Ray Charles has the distinction of being both a national treasure and an international phenomenon. He was born in Albany, Georgia on September 23, 1930. Ever since Ray was three years old, he was already trying to involve himself in music. A wonderful man named Wylie Pitman was one of the first people to encourage him in his musical career. As a young child, he would jump in the chair next to him and start banging on the piano keys while Wylie was trying to practice. Instead of being some rude old man, Wylie would show Ray the right way to hit the keys, and taught him some melodies.
             The first major tragedy at age five, was when Ray watched his younger & only brother drown in a huge washtub in their backyard. He wasn't sure exactly how it happened, but his brother somehow fell over the rim of the tub, and fell under the water.
             He started losing his sight soon after, taking two years to completely lose it, at the age of seven. Luckily, his mother prepared him for the day he'd be totally blind. That's when he started attending St. Augustine's school for the blind. Since his family had little money, he was accepted as a charity student. There he learned math and its correlation to music; he also learned to compose music in his head.
             He began playing the clarinet in school since the piano class was full. Later on, he was able to get into the piano class. As a student he would play music written by other people, but he wanted to right his own music. When Ray was 12 years old, he was able to write an arrangement, and have musicians play it back to him.
             Music had always been in Ray's life – his first love of music was blues, church gospel music, and country and western; where he heard in the community.
             Ray was only 14 when his mother died. One day at school, he was called into the principal's office to be sent home. When he got there, he found out from a lady who helped his mom raise him. ...