The Genius Sings the Blues
Encyclopedia
The Genius Sings the Blues is an album
by Ray Charles
, released in October 1961 on Atlantic Records
. The album was his last release for Atlantic, but one of his most memorable, 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
, 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
with liner notes
by Billy Taylor
.
, Ray Charles has assimilated much of the Southern black man's musical heritage with its various kinds of blues stories, folk songs, and gospel revelations. Charles studied music at a school for blind children in St. Augustine, Florida
and developed a personal modern jazz style of playing and writing by listening to Art Tatum
, King Cole, Bud Powell
, Oscar Peterson
, and other contemporaries who played in the styles fashionable around the time Ray moved to Seattle. He has molded many elements which are poles apart, musically, into a style which is a unique harmony with traditional rhythmic patterns.
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") 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.
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
by Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, released in October 1961 on Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. The album was his last release for Atlantic, but one of his most memorable, 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
Piano blues
Piano blues refers to a variety of blues styles, sharing only the characteristic that they use the piano as the primary musical instrument. Boogie woogie is the best known kind of piano blues, though barrelhouse, swing, R&B, rock and roll and jazz are strongly influenced by early pianists who...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and southern R&B
Southern soul
Southern soul is a type of soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues , country, early rock and roll, and a strong gospel influence that emanated from the sounds of Southern African-American churches. The focus of the...
. The photo for the album cover was taken by renowned photographer Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander is an American photographer and artist. In the 1960s and 70s, working primarily with 35mm cameras and black and white film, Friedlander evolved an influential and often imitated visual language of urban "social landscape," with many of the photographs including fragments of...
. The Genius Sings the Blues was reissued in 2003 by Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
with liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
by Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor 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 since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
.
Background
Because he hails from Greenville, FloridaGreenville, Florida
Greenville is a town in Madison County, Florida, United States. The population was 837 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 832 .-Geography:Greenville is located at ....
, Ray Charles has assimilated much of the Southern black man's musical heritage with its various kinds of blues stories, folk songs, and gospel revelations. Charles studied music at a school for blind children in St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
and developed a personal modern jazz style of playing and writing by listening to Art Tatum
Art Tatum
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
, King Cole, Bud Powell
Bud Powell
Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
, Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
, and other contemporaries who played in the styles fashionable around the time Ray moved to Seattle. He has molded many elements which are poles apart, musically, into a style which is a unique harmony with traditional rhythmic patterns.
Music
Jazz composer Billy TaylorBilly Taylor
Billy Taylor 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 since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
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") to uptempo arrangements of country blues ("I'm Movin' On
I'm Movin' On (Hank Snow song)
"I'm Moving On" is a 1950 country standard written by Hank Snow. The song, a 12-bar blues, reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart and stayed there for 21 weeks, tying the record...
", "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.
Side one
- "Early in the Mornin'Early in the Mornin' (Louis Jordan song)"Early in the Mornin" or "Early in the Morning" is a song that was recorded by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five in 1947. It is an early example of a blues which incorporates Afro-Cuban rhythms and percussive instruments...
" (Hickman, JordanLouis JordanLouis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
, Bartley) – 2:48 - "Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I)" – 2:56
- "The Midnight Hour" (Sweet) – 3:02
- "(Night Time Is) The Right Time" (Brown, Cadena, Herman) – 3:25
- "Feelin' Sad" (JonesGuitar SlimEddie Jones , better known as Guitar Slim, was a New Orleans blues guitarist, from the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song, produced by Johnny Vincent at Specialty Records, "The Things That I Used to Do"...
) – 2:50 - "Ray's Blues" – 2:55
Side two
- "I'm Movin' OnI'm Movin' On (Hank Snow song)"I'm Moving On" is a 1950 country standard written by Hank Snow. The song, a 12-bar blues, reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart and stayed there for 21 weeks, tying the record...
" (SnowHank SnowClarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...
) – 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
Chart history
Album| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | U.S. Pop Albums Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... chart |
#73 |
External links
- Album lyrics at Yahoo! MusicYahoo! MusicYahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...