I've looking for this version of Over the Rainbow by Ray Charles, it's just great. I've heard the final part of it in Sleepless in Seattle... (for 3 years I've been told it did not exist)

What more need be said about Brother Ray that hasn't been said already? He's the greatest, pure genius.
Interesting sidenote: check out "Ol' Man River" with headphones & listen carefully...you can hear a very faint ghost voice before certain phrases Ray sings. I thought it might have been one of the background singers reading the chart a little too loud at first but realized it was probably the engineer or producer on the session giving Brother Ray the lines through his headphones just before he was to sing them (someone please correct me if this is wrong)...Ray was blind, so obviously he didn't have the benefit of reading a chart on the session; some of the tunes were probably decided upon right then & there without the benefit of a thorough rehearsal.

This CD is Brother Ray at his best. Listen to track 12 "The Brightest Smile in Town" and you'll be a believer too.

Given the CD format's ability to contain a generous 80 minutes of material nowadays, Rhino took full advantage of it. The result is a two-for-the price-of-one display of just 2 sides of many The Genius displayed.

The first half, "Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul" is prime Grade-A Ray! Some of the highlights:

Busted - Classic tale of woe when the crops dry up, so hard to believe it was originally a simple C&W song if you didn't know it beforehand. Rays powers of reinterpretation were second to none!

Where Can I Go? Abject loneliness never sounded so beautiful and smoldering.

That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day) Ray sure had away of making C7W his own and you can really feel the exaspiration in every note

Stranger in Town - A great track from the movie "The Cincinnatti Kid"

Over the Rainbow - Very dramatic treatment with full orchestra and singers too.

Ray definitely gives it his all here in a wide variety of moods and settings from gritty R&B/Swing to haunting ballads and pain drenched C&W.

The second half of the package "Have A Smile With Me" was intended to show the more playful, swinging and fun side of Ray, and largely succeeds ("Smack Dab In The Middle" for instance) though not entirely, some of the novelty songs don't wear well with repeated listenings but all-told, a good smattering of tracks for a party where there's swing dancing involved.

Good stuff, all considered.

Especially Over the rainbow.Has never been performed as good as this one .I have nine different version of this song, but Ray outperform the other performers .