Studio Album · No. 4
The Genius of Ray Charles Songwriting Credits by Ray Charles
Produced by Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler · Engineered by Bill Schwartau (recording), Tom Dowd (recording)
Holds writing credit on 0 of 12 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 0 / 12 documented
Scored across the 12 tracks with documented writers, by whether Ray Charles carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 12 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Awards & Recognition 2
The Genius of Ray Charles arrived at a turning point: it was the last album Charles recorded for Atlantic before his move to ABC-Paramount, and it was also his most deliberately ambitious. Atlantic split the album across two distinct halves: orchestrated pop ballads with full arrangements from Marty Paich on one side, and blues-driven R&B tracks with the Count Basie rhythm section on the other. The result was the first coherent argument for Charles as an all-genre artist, not just an R&B hitmaker. Engineered by Tom Dowd and Bill Schwartau, the sessions won Charles two Grammy Awards at the 3rd Grammy ceremony in 1961: Best Vocal Performance Album, Male for the album itself, and Best Rhythm and Blues Performance for "Let the Good Times Roll."
The Genius of Ray Charles is a studio album by Ray Charles, released in October 1959 on Atlantic Records and produced by Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, the album that gave Charles the title 'The Genius,' a designation that Wexler applied and that stuck as the defining characterization of his musical intelligence. The album is split between two sides with distinct approaches: a big band side with arrangements by Ralph Burns and Quincy Jones, and a strings-and-voices side with arrangements by Ralph Burns, demonstrating Charles's ability to inhabit both jazz orchestral and pop-orchestral contexts with equal authority. Charles did not write the majority of the material, drawing from American standards and popular songs as well as blues originals; 'Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying' and 'Tell Me You'll Wait for Me' are among the principal tracks. The Quincy Jones arrangements, representing one of the earliest professional collaborations between two of the 20th century's most significant musicians, give the big band side a particular sonic ambition that looks forward to the Jones-Charles collaborations that would produce Genius + Soul = Jazz in 1961. The Genius of Ray Charles reached the top twenty on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and was the last Charles album on Atlantic before his move to ABC-Paramount in 1959.
Track Listing & Credits 12 tracks
| # | Title | Lyricist(s) | Composer(s) | Producer(s) | Performers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Let the Good Times Roll
|
Sam TheardFleecie Moore | Sam TheardFleecie Moore | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |
| 2 |
It Had to Be You
|
Gus Kahn | Isham Jones | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |
| 3 |
Alexander's Ragtime Band
|
Irving Berlin | Irving Berlin | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |
| 4 |
Two Years of Torture
|
Percy MayfieldCharles Joseph Morris | Percy MayfieldCharles Joseph Morris | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |
| 5 |
When Your Lover Has Gone
|
Einar Aaron Swan | Einar Aaron Swan | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |
| 6 |
'Deed I Do
|
Walter Hirsch | Fred Rose | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |
| 7 |
Just for a Thrill
|
Don Raye | Lil Hardin Armstrong | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |
| 8 |
You Won't Let Me Go
|
Bud Allen | Buddy Johnson | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |
| 9 |
Tell Me You'll Wait for Me
|
Charles Brown | Oscar Moore | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |
| 10 |
Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying
|
Joe Greene | Joe Greene | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |
| 11 |
Am I Blue?
|
Grant Clarke | Harry Akst | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |
| 12 |
Come Rain or Come Shine
|
Johnny Mercer | Harold Arlen | Ahmet ErtegunJerry Wexler | Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano) |