Ray Charles didn’t follow trends. He built his own world. Now, Tangerine Records, the label he founded to do just that, is throwing open the vaults with the Tangerine Master Series, a lovingly remastered reissue campaign that reframes the genius of a man who changed the shape of American music on his own terms.

It all begins with the return of Come Live With Me, Charles’ 1974 blend of string-drenched soul, country balladry, and low-simmer funk, appearing on vinyl for the first time in more than 50 years. Restored under the guidance of The Ray Charles Foundation and remastered by Grammy-winning engineers Michael Graves and Jeff Powell, this is a deep dive into the artistry of an icon still impossible to pin down.

Released during a period when R&B was erupting with revolution — think Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder — Charles took a quieter route. Come Live With Me sounds like Saturday night melting into Sunday morning. Side A glows with cinematic soul and heartbreak laments like the title track and “Till There Was You,” arranged by longtime collaborator Sid Feller. But flip it over and you’re hit with the bounce of “Somebody” and the subtle funk grit of “Problems, Problems,” proof Charles could slip into the zeitgeist without breaking stride.

As Marcus J. Moore writes in the exclusive liner notes: “Protest can look like that, too — navigating the path one turn at a time, not knowing where you’ll end up, still believing that everything’s going to be fine.”

Charles’ legacy with Tangerine was more than musical, it was radical. In the early ’60s, he negotiated complete control of his recordings, started his own studio and publishing operation, and built a business where he answered to no one. That fearless independence runs through the Master Series, which will continue with reissues of 1963’s Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul (featuring the Grammy-winning hit “Busted”), the long out-of-print Love Country Style (1970), and No One Does It Like… Ray Charles!, a never-before-compiled set of singles from 1962–1965.

“If I like it, I’m gonna sing it,” Charles once said. The result is a catalog that resists categories and rewards rediscovery. With this new series, we’re reminded not just of Ray Charles the icon, but Ray Charles the architect of his own empire, still miles ahead of the curve.