Ray Charles
Gift guide
Reviewed by Jay Trachtenberg, Fri., Dec. 23, 2005
Ray Charles
The Dick Cavett Show (Shout! Factory)
Unless you're a Ray Charles completist, you'll probably want to pass on this 2-DVD set featuring the late great's three appearances with amiable but bland late-night TV host Dick Cavett in 1972-73. Despite being the sole guest on one 90-minute show and performing beautifully on 11 songs overall (some with the Raelettes), plus three silly duets with Cavett, relatively little of the 3½ hours here is allotted to music. Charles spends as much time kibitzing with the host, not to mention sharing the stage with Tony Randall, Margaret Mead, and NYC Mayor John Lindsay. Culturally fascinating but musically frustrating.
