Originally Posted by
after you
Credit the Diana Ross project ❤️ Big Bad Love: Released in 2004, just months after his death, the Ray Charles collection Genius Loves Company was a huge hit, topping out at #1 on the Billboard 200 and winning the Grammy for Album of the Year. A year later, Genius & Friends hit shelves, replicating the formula of pairing Charles with other popular entertainers. Though the album charted at a respectable #36, it did receive some criticism for the fact that most of the songs were “fused” together in the studio, with artists recording their parts after Charles had already passed away. The duet “Big Bad Love” featuring Miss Diana Ross, however, was a standout in that it was indeed recorded by the two artists together. “Big Bad Love” had originally been heard over the closing credits of the 1994 film The Favor, starring Brad Pitt and Bill Pullman, but otherwise somehow went unnoticed for the most part until it was placed on Genius & Friends. The song is a lighthearted, loose bluesy number that opens with a trademark Ray harmonica solo; his vocals kick off the song, and it’s a pleasure to hear the R&B legend sounding powerful as he growls, “Your lips say ‘Come and kiss me…'” Diana’s vocals, beginning around 20 seconds in, are smooth and playful; her velvety voice is a perfect counterpoint to the raw, gravely work turned in by Charles. The two play off of each other well; Diana’s high note at 1:09 on the word “sweet” and her soulful delivery on the line, “…and I end up at your feet” a few seconds later are the kind of sexy, surprising touches that Miss Ross hadn’t done much of in the early 90s. When the two sing in unison, the pairing really proves genius; as with the best Diana Ross duets, there’s no jockeying for first place here, and the two voices are both unique enough that together they create a different, new sound. Though the production on the song is a bit on the bland side, sounding a little too overproduced and slick, there’s a real energy here that’s hard to resist. Right down to the very end — during which Diana purrs “You say that to all the girls, Ray…” — she sounds like she’s having a fantastic time, something that can’t be said for all of her early-to-mid 90s recordings. Aside from 1985’s “We Are The World,” this is the only song on which Diana and Ray appear together, and the recording does both legends proud.
