20. Ray Charles — The Genius of Ray Charles (1959)

Doesn’t quite capture the swinging vibes of this record…

1. Few records announce themselves with quite the gusto of “Let The Good Times Roll” — a demand of his audience, pop music, and himself that comes on with unfathomably strong blasts of horns forcing a smile on your face. It’s a true classic that announces Ray in a big way.
2. I’m no Ray Charles expert, but I was a bit taken aback at how much big band sound is in this record. The third track is an Irving Berlin cover. This is a far cry from the soul of “What’d I Say” or “I’ve Got A Woman,” and yet it feels totally in line with those. You don’t realize how little soul Sinatra had until you hear his kinds of tunes sung by Ray Charles. The man’s voice makes these his own. And these tunes would be amazing to hear live.
3. Speaking of “What’d I Say” — that song came out the same year as this album, but as a standalone single? That’s wild to me. It feels like the music industry is perpetually debating whether to get rid of the concept of albums in favor of a steady stream of pure singles (I hope this doesn’t happen) but I didn’t realize how much that had already been happening back in the 50's.
4. I’m super glad Spotify exists to give me access to albums like this, but something is certainly lost when you remove the “Side A / Side B” nature of a vinyl disc. The first six tunes (side A) here are boisterous, bombastic, swinging tunes; the last six (side B) are delightful, slow ballads, the end of the night slow dance after the raucous party. I’m sad we’ve lost something of the effect, listening to one side, taking a pause to flip it over, and receiving something entirely new on the other end.
5. I just realized Ray wasn’t only 29 at this point. Maybe it’s because I’ve grown up with an impression of him as an older man, or maybe it’s because these tunes are closer to standards than to the soul he’s more famous for, but these songs all carry a maturity that blows my mind a little realizing how young he was when recording them.
   
   All in all, a great end to the second set of ten albums in this project. Only 981 left!

One Essential Song:

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