First off, the
Ray Charles of
the Ray Charles Singers isn't the "Georgia on My Mind"
Ray Charles. It's the professional name of
Charles Raymond Offenberg, a traditional pop composer, arranger, and bandleader, the "Other
Ray Charles," as he was often referred to, who also worked with artists like
Julie Andrews,
Bob Hope, and
Frank Sinatra, was a music consultant on The Muppet Show, and sang the theme song for the television sitcom Three's Company, among other accomplishments. He also released several albums of lushly orchestrated easy listening versions of various pop standards under the name
the Ray Charles Singers in the 1960s on
Enoch Light's Command Records (originally Command Performance Records) imprint, including the two combined here, 1961's
Something Wonderful and 1962's
Rome Revisited.
Light, who also released albums under his own name that were similar to what
Charles was producing, aimed his releases at audiophiles, recording them onto 35mm film rather than magnetic tape, which allowed him to create multi-track recordings that gave more control over each track's mix and istereo positioning, among other innovations. The quality of the sound for the time era of these releases is what gives them a certain archival and historical interest, but the music itself, and the vocal arrangements, reduce most songs to the level of pleasant wallpaper.