Editing Ray Charles (section)

===1971–1983: Commercial decline===
[[File:Nixon meeting with Ray Charles in the oval office - NARA - 194452.tif|thumb|right|250px|alt=Color photo of Nixon and Ray Charles|Charles meeting with President Richard Nixon, 1972 (photo by [[Oliver F. Atkins]])]]

Charles' renewed chart success, however, proved to be short lived, and by the 1970s his music was rarely played on radio stations. The rise of [[psychedelic rock]] and harder forms of rock and R&B music had reduced Charles' radio appeal, as did his choosing to record pop standards and covers of contemporary rock and soul hits, since his earnings from owning his master tapes had taken away the motivation to write new material. Charles nonetheless continued to have an active recording career. Most of his recordings between 1968 and 1973 evoked strong reactions: either adored or panned by fans and critics alike.<ref name="boheme"/> His recordings during this period, especially 1972's ''[[A Message from the People]]'', moved toward the [[progressive soul]] sound popular at the time.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Swenson|editor-first=John|year=1999|title=The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide|publisher=[[Random House]]|isbn=978-0-679-76873-9|page=138}}</ref> ''A Message from the People'' included his unique gospel-influenced version of "[[America the Beautiful]]" and a number of protest songs about poverty and civil rights. Charles was often criticized for his version of "America the Beautiful" because it was very drastically changed from the song's original version. On July 14, 1973, [[Margie Hendrix]], the mother of Ray's son Charles Wayne Hendrix, died at 38 years old, which led to Ray having to care for the child. The official cause of her death is unknown.

In 1974, Charles left ABC Records and recorded several albums on his own label, Crossover Records. A 1975 recording of Stevie Wonder's hit "[[Living for the City]]" later helped Charles win another Grammy. In 1977, he reunited with Ahmet Ertegun and re-signed to Atlantic Records, for which he recorded the album ''[[True to Life (Ray Charles album)|True to Life]]'', remaining with his old label until 1980. However, the label had now begun to focus on rock acts, and some of their prominent soul artists, such as [[Aretha Franklin]], were starting to be neglected. In November 1977 he appeared as the host of the NBC television show ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://snltranscripts.jt.org/77/77e.phtml|title=Ray Charles|publisher=SnlTranscripts.jt.org|date=November 12, 1977|access-date=September 10, 2010|archive-date=April 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406222235/https://snltranscripts.jt.org/77/77e.phtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 1979, his version of "Georgia on My Mind" was proclaimed the [[List of U.S. state songs|state song]] of Georgia, and an emotional Charles performed the song on the floor of the state legislature. In 1980 Charles performed in the musical film ''[[The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers]]''.<ref name="boheme"/> Although he had notably supported the [[Civil rights movement|American Civil Rights Movement]] and [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] in the 1960s, Charles was criticized for performing at the [[Sun City, North West|Sun City]] resort in South Africa in 1981 during an international boycott protesting that country's [[apartheid]] policy. He later defended his choice of performing there, insisting that the audience of black and white fans would integrate while he was there.<ref name="boheme"/>