From Imitator to Innovator: The Rise of Ray Charles
Ray Charles’s tunes can be divided into three categories: written by him, written for him, and covered by him.
In all three cases, he made the songs entirely his own—remarkable considering he started out as a Nat King Cole impersonator. Nat was Ray’s hero, and he mimicked him so well that producers had to tell him, “If we wanted Nat, we’d call him!”
Eventually, Ray found his own voice and developed a unique style that would make him one of the most influential artists of all time. His peers called him The Genius for good reason.
His first notable release was Baby Won’t You Please Come Home in 1952. Though it didn’t chart, possibly due to being released on a smaller label or because so many others had already recorded it—including Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, Count Basie, and Bing Crosby—it marked the start of something special.
Things changed in 1953 when Ray signed to Atlantic Records. The label’s president, Ahmet Ertegun, wrote Mess Around for him, which reached #3 on the charts and became his first big tune.
A year later, Ray had his first #1 with I Got A Woman, a song he wrote himself. Over five decades later, Kanye West sampled it for his hit Gold Digger. Another #1 followed in 1955 with A Fool For You. In 1956, he released Drown In My Own Tears and Mary Ann—both reaching #1—as well as Hallelujah I Love Her So, which didn’t top the charts at the time but later became one of his most beloved songs.
In 1959, Ray returned with another massive hit: What’d I Say.
Soon after, he moved to ABC Records and entered his most productive period. Between 1960 and 1962, he released a string of iconic tunes: Georgia On My Mind, Hit The Road Jack, Unchain My Heart, I Can’t Stop Loving You, You Don’t Know Me, and You Are My Sunshine.
After 1963, Ray didn’t score many more enduring hits that became synonymous with him. Still, he continued to record and perform through the late ’60s and ’70s, releasing covers like Yesterday and Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles, and Living For The City by Stevie Wonder.
By this point, Ray had built such a vast and iconic catalogue that he didn’t need new hits. But he still had one more cultural moment to come.
In 1980, he performed Shake A Tailfeather in The Blues Brothers film, introducing his talent to a new generation. The song has since become a staple of every soul band’s repertoire.
Ray continued to tour throughout his life. His final performance was on 30 April 2004. He passed away less than two months later, aged 73.
Ray Charles Tunes | Related Pages
Angel Eyes | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Angel Eyes by Frank Sinatra using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| Am Am/G Am/F# Am/F | Am/E Am/Eb |
Try to think that love’s not around…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Angel Eyes (Frank Sinatra) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home | Chords + TAB
Learn how to play Baby Won’t You Please Come Home by Clarence Williams using chords, lyrics, a chord chart, and a Spytunes video guitar lesson.
| D7 | B7 | Em7 | A7 |
Baby won’t you please come home, ’cause your mama’s all alone…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Baby Won’t You Please Come Home (Bessie Smith) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Georgia On My Mind | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn how to play Georgia On My Mind by Ray Charles using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| G | B7/F# B7 |
Georgia, Georgia…
Hit The Road Jack | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn how to play Hit The Road Jack by Ray Charles using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| G#m F# | E7 D#7 |
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back…
I Got A Woman | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play I Got A Woman by Ray Charles using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| A7 | E7 | A7 D9 | A7 |
Well, I got a woman, way over town that’s good to me, oh yeah…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: I Got A Woman (Ray Charles) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Shake A Tail Feather | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Shake A Tail Feather by the Blues Brothers and Ray Charles using chords, lyrics, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| D5 (D6) | G (G6) |
Well, I heard about the fellow you’ve been dancin’ with…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Shake A Tail Feather (Ray Charles) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Ray Charles on the web
