True to Life cover art

  Studio Album · No. 12

True to Life Songwriting Credits by Ray Charles

1977 Atlantic 9 tracks 38 min

Produced by Ray Charles  ·  Engineered by Bob Gratts (recording)

Atlantic R&BSoul
0%
Authorship
Singer / Performer

Holds writing credit on 0 of 9 tracks

Authorship Breakdown 0 / 9 documented

Who wrote the songs?

Scored across the 9 tracks with documented writers, by whether Ray Charles carries a lyricist or composer credit.

0%
0 trackswritten by Ray Charles 9 tracksoutside writers
Ray Charles's roles on this album

Share of the 9 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.

Lyricist0%
Composer0%
Producer100%
Performer100%

By the Numbers

9
Tracks
13
Lyricists
1
Producers
1977
Released
Data Insight

True to Life was Ray Charles's first album for Atlantic Records in nearly twenty years, a deliberate return to the label where his career began. By 1977, his commercial standing had declined from the peak of the Modern Sounds era, and the return to Atlantic carried symbolic weight. Produced by Charles himself and engineered by Bob Gratts, the album opens with "I Can See Clearly Now" (originally recorded by Johnny Nash) and continues with twelve tracks that stay close to his established R&B-soul comfort zone. The album did not produce major chart hits but is noted by critics as a late-career attempt to recapture the stripped-back intensity of his early Atlantic work.

True to Life is a studio album by Ray Charles, released in October 1977 on Atlantic Records, Charles's return to the label where he had recorded his most celebrated early work, 18 years after his departure to ABC-Paramount, and produced by Larry Newton. Charles wrote or co-wrote several tracks; the album includes 'I Can See Clearly Now' (Johnny Nash's original), 'How Long Has This Been Going On,' 'Be My Love,' and 'Anonymous Love,' demonstrating Charles's continued range across soul, pop standards, and new commercial material. The album reached the top twenty on the Billboard R&B chart and represented the successful resumption of a major-label relationship that had defined the greatest period of his recording career. True to Life is primarily significant as the opening document of Charles's second Atlantic period, which would produce several more albums through the mid-1980s, and as evidence of the enduring commercial and artistic connection between Charles and the label whose production philosophy had done most to shape his sound. The Atlantic reunion confirmed the enduring commercial and artistic connection between Charles and the label whose production philosophy had done the most to shape his sound, and the subsequent Atlantic albums of the late 1970s and early 1980s demonstrate the sustained output of an artist whose creative productivity remained remarkable across four decades of recording.

Track Listing & Credits 9 tracks

Written by the artist Written by outside writers
#TitleLyricist(s)Composer(s)Producer(s)Performers
1
I Can See Clearly Now
Johnny Nash Johnny Nash Ray Charles Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano)
2
The Jealous Kind
Robert Guidry Robert Guidry Ray Charles Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano)
3
Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'
Oscar Hammerstein II Richard Rodgers Ray Charles Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano)
4
How Long Has This Been Going On?
Ira Gershwin George Gershwin Ray Charles Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano)
5
Be My Love
Sammy Cahn Nicholas Brodsky Ray Charles Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano)
6
Anonymous Love
Edward LangfordJoel Webster Edward LangfordJoel Webster Ray Charles Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano)
7
Heavenly Music
Bob BradstreetSolomon Burke Bob BradstreetSolomon Burke Ray Charles Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano)
8
Game Number Nine
Dee ErvinTommy Payton Dee ErvinTommy Payton Ray Charles Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano)
9
Let It Be
John LennonPaul McCartney John LennonPaul McCartney Ray Charles Ray Charles (Vocals, Piano)

Songwriter & Credit Spotlight 17 contributors

More from Ray Charles

Frequently Asked Questions True to Life

Which label released True to Life by Ray Charles?
True to Life was released on Atlantic Records in 1977, marking Ray Charles's return to Atlantic nearly two decades after leaving the label in 1959.
Who produced True to Life?
True to Life was produced by Ray Charles himself and engineered by Bob Gratts.
What song opens the True to Life album?
True to Life opens with "I Can See Clearly Now," the song originally recorded by Johnny Nash in 1972. Charles's version reinterprets the reggae-influenced pop song in his R&B-soul style.
Why was True to Life significant in Ray Charles's career?
True to Life represented Ray Charles's return to Atlantic Records after eighteen years, reconnecting him with the label where he had recorded his foundational R&B work in the 1950s. It was a late-career statement of continuity with his origins.
Who originally recorded "I Can See Clearly Now" before Ray Charles's version on True to Life?
"I Can See Clearly Now" was originally written and recorded by Johnny Nash in 1972, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Charles covered it on True to Life in 1977.

Sources