Genius Loves Company

1	Here We Go Again / Norah Jones
2	Sweet Potato Pie / James Taylor
3	You Don't Know Me / Diana Krall
4	Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word / Elton John
5	Fever / Natalie Cole
6	Do I Ever Cross Your Mind? / Bonnie Raitt
7	It Was a Very Good Year / Willie Nelson
8	Hey Girl / Michael McDonald
9	Sinner's Prayer / B.B. King
10	Heaven Help Us All / Gladys Knight
11	Somewhere Over the Rainbow / Johnny Mathis
12	Crazy Love / Van Morrison

Barnes & Noble

Given the chance to sing with America’s premier vocalist, who could resist? On his final album, Ray Charles found himself paired with music icons including Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Cole, Michael McDonald, James Taylor, B. B. King, Willie Nelson, Van Morrison, Johnny Mathis, and Gladys Knight. The high spirits and good cheer -- not to mention the top-notch singing -- that pervade the album testify to the respect that Charles engendered and the passion he could inspire in others. Charles could sing anything, and here he gets a chance to prove his versatility once again. He touches on his own standards (“You Don’t Know Me,” “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind,” and “Here We Go Again”), interacting majestically with Krall, Raitt, and Jones, respectively; touchstones from his guests' careers (John’s “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” and Morrison’s “Crazy Love”); and perfectly tailored choices with others (the bluesy “Sinner‘s Prayer” with King, which Charles first recorded early in his career, the soulful “Hey Girl” with McDonald, a slinky “Fever” with Cole). Charles, in fine form, adapts every song to his inimitable style, and each guest finds a way to accommodate himself or herself to the master. In light of Charles’s passing just a few months before its release, Genius Loves Company takes on an affecting poignancy. Listen to Charles and Nelson’s autumnal musings on “It Was a Very Good Year,” and just try not to get a lump in your throat. William Pearl

All Music Guide

Genius Loves Company is the last studio album Ray Charles completed before his death in June 2004. Prior to this, the last studio album he released was Strong Love Affair in 1996, which was a stab at modern pop, filled with new songs and given an adult contemporary sheen. It was not one of his most distinctive efforts, even when judged against his latter-day albums, and it disappeared not long after its release. Charles left Warner and, years later, signed with Concord, who released Genius Loves Company, which had a decidedly different approach than the all-modern Strong Love Affair. As the title acknowledges with a wink, this is a duets album, which may be a little commonplace as far as latter-day superstar albums go but is still a step up from his previous studio album since it puts Ray Charles in a comfortable, relaxed situation that plays to his strengths. Instead of trying to put Charles in a modern setting, producers John Burk and Phil Ramone (Burk helmed seven of the album's tracks, Ramone is responsible for the other five, and their work fits together seamlessly) go for a clean retro setting with a few guitars, synths, and a rhythm section, occasionally dressing it with an orchestra or some strings. In other words, apart from the glistening production, it's not far removed from any of Charles' crossover records from the '60s, and he's also given a strong set of songs, largely familiar pop classics, from "Fever" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" and "Crazy Love." His duet partners are fairly predictable -- classy newcomers like Norah Jones and Diana Krall, but also old stalwarts like Elton John, B.B. King, Johnny Mathis, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, and the ubiquitous Willie Nelson (who has never sounded older than he does here on "It Was a Very Good Year") -- but they're also reliable, never overshadowing Ray yet never shrinking in his shadow either; in short, it sounds more like a real duets album than most superstar duet records. The end result is modest, friendly, laid-back, and pleasing, one that remains faithful to Charles' music while sounding relatively fresh. It may not be weighty enough to be a career-capping masterpiece, but it's sweet enough to be an appropriate final album -- which is far more than can be said of Strong Love Affair, or any of the other albums he cut in the '80s or '90s for that matter. Stephen Thomas Erlewine