His fierce determination for jazz overruled his father’s desire for him to pursue a religious career and do classical music instead of jazz. During his lifetime he wrote multiple classics and showed the world that despite the bounds of society and one's race, one can achieve one’s lifelong dream. He has demonstrated through his lyrics from his songs, even though the world wasn't with him, he loved jazz and also became an idol for modern day jazz and became very relevant

Ronald Gene Simmons Sr. was born July 15, 1940. He was originally from Chicago, Illinois, but moved to Little Rock, Arkansas with his mother and stepfather. His stepfather, William D. Griffen, was a civil engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Simmon’s biological father, William Simmons, died when he was only three years old. Ronald Gene Simmons Sr. eventually dropped out of school and joined the U.S. Navy. In 1963, he left the navy. Two years later, he joined the air force for twenty two years. Simmons retired in 1979 with the rank of master sergeant.

While vacationing in Asbury Park, Duke heard of a good pianist named Harvey Brooks. At the end of his vacation Duke sought Harvey out in Philadelphia where Harvey showed Duke some pianist tricks and shortcuts. Duke now had a real yearning to play when he got home. Soon later Duke’s music career started.

You’re too small, you’re not big enough, you’re not fast enough to be the best and stay there, you don’t have what it takes. In today’s football league there’s nothing better like it was to me when Ray Lewis was playing the game. A unique football player to me was somebody that controlled himself like a real man. He was responsible even outside of the football field. He carried himself as a leader, that’s why I like him. He didn’t worry about what others thought and he believed in himself and show others how it was to be great.

Our music industry would not be what it is today without one of America’s greatest music legends, Duke Ellington. He made major breakthroughs at a time when the odds were against him. The pioneer who scouted these new regions of musical space more than any other jazz musician of the time was Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899-1974). (Tirro 1993)

After college Charles worked for various newspapers as a reporter, Charles worked at the Arkansas Gazette. Once he finished working at the Arkansas Gazette he moved to New York. He was hired by the New York Herald Tribune Charles would work there for four years. During his time working there Charles was sent to the south many times to cover civil rights related stories during the 1960's. After a year of serving as the Herald Tribune's London bureau chief and reporter, Charles left journalism in the year of 1964, and he went home to right fiction full time (“Charles Portis”).

did not always like the piano. When he was a small boy he liked the drums, his father

In the world of Jazz there are known to be only two time periods in jazz: before Charlie Parker and after Charlie Parker. Charlie Parker has become an American icon and extremely important to the world of jazz. He had many successes throughout his life, but I want to find; how did Charlie Parker’s fast pace improvisation solo style effect the creation of bebop? Carlie Parker’s complex harmony and rhythms he integrated into his improvisation solo style laid the groundwork for the creation of a new jazz style known today as bebop.

Elvis Presley was the King of Rock N’ Roll (Doll 2014), when further analyzed, we believe he has also emerged as an influential leader and idol in today’s society because his music, Hollywood entertainment, and charitable donations (Doll 2014). As a poor southern boy he grew up being inspired by other cultures’ music and people and used that inspiration to encourage a generation to express themselves by exploring their freedom and finding their own identity (Wallace N.d). The findings are based on research compiled from archival data that we found via internet, books, journals, magazines, articles and newspapers. From that research we found emerging themes based on patterns in characteristics, implementations and the data. Ultimately