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The Genius Sings the Blues

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The Genius Sings the Blues is a R&B/soul album by Ray Charles, released in 1961 by Atlantic and reissued in 2003 by Rhino with liner notes by Billy Taylor. This was his last release on Atlantic Records, but one of his most memorable, compiling twelve blues songs from various sessions during his tenure on Atlantic. The album showcases Ray Charles's stylistic development with a combination of piano blues, jazz & southern R&B.

Overview

"Blues" was already a pretty elastic construction before Ray Charles came along, but The Genius Sings the Blues finds him stretching it even further. Not only did he recognize the music’s influence on Country-and-Western, he took a great Hank Snow number (“I’m Movin’ On”) all the way uptown with a Latin-tinged arrangement that also included steel guitar. Released shortly after his break with Atlantic Records and covering ground from his first session for the label (“The Midnight Hour”) to his last (“I Believe to My Soul”), Blues finds him wailing the most abject testimony (“Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I)”, which sees no escape until death) to the most high-rolling (the exquisitely sexy duet with Margie Hendrix on “(The Night Time is) The Right Time”). What, no doubt, began as a simple cash-in LP ends up as a spotlight on Ray’s ability to practically own a genre. - excerpt from iTunes Review

Track listing

All songs written by Ray Charles except where noted.

  1. "Early in the Mornin'" (Leo Hickman, Louis Jordan & Dallas Bartley) – 2:48
  2. "Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I)" – 2:56
  3. "The Midnight Hour" (Sam Sweet) – 3:02
  4. "(Night Time Is) the Right Time" (N. Brown, O. Cadena & L. Herman) – 3:25
  5. "Feelin' Sad" (Eddie Jones) – 2:50
  6. "Ray's Blues" – 2:55
  7. "I'm Movin' On" (Hank Snow) – 2:13
  8. "I Believe to My Soul" – 3:01
  9. "Nobody Cares" – 2:41
  10. "Mr. Charles' Blues" – 2:48
  11. "Some Day Baby" – 3:01
  12. "I Wonder Who" – 2:46



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