The Great Ray Charles

The Great Ray Charles
Studio album by Ray Charles
Released	August 1957
Recorded	April 30 - November 20, 26, 1956 in New York City
Genre	Bebop
Length	37:37
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler
Ray Charles chronology
Ray Charles (1957) The Great Ray Charles (1957) Soul Brothers (1958)
Alternative cover
CD re-issue with six extra tracks from The Genius After Hours

The Great Ray Charles is Ray Charles' second studio album for Atlantic Records, released in 1957. It is an instrumental jazz album. Later CD re-issues often include as a bonus, six of eight tracks from The Genius After Hours. The original cover was by Marvin Israel.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Track listing

Original LP release

Side A

1. "The Ray" (Quincy Jones) – 4:00
2. "My Melancholy Baby" (Ernie Burnett, George A. Norton) – 4:20
3. "Black Coffee" (Sonny Burke, Paul Webster) – 5:32
4. "There's No You" (Tom Adair, Harold Hopper) – 4:47

Side B

1. "Doodlin'" (Horace Silver; arranged by Quincy Jones) – 5:54
2. "Sweet Sixteen Bars" (Ray Charles) – 4:07
3. "I Surrender Dear" (Harry Barris, Gordon Clifford) – 5:08
4. "Undecided" (Sid Robin, Charlie Shavers; arranged by Ernie Wilkins and Quincy Jones) – 3:40

Note: Some sources list "Ain't Misbehavin'" in place of "Black Coffee".

1990 CD reissue

Includes 6 bonus tracks from The Genius After Hours

1. "Dawn Ray" – 5:03
2. "The Man I Love" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 4:26
3. "Music, Music, Music" (Bernie Baum, Stephen Weiss) – 2:53
4. "Black Coffee" (Burke, Webster) – 5:43
5. "The Ray" (Jones) – 3:55
6. "I Surrender Dear" (Barris, Clifford) – 5:08
7. "Hornful Soul" (Ray Charles) – 5:29
8. "Ain't Misbehavin'" (Harry Brooks, Andy Razaf, Fats Waller) – 5:40
9. "Joy Ride" (Ray Charles) – 4:39
10. "Sweet Sixteen Bars" (Ray Charles) – 4:06
11. "Doodlin'" (Silver) – 5:53
12. "There's No You" (Adair, Hopper) – 4:49
13. "Undecided" (Robin, Shavers) – 3:40
14. "My Melancholy Baby" (Burnett, Norton) – 4:22

Personnel

• Ray Charles - celesta, piano, vocals
• Oscar Pettiford, Roosevelt Sheffield - bass
• Joe Harris, William Peeples - drums
• David "Fathead" Newman - alto and tenor saxophone
• Emmot Dennis - baritone saxophone
• Joe Bridgewater - trumpet, soloist
• John Hunt - trumpet

Technical

• Earle Brown, Tom Dowd - recording engineer
• Marvin Israel - design
• Lee Friedlander - cover photography

References

• Atlantic Records 1259