''The Genius Sings the Blues'' is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

, released in October 1961 on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. The album was his last release for Atlantic, compiling twelve blues songs from various sessions during his tenure for the label. The album showcases Charles's stylistic development with a combination of piano blues,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, and southern R&B. The photo for the album cover was taken by renowned photographer Lee Friedlander. ''The Genius Sings the Blues'' was reissued in 2003 by

Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company (formerly Rhino Records Inc.) is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded ...

with

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the a ...

Background

Hailing from Greenville, Florida, Ray Charles assimilated much of the Southern black man's musical heritage with its various

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

stories,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

songs, and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

revelations.Taylor (2003), pp. 1-3. Charles studied music at a school for blind children in St. Augustine and developed a characteristic modern

style of playing and writing by listening to

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever. From early in his career, fellow musicians acclaimed Tatum's technical ability as extraordinary. Tatum a ...

, Nat "King" Cole,

Bud Powell Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. A pioneer in the development of bebop and its associated contributions to jazz theory,Grove Powell's application of complex phrasing to ...

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

, and other contemporaries who played in the styles fashionable around the time Charles moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. He molded many disparate musical elements into a style with unique harmony and traditional rhythmic patterns.

Music

Jazz composer

further discussed Charles' innovative music and his reaction to hearing it: The innovation of Ray Charles is presented on this compilation LP. ''The Blues'' finds Charles delivering wailing and emotional numbers ("Hard Times", "

Night Time Is the Right Time "Night Time Is the Right Time" or "The Right Time" is a rhythm and blues song recorded by American musician Nappy Brown in 1957. It draws on earlier blues songs and has inspired popular versions, including those by Ray Charles, Rufus and Carla, a ...

") to uptempo arrangements of country blues (" I'm Movin' On", "Early in the Mornin'"). Covering ground from his first session for Atlantic ("The Midnight Hour") to his last ("I Believe to My Soul"), ''The Genius Sings the Blues'' began as a simple cash-in LP after Charles' split from Atlantic Records and ended up as one of Charles' most well-known compilations.

Track listing

All songs written by

, except where noted. Billboard.com - Discography - Ray Charles - The Genius Sings the Blues Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved on August 24, 2008. ;Side one # " Early in the Mornin'" (Dallas Bartley, Leo Hickman,

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the King ...

) – 2:48 # "Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I)" – 2:56 # "The Midnight Hour" (Sam Sweet) – 3:02 # " (Night Time Is) The Right Time" (Napoleon Brown, Ozzie Cadena, Lew Herman) – 3:25 # "Feelin' Sad" ( Guitar Slim) – 2:50 # "Ray's Blues" – 2:55 ;Side two #" I'm Movin' On" (

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian country music guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts betw ...

) – 2:13 # "I Believe to My Soul" – 3:01 # "Nobody Cares" – 2:41 # "Mr. Charles' Blues" – 2:48 # "Some Day Baby" – 3:01 # "I Wonder Who" – 2:46

Personnel

Side 1, Track 1 - Marcus Belgrave, John Hunt (trumpet) David Newman (tenor saxophone) Bennie Crawford (baritone saxophone) Ray Charles (piano, Wurlitzer, vocals) Edgar Willis (bass) Teagle Fleming (drums). Recorded NYC, October 28, 1958 Side 1, Track 2 - Joe Bridgewater, Riley Webb (trumpet) David Newman (alto, baritone saxophone) Don Wilkerson (tenor saxophone) Ray Charles (piano, vocals) Roosevelt Sheffield (bass) William Peeples (drums). Recorded Miami, FL, April 23, 1955 Side 1, Track 4 - Marcus Belgrave, John Hunt (trumpet) David Newman (tenor saxophone) Bennie Crawford (baritone saxophone) Ray Charles (piano, Wurlitzer, vocals) Edgar Willis (bass) Teagle Fleming (drums). Recorded NYC, October 28, 1958

Chart history

;Album

Notes

References

External links

Album lyrics
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Genius Sings The Blues, The 1961 albums Ray Charles albums Albums produced by Jerry Wexler Albums produced by Ahmet Ertegun Atlantic Records albums Rhino Entertainment albums