The Genius of Ray Charles
| The Genius of Ray Charles | ||||
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| Studio album by Ray Charles | ||||
| Released | October 1959 | |||
| Recorded | May 6 and June 23, 1959 in New York City | |||
| Genre | Rhythm and blues, pop, vocal jazz | |||
| Length | 37:58 | |||
| Label | Atlantic 1312 | |||
| Producer | Nesuhi Ertegün, Jerry Wexler | |||
| Ray Charles chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable)[2] |
| Rolling Stone | [3] |
| Warr.org |  [4] |
| Yahoo! Music | (favorable)[5] |
The Genius of Ray Charles is a 1959 album by Ray Charles. In 2003, the album was ranked number 263 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The Genius of Ray Charles announced his breakout from rhythm and blues and onto a broader musical stage. Atlantic Records gave Charles full support in production and arrangements.
As originally presented, the A side of the album featured the Ray Charles band with David "Fathead" Newman supplemented by players from the Count Basie and Duke Ellington bands, and arrangements by Quincy Jones.
The B side of the original album consists of six ballads with arrangements by Ralph Burns and a large string orchestra. Charles's performance of "Come Rain or Come Shine", a song identified with Frank Sinatra, brought public attention to his voice alone without the "distractions" of his soulful piano and his snappy band.
Each side contains a tribute to Louis Jordan with two songs he had hits with "Let the Good Times Roll" and ("Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying").
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Side one
- "Let the Good Times Roll" (Sam Theard, Fleecie Moore) – 2:53
- "It Had to Be You" (Gus Kahn, Isham Jones) – 2:45
- "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (Irving Berlin) – 2:53
- "Two Years of Torture" (Percy Mayfield, Charles Joseph Morris) – 3:25
- "When Your Lover Has Gone" (Einar Aaron Swan) – 2:51
- "'Deed I Do" (Walter Hirsch, Fred Rose) – 2:27
[edit] Side two
- "Just for a Thrill" (Lil Hardin Armstrong, Don Raye) – 3:26
- "You Won't Let Me Go" (Bud Allen, Buddy Johnson) – 3:22
- "Tell Me You'll Wait for Me" (Charles Brown, Oscar Moore) – 3:25
- "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'" (Joe Greene) – 3:46
- "Am I Blue?" (Grant Clarke, Harry Akst) – 3:41
- "Come Rain or Come Shine" (Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen) – 3:42
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Side one
- Ray Charles - piano and vocals
- Clark Terry - trumpet
- Ernie Royal - trumpet
- Joe Newman - trumpet
- Snookie Young - trumpet
- Marcus Belgrave - trumpet
- John Hunt - trumpet
- Melba Liston - trombone
- Quentin Jackson - trombone
- Thomas Mitchell - trombone
- Al Gray - trombone
- Frank Wess - flute, alto saxophone and tenor saxophone
- Marshall Royal - alto sax
- Paul Gonsalves - tenor sax (and solo on "Two Years of Torture")
- Zoot Sims - tenor sax (on "Let the Good Times Roll", "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "'Deed I Do")
- Billy Mitchell - tenor sax (on "It had to be You", "Two Years of Torture" and "When Your Lover Has Gone")
- David "Fathead" Newman - tenor sax (and solos on "Let the Good Times Roll", "When Your Lover Has Gone", "'Deed I Do")
- Quincy Jones – arranger, conductor
[edit] Side two
- Ray Charles - piano and vocals
- Allen Hanlon - guitar
- Wendell Marshall - bass
- Ted Sommer - drums
- Bob Brookmeyer - valve trombone
- Harry Lookofsky - concertmaster
- Unidentified - large woodwinds and strings section
- Ralph Burns - arranger
[edit] Other credits
- Sleeve notes: Nat Hentoff
- Recording engineers: Bill Schwartau and Tom Dowd
