Ray Charles – The Genius Sings The Blues (Mono)

Eight years, twelve recordings

“The Genius Sings the Blues” appeared on Atlantic in October 1961. Its twelve recordings date from 1952 to 1960, bringing together music made over several years. Ray Charles had by then moved to ABC-Paramount. Atlantic assembled a programme from its existing catalogue, using the blues as a connection between different songs and recording periods rather than presenting the results of one new studio session.

That history provides a useful starting point for listening. The album moves between moments in Charles’s development, with voice, piano and accompanying musicians taking on different relationships from track to track. It spans part of the period in which he brought blues, gospel, jazz and popular song forms together in his work. The selection allows those connections to be followed across several performances rather than a single unchanged lineup.

A country song among the blues

Charles wrote seven of the twelve selections. They include “Hard Times”, “Ray’s Blues”, “I Believe to My Soul” and “Nobody Cares”. His own songs appear alongside material by other writers: “Feelin’ Sad” leads to Guitar Slim, while “Early in the Mornin’” connects with Louis Jordan’s repertoire. The collection consequently has several points of origin within American music, even while the album title suggests one principal thread.

“I’m Movin’ On”, written by Hank Snow, is especially revealing in that company. It brings country repertoire into the blues-centred selection before Charles’s 1962 album “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music”. For listeners who associate his engagement with country chiefly with that later release, this performance offers an earlier point of contact. An already familiar part of his musical history can be traced a little further back through the song.

The singer and the answering phrase

In an original such as “I Believe to My Soul”, listen for the relationship between a vocal phrase and the instrumental response. When does the voice lead, and when does an instrument continue the thought? Then bring the same question to “I’m Movin’ On”. The change of songwriting material creates a practical comparison within the collection, without requiring a move to a different album or period of Charles’s career.

Musicians on portions of the collected recordings include saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman and trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. Personnel vary across the material. It is therefore worth hearing each track individually before looking for connections: in rhythmic placement, the accompaniment’s responses and the shaping of a line. Approached this way, the compilation also becomes a journey through different band combinations and the possibilities they offered around the same singer and pianist.

About this mono edition

AAPA 047-45 is Analogue Productions’ Atlantic 75 edition: two 180-gram LPs at 45 RPM in mono. Bernie Grundman handled the mastering; according to the publisher, the source is the original analogue mono master tape. Quality Record Pressings is the specified pressing plant. Packaging is a Stoughton tip-on double-pocket gatefold. The twelve selections retain the original album’s sequence, distributed across four sides with three tracks on each. The compilation’s running order is preserved within the new side layout.

Michael 45 stores the records in Germany and dispatches them from Hilden, so European customers can avoid arranging a personal US import and waiting for customs clearance.

Also on SACD: The Genius Sings The Blues

More by Ray Charles: The Great Ray Charles · “Ray Charles”

Customer questions: Atlantic 75: which titles are worth buying? · Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Series: Atlantic 75 Series – all 75 albums, time journey and the people behind Atlantic

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.