Last Tuesday (September 23) marked the 84th anniversary of the birthof Ray Charles Robinson, dubbed the blind genius and the father of soulmusic. The year 2014 also marks a decade since the wily genius passed away. These important milestones revive memories of the man, who many claim invented soul music, and provides us with an opportunity to recapitulate his contribution to the development of post-war black music which, to say the least, was limitless. Born sighted and into extreme poverty on September 23, 1930 in the American state of Georgia, Robinson, who later dropped his last name to avoid confusion with a similarly named boxer, hit the road before he was a year old, moving with his family to nearby Greenville, Florida, during the depression years. While there and still sighted, he received … Read entire article »