Ray Charles – What'd I Say (parts 1 & 2)

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  General Comment:From Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…):
  
  "According to Charles' autobiography, "What'd I Say" was accidental when he improvised it to fill time at the end of a concert in December 1958.[5][6] He asserts that he never tested songs on audiences before recording them, but "What'd I Say" is an exception. Charles himself does not recall where the concert took place, but Mike Evans in Ray Charles: The Birth of Soul places the show in Brownsville, Pennsylvania.[7] Shows were played at "meal dances" which typically ran four hours with a half hour break, and would end around 1 or 2 in the morning. Charles and his orchestra had exhausted their set list after midnight, but had 12 minutes left to fill. He told the Raelettes, "Listen, I'm going to fool around and y'all just follow me".[8]
  Starting on the electric piano, Charles played what felt right: a series of riffs, switching then to a regular piano for four choruses backed up by a unique Latin conga tumbao rhythm on drums. The song changed when Charles began singing simple, improvised unconnected verses ("Hey Mama don't you treat me wrong / Come and love your daddy all night long / All right now / Hey hey / All right"). Charles used gospel elements in a twelve-bar blues structure.[9][10] Some of the first lines ("See the gal with the red dress on / She can do the Birdland all night long") are influenced by a boogie-woogie style that Ahmet Ertegun attributes to Clarence "Pinetop" Smith who used to call out to dancers on the dance floor instructing what to do through his lyrics.[4] In the middle of the song, however, Charles indicated that the Raelettes should repeat what he was doing, and the song transformed into a call and response between Charles, the Raelettes, and the horn section in the orchestra as they called out to each other in ecstatic shouts and moans and blasts from the horns.[9]
  
  The audience reacted immediately; Charles could feel the room shaking and bouncing as the crowd was dancing. Many audience members approached Charles at the end of the show to ask where they could purchase the record. Charles and the orchestra performed it again several nights in a row with the same reaction at each show. He called Jerry Wexler to say he had something new to record, later writing, "I don't believe in giving myself advance notices, but I figured this song merited it".[8]
  
  
  The Atlantic Records studio had just purchased an 8-track recorder, and recording engineer Tom Dowd was familiarizing himself with how it worked. In February 1959 Charles and his orchestra finally recorded "What'd I Say" at Atlantic's small studio. Dowd recalled that it did not seem special at the time of recording. It was second of two songs during the session and Charles, the producers, and the band were more impressed with the first one at the session, "Tell the Truth": "We made it like we made all the others. Ray, the gals, and the band live in the small studio, no overdubs. Three or four takes, and it was done. Next!"[11] In retrospect, Ahmet Ertegun's brother Nesuhi credits the extraordinary sound of the song to the restricted size of the studio and the technologically advanced recording equipment used; the sound quality is clear enough to hear Charles slapping his leg in time with the song when the music stops during the calls and responses.[4] The song was recorded in only a few takes because Charles and the orchestra had perfected it while touring.[12]
  
  So yes, the apparent story is that Ray Charles improvised the song (which itself isn't that complicated and actually does sound like it would have been initially improvised) but that they polished it over the rest of that tour (winter '58/'59) before recording the studio version in February 1959. By this time I'm sure they had a pretty solid idea of the song, and it seems they were able to record it pretty quickly and easily.
  
  The whole Wikipedia article is worth reading in its entirety. The song - and those twelve minutes - seems to be a pretty big turning point in anglophone music, marking the invention of soul as we know it as well as a revitalizing point for rock and roll and an influence on a lot of big name entertainers to come (and several entire genres of music). The Beatles quotes and others are fun too - "Paul McCartney was immediately struck by the song and knew that when he heard it he wanted to be involved in making music.[21] George Harrison remembered an all-night party he attended in 1959 where the song was played for eight hours non-stop: "It was one of the best records I ever heard."[18] While The Beatles were developing their sound in Hamburg, they played "What'd I Say" at every show, trying to see how long they could make the song last and using the audience in the call and response, with which they found immense popularity. The opening electric piano in the song was the first John Lennon had ever heard, and he tried to replicate it with his guitar. Lennon later credited Ray Charles' opening of "What'd I Say" to the birth of songs dominated by guitar riffs.[22]". Great stuff.
  
  Also, this song is nearly impossible not to love.

  Flag ronennon January 01, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:Hussein, right on! Ray Charles truly is a genius of rock n' roll. This folks is real music!!! I haven't seen the movie but I wouldn't be surprised whatsoever if he made it up on the spot.

  Flag Johnny0225on February 03, 2009   Link

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• +1
  General Comment:First of all I can't fucking believe that there is only 10 comments on this song.
  Maybe people are so busy listening to crap like pussy cat dolls.
  I really miss good music and good musicians.
  These knew kids can hardly even play a damn cord on guitar when this man is playing the hell of a piano.
  Songs like this rocks the hell outta recent crap music.
  Viva for Ray.
  May he rest in peace.

  Flag Husseinon January 04, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:best song by the best blind musician in my opinion.
  great movie too

  Flag heyjude55on May 08, 2006   Link

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  General Comment:I remember this song being mentioned in my Rock and Roll History textbook, and they had the meanings behind both parts in there. I think they said part one was about him trying to impress a girl, and part two was about people going out dancing and having a good time. Or maybe it was the other way around... it's been a while. Regardless of the meaning, it's a great song that only Ray Charles could do right.

  Flag Amaya-chanon March 08, 2006   Link

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    Ahem ... except for Etta James. I love this song. I think it's very cheeky.

    Flag H.B.,4BYOPon March 22, 2011  
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  General Comment:Believe what you want. After all, RS is an absolutely unimpeachable source, right? Turns out that what I read said that the entire song wasn't the result of one concert but was worked on over the course of an entire tour. So, no, the song you hear on the CD was not made in its entirety in one night; it was in fact edited and added to over the course of a tour.

  Flag voodoochildeon January 12, 2006   Link

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  General Comment:I haven't seen the movie, so I don't know about what it has to say, but I read at Rolling Stone that it was improvised. And they probably wouldn't like just because it was improvised in the movie. I believe it.
  
  rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6595855/sort/…

  Flag butterboyon November 13, 2005   Link

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  General Comment:Actually, it's been stated in numerous interviews with the director, actors, etc., that it was just artistic license in the movie that this song was improvised on the spot and that it didn't come about that way. Regardless, the man was still a genius.

  Flag voodoochildeon August 28, 2005   Link

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  General Comment:It's true, this was all improvised. That just sums up what a genuis this man was.

  Flag Comrade_Liaron May 08, 2005   Link

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  General Comment:I just saw the movie. Is it true that he just made it up on the spot? If so, that is fucking amazing.

  Flag glovejaon February 03, 2005   Link

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