Ray Charles

This duets album features guests such as Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and George Jones and shot to No. 1 on the country charts. Willie and Ray's reading of "Seven Spanish Angels" stands out, and while Tony Bennett and Billy Joel (in a very Ray-ish mode) are out of place in the country context, their tracks are solid. Merely decent Ray Charles is still Ray Charles.

This duet album is where Ricky Skaggs and Hank Williams Jr. attain glories beyond the reach of Janie Fricke and the Oak Ridge Boys but almost everybody at least believes there's an occasion to rise to. (Grade - )