Year/Genre: 1966, SoulMatrix #: ABCS 544Condition: VG, sounds good, some light marks Cultural Facts: Released in 1966, this comes from Ray Charles’s era of breaking genre borders in a way that changed American pop—treating country, gospel, blues, and soul as one shared language instead of separate markets. Ray’s ability to move through “country” material carried cultural weight because it challenged racial boundaries in music consumption, especially in the South, where audiences were segregated even when the songs weren’t. The mid-’60s also marks the point where Ray had become more than a performer—he was a model for artistic control and long-term career power in an industry that often denied that autonomy to Black artists. Price Suggestions:NM: $18–24VG+: $12–16VG: $7–11G+: $4–6 1/3/26 CC
