Ray Charles’ ‘True Genius’ Box Set to Feature Previously Unreleased Live Tracks

In honor of what would have been Ray Charles’ 90th birthday year, Tangerine Records is releasing the limited edition box set, True Genius, on September 10th. The record label, which the late legend founded in 1962, has remastered 90 of Charles’ most important works for the six-CD box set. It’s available for preorder.

The collection also includes a bonus disc comprising previously unreleased tracks, which were recorded live in Stockholm in 1972. It includes his hits “What I Say,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” and “I’ve Got a Woman.”

The digital release will also be widely available on streaming platforms for the first time. “Hit the Road Jack,” “Crying Time,” “Busted, “America the Beautiful, A Song for You,” and “Unchain My Heart” are among Charles’ classics that will return to streaming after more than a decade. “Hit the Road Jack,” one of IndieLand‘s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, has also received a new animated lyric video.

“We’re extremely proud to present this collection, which maps the breadth and depth of Ray Charles’ music, presented in chronological order so the listener can join Ray on his journey through the most expansive and creative period of his legendary career,” Valeri Ervin, President of Ray Charles Foundation, said in a statement. “I’m also thrilled that this music will be widely available on all streaming services for the very first time, so that new and future audiences will continue to discover the True Genius of Ray Charles.”

The box set also houses a coffee table-styled book that features rare photos alongside liner notes from Ervin and writer and music journalist A. Scott Galloway, and it includes a special message from Quincy Jones.