True Genius
Box set by
Ray Charles
ReleasedSeptember 10, 2021 (2021-09-10)
Recorded1959–2004
Length347:30 (CD version)
398:34 (CD version with bonus disc)
90:30 (Sides of Ray)
LabelTangerine Records

True Genius is a box set of material by American musician Ray Charles, first released on September 10, 2021, by Tangerine Records, as a six-CD collection.[1] The set contains 90 remastered tracks by Charles, as well as eight previously unreleased songs, which were recorded live in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972.[1] The release of True Genius purposely coincided with the 90th anniversary of Charles's year of birth.[1]

The six-CD release was followed by a condensed version of the material, True Genius: Sides of Ray, which was released as a double-disc vinyl album on November 19, 2021. On May 6, 2022, the unearthed recordings of Charles's 1972 Stockholm concert were issued as a standalone release titled Live in Stockholm 1972.[2]

Background

True Genius was compiled by record producer John Burk—who produced Charles's final studio album, Genius Loves Company—and The Ray Charles Foundation, led by Valerie Ervin.[3] During the assembly of True Genius, they discovered previously unreleased recordings of a concert by Charles held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972.[3] The nine songs from that concert were included on the CD release of True Genius,[1] and later received a standalone release as Live in Stockholm 1972.[2]

Release

True Genius was first released on September 10, 2021, by Tangerine Records, as a six-CD set with a coffee table-style hardcover book.[4] It was followed by a double-disc vinyl record release, True Genius: Sides of Ray, on November 19, 2021. Live in Stockholm 1972 received a limited edition colored vinyl record release on Record Store Day, on Black Friday in November 2021; this initial vinyl release was limited to 2,000 copies.[5][6] Live in Stockholm 1972 later received a standard vinyl release on May 6, 2022.[2]

Critical reception

Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that "This straightforward, career-spanning compilation covers his early years as he forges his fusion of gospel, swing, blues, country and pop, though for his pivotal 1950s Atlantic singles—"Hallelujah, I Love Her So," "I've Got a Woman" and "What'd I Say"—it swaps in live versions instead of the studio classics. It moves through his decades as an interpreter, when he homed in on the soul within other people's hits, and includes a rambunctious 1972 concert set from Stockholm and latter-day duets with admirers like Willie Nelson, Norah Jones and Billy Joel."[4]

Track listing

CD version

All tracks are written by Ray Charles, except where indicated

Disc one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Georgia on My Mind"Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell3:39
2."Them That Got"Ricci Harper2:49
3."Ruby"Mitchell Parish, Heinz Roemheld3:54
4."Hardhearted Hannah"Jack Yellen, Bob Bigelow, Charles Bates, and Milton Ager3:17
5."One Mint Julep"Rudy Toombs3:06
6."I've Got News for You"Roy Alfred4:32
7."I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town"Andy Razaf, Casey Bill Weldon3:44
8."Hit the Road Jack"Percy Mayfield1:59
9."Unchain My Heart"Bobby Sharp2:51
10."Baby, It's Cold Outside" (with Betty Carter)Frank Loesser4:10
11."Hide nor Hair"Mayfield3:11
12."I Can't Stop Loving You"Don Gibson4:15
13."You Don't Know Me"Eddy Arnold, Cindy Walker3:16
14."You Are My Sunshine"Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell2:59
15."Take These Chains from My Heart"Fred Rose, Hy Heath2:56
16."No One"Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman3:10
17."Busted"Harlan Howard2:36
18."That Lucky Old Sun"Beasley Smith, Haven Gillespie4:23
19."Baby, Don't You Cry"Buddy Johnson, Ned Washington2:34
20."Smack Dab in the Middle"Charles E. Calhoun3:18
21."My Heart Cries for You"Carl Sigman, Percy Faith2:49
22."Cry"Churchill Kohlman3:34
Total length:73:02
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Makin' Whoopie" (Live)Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson6:13
2."Hallelujah I Love Her So" (Live) 2:59
3."I've Got a Woman" (Live)Charles, Renald Richard6:11
4."What'd I Say" (Live) 4:32
5."I'm a Fool to Care"Ted Daffan3:18
6."The Cincinnati Kid"Dorcas Cochran2:24
7."Crying Time"Buck Owens2:55
8."Together Again"Owens2:40
9."Let's Go Get Stoned"Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Jo Armstead2:57
10."Please Say You're Fooling"Bobby Stevenson2:43
11."I Don't Need No Doctor"Ashford, Simpson, Armstead2:33
12."Here We Go Again"Don Lanier, Red Steagall3:16
13."Somebody Ought to Write a Book About It"Jimmy Holiday, Jimmy Lewis, Cliff Chambers3:07
14."In the Heat of the Night"Quincy Jones, Marilyn Bergman, Alan Bergman2:35
15."Yesterday"Lennon–McCartney2:50
16."Sweet Young Thing Like You"Dee Ervin2:17
17."Eleanor Rigby"Lennon–McCartney3:00
18."If It Wasn't for Bad Luck"Lewis, Charles4:45
19."I Didn't Know What Time It Was"Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart4:52
20."Let Me Love You"Holiday2:48
21."I'm Satisfied"Ashford, Simpson, Armstead2:30
Total length:71:25
Disc three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."We Can Make It"Lewis3:42
2."Laughin' and Clownin'"Sam Cooke3:23
3."If You Were Mine"Lewis3:51
4."Booty Butt" 4:14
5."Feel So Bad"L. Temple, J. Johnson3:16
6."Your Love Is So Doggone Good"D. Erwin, R. Love3:03
7."Something"George Harrison4:04
8."America the Beautiful"Katharine Lee Bates, Samuel A. Ward3:36
9."Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma" 3:43
10."There'll Be No Peace Without All Men as One"Melanie Safka3:52
11."Every Saturday Night"Aaron Collins3:22
12."Our Suite"Charles, Roger Neumann8:07
13."I Can Make It Through the Days (But Oh Those Lonely Nights)"Charles, Ervin, Ruth Robinson3:55
14."Ring of Fire"June Carter Cash, Merle Kilgore3:08
15."Come Live with Me"Felice and Boudleaux Bryant3:24
16."Somebody" 4:06
17."Till There Was You"Meredith Willson4:10
Total length:66:56
Disc four
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Living for the City"Stevie Wonder6:04
2."It Ain't Easy Being Green"Joe Raposo4:14
3."3/4 of the Time" 2:50
4."Summertime" (with Cleo Laine)George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, Ira Gershwin6:15
5."Take Me Home Country Roads" (Live)Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, John Denver4:32
6."Am I Blue" (Live)Harry Akst, Grant Clarke6:57
7."I Can See Clearly Now"Johnny Nash4:25
8."How Long Has This Been Going On"G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin5:21
9."Let It Be"Lennon–McCartney3:32
10."Is There Anyone Out There?"Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett5:57
11."Drift Away"Mentor Williams3:46
12."Blues in the Night"Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer7:39
13."3/4 Time" 4:23
14."Compared to What"Gene McDaniels4:23
Total length:70:18
Disc five
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Do I Ever Cross Your Mind"Billy Burnette and Michael Smotherman3:50
2."Two Old Cats Like Us" (with Hank Williams Jr.)Troy Seals2:37
3."Seven Spanish Angels" (with Willie Nelson)Seals, Eddie Setser3:50
4."Anybody with the Blues Knows" 3:30
5."Baby Grand" (with Billy Joel)Billy Joel4:05
6."Stranger in My Own Home Town" (with Kenny Carr)Mayfield3:20
7."Save the Bones for Henry Jones" (with Lou Rawls and Milt Jackson)Danny Barker, Vernon Lee3:42
8."Ellie My Love"Keisuke Kuwata4:13
9."I'll Be Good to You" (with Quincy Jones and Chaka Khan)George Johnson, Louis Johnson, Sonora Sam4:57
10."A Song for You"Leon Russell4:16
11."Still Crazy After All These Years"Paul Simon5:00
12."If I Could"Ken Hirsch, Ron Miller, Marti Sharron4:55
13."None of Us Are Free" (with Eric Clapton)Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Brenda Russell5:05
14."Imagine"John Lennon, Yoko Ono4:28
15."Here We Go Again" (with Norah Jones)Lanier, Steagall3:58
16."The Long and Winding Road" (with Count Basie Orchestra)Lennon–McCartney4:03
Total length:65:49
Bonus disc: Live in Stockholm, 1972
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Alexander's Ragtime Band" (Live)Irving Berlin2:34
2."What'd I Say" (Live) 4:04
3."I've Had My Fun" (Live)Jimmy Ogden7:04
4."Raelettes Introduction" (Live) 1:16
5."Games People Play" (Live)Joe South5:40
6."Don't Change On Me" (Live)Eddie Reeves, Holiday3:24
7."I Can't Stop Loving You" (Live)Don Gibson4:01
8."Marie" (Live)Irving Berlin1:45
9."I've Got a Woman" (Live)Charles, Renald Richard8:46
Total length:38:34

Vinyl version (Sides of Ray)

All tracks are written by Ray Charles, except where indicated

Side One – Soul
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hit the Road Jack"Mayfield1:59
2."I Don't Need No Doctor"Ashford, Simpson, Armstead2:33
3."Unchain My Heart"Sharp2:51
4."No One"Pomus, Shuman3:10
5."Hide nor Hair"Mayfield3:11
6."I've Got a Woman" (Live)Charles, Renald Richard6:11
Total length:19:55
Side Two – Jazz & Blues
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Let's Go Get Stoned"Ashford, Simpson, Armstead2:57
2."I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town"Razaf, Weldon3:44
3."Smack Dab in the Middle"Calhoun3:18
4."Them That Got"Harper2:49
5."One Mint Julep"Toombs3:06
6."I've Got News for You"Alfred4:32
Total length:20:26
Side Three – Country
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Here We Go Again"Lanier, Steagall3:16
2."You Are My Sunshine"Davis, Mitchell2:59
3."Crying Time"Owens2:55
4."Take These Chains from My Heart"Rose, Heath2:56
5."Ring of Fire"Cash, Kilgore3:08
6."I Can't Stop Loving You"Gibson4:15
Total length:19:29
Side Four – Pop Classics
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Georgia on My Mind"Carmichael, Gorrell3:39
2."Eleanor Rigby"Lennon–McCartney3:00
3."Busted"Howard2:36
4."Till There Was You"Willson4:10
5."Hallelujah I Love Her So" (Live) 2:59
6."A Song for You"Russell4:16
Total length:20:40

References

  1. ^ a b c d Legaspi, Althea (June 9, 2021). "Ray Charles' 'True Genius' Box Set to Feature Previously Unreleased Live Tracks". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Uitti, Jacob (April 4, 2022). "Ray Charles' Estate Announces Two Upcoming Releases Originally from 1972". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Kennedy, Mark (May 4, 2022). "Ray Charles 'lost' Stockholm concert album on its way to digital platforms". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Pareles, Jon; Caramanica, Jon; Russonello, Giovanni; Zoladz, Lindsay (December 28, 2021). "A Trip Through Pop, Rap and Jazz's Past, in 27 Boxed Sets". The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  5. ^ Schafer, Debra Kate (November 23, 2021). "10 of Black Friday's Record Store Day Releases That You Need in Your Vinyl Collection". The Aquarian Weekly. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  6. ^ Amorosi, Ad (November 24, 2021). "Flood's Guide to Black Friday Record Store Day 2021: Leonard Cohen, Fleetwood Mac, Thundercat, Jason Isbell, and More". Flood Magazine. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
Categories