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Track Listing:

1
My Baby (I Love Her Yes I Do)
 
2
Who You Gonna Love
 
3
Sticks and Stones
 
4
Worried Life Blues
 
5
Georgia on My Mind
 
6
Carry Me Back To Old Virginny
 
7
Them That Got
 
8
I Wonder
 
9
Ruby
 
10
Hard Hearted Hannah
 
11
Hit the Road, Jack
 
12
The Danger Zone
 
13
Unchain My Heart
 
14
But on the Other Hand, Baby
 
15
Baby, It's Cold Outside
 
16
We'll Be Together Again
 
17
At the Club
 
18
Hide Nor Hair
 
19
I Can't Stop Loving You
 
20
Born to Lose
 
21
You Don't Know Me
 
22
Careless Love
 
23
Your Cheatin' Heart
 
24
You Are My Sunshine
 
25
Don't Set Me Free
 
26
The Brightest Smile in Town
 
27
Take These Chains from My Heart
 
28
No Letter Today
 
29
Without Love (There Is Nothing)
 
30
No One
 
31
Busted
 
32
Making Believe
 
33
That Lucky Old Sun
 
34
Ol' Man Time
 
35
Baby, Don't You Cry
 
36
My Heart Cries For You
 
37
My Baby Don't Dig Me
 
38
Something's Wrong
 
39
No One to Cry To
 
40
Smack Dab in the Middle
 
41
I Wake Up Cryin'
 
42
Makin' Whoopee (vocal) (live)
 
43
Makin' Whoopee (piano) (live)
 
44
Teardrops from My Eyes
 
45
Cry
 
46
I've Got a Woman (Part 1) (live)
 
47
I've Got a Woman (Part 2) (live)
 
48
Without a Song (Part 1)
 
49
Without a Song (Part 2)
 
50
I'm a Fool to Care
 
51
Love's Gonna Live Here
 
52
The Cincinnati Kid
 
53
That's All I Am To You
 
54
Crying Time
 
55
When My Dreamboat Comes Home
 
56
Together Again
 
57
You're Just About to Lose Your Clown
 
58
Let's Go Get Stoned
 
59
The Train
 
60
I Chose to Sing the Blues
 
61
Hopelessly
 
62
I Don't Need No Doctor
 
63
Please Say You're Fooling
 
64
I Want to Talk About You
 
65
Something Inside Me
 
66
Here We Go Again
 
67
Somebody Ought to Write a Book About It
 
68
In the Heat of the Night
 
69
Something's Got To Change
 
70
Yesterday
 
71
Never Had Enough of Nothing Yet
 
72
That's a Lie
 
73
Go on Home
 
74
Eleanor Rigby
 
75
Understanding
 
76
Sweet Young Thing Like You
 
77
Listen, They're Playing My Song
 
78
If It Wasn't for Bad Luck
 
79
When I Stop Dreaming
 
80
I'll Be Your Servant
 
81
I Didn't Know What Time It Was
 
82
Let Me Love You
 
83
I'm Satisfied
 
84
We Can Make It
 
85
I Can't Stop Loving You, Baby
 
86
Claudie Mae
 
87
Someone to Watch Over Me
 
88
Laughin' and Clownin'
 
89
That Thing Called Love
 
90
Till I Can't Take It Anymore
 
91
If You Were Mine
 
92
Don't Change on Me
 
93
Sweet Memories
 
94
Feel So Bad
 
95
Your Love Is So Doggone Good
 
96
What Am I Living For
 
97
Tired of My Tears
 
98
Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma
 
99
America The Beautiful
 
100
Hey Mister
 
101
There'll Be No Peace Without All Men As One
 
102
Every Saturday Night
 
103
Take Me Home, Country Roads
 
104
I Can Make It Thru The Days (But Oh Those Lonely N
 
105
Ring of Fire
 

Ray Charles :

Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles

Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles

With the release of Ray Charles' Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles, on November 15, 2011, Concord Records will make available for the first time the artist's collection of ABC-Paramount singles during this prolific period (1960-1972).

The digitally remastered deluxe 106-song collection presents the A and B sides of 53 singles, including 11 #1 hits, such Grammy Award winners "Hit the Road Jack," "Busted," "Georgia on My Mind," "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Crying Time," "America the Beautiful," and many more. Twenty-one of the songs are making their digital debut, and 30 have never previously been available on CD. Liner notes were written by R&B recording artist and music historian Billy Vera and rare photographs are included. According to Valerie Ervin, president of the Ray Charles Foundation, "This compilation provides an opportunity to hear Ray's evolution into a full-fledged artist and creative force. The song selection was based upon the interpretation he could bring to the music and not the genre. The ABC singles comprise an epoch of essential Ray Charles music and a window into how his genius evolved."
 
John Burk, Concord Music Group's Chief Creative Officer stated, "Ray Charles is one of America's most iconic and treasured voices. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to present Ray's historic ABC singles with the reverence and respect they deserve and continue our dynamic partnership and acclaimed reissue program with Valerie Ervin and everyone at the Ray Charles Foundation." By the time the singer released his first single for his new label affiliation, ABC-Paramount, in January 1960, he had crossed over into the stardom that show biz insiders had long known was his due. After several years of R&B hits on his previous label, Atlantic Records, he'd finally reached the coveted white teen market with his smash, "What'd I Say," the simplest, most basic song of his career. Charles' contract was coming up for renewal and the Atlantic brass expected an easy negotiation. After all, most entertainers took a passive approach to their business, especially when things were going well. However, his agency, Shaw Artists, wanted to bring Charles to a broader audience, which they felt could be better delivered by a major record company.
 
One such company was ABC-Paramount, a newer major that had found success with teen idols Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian, while crossing Lloyd Price over into pop. ABC's Larry Newton convinced label president Sam Clark that Ray Charles was the ideal artist to not only make hits but to attract other black acts to the fold. Charles was granted a magnanimous contract that included ownership of his masters after five years. Even Frank Sinatra, as Vera points out, did not have a deal like this. Sid Feller became Charles' A&R man and producer. Though as Atlantic's Jerry Wexler once said, "You don't produce Ray Charles; you just get out of the way and let him do his thing."
 
After striking a rich deal, the Ray Charles/ABC relationship had a momentary setback when the first ABC single, "Who You Gonna Love" b/w "My Baby," sold disappointingly. The second single, "Sticks and Stones," a "What'd I Say" knockoff, went to #2 R&B and #540 pop. Finally, the third ABC single, "Georgia on My Mind," culled from the album The Genius Hits the Road, reached #1 on the pop charts. With the overwhelming popularity of "Georgia on My Mind," Charles was at last a full-fledged mainstream star, right up there with the Nat Coles and Peggy Lees. The company's strategy was to cater to his new market while still releasing singles to serve his R&B base. Charles in the meantime launched a publishing arm, Tangerine Music, signing one of the greats of West Coast blues, Percy Mayfield. Mayfield brought with him a song he'd pitched to Specialty Records without success, "Hit the Road, Jack." Ray's version rose to #1 on both the pop and R&B charts. It was followed by "Unchain My Heart."
 
ABC-Paramount celebrated his grand success by giving Charles his own label, Tangerine, which he used to record some of his personal R&B heroes including Mayfield, Louis Jordan, and Little Jimmy Scott. At the same point in time, Charles became enamored of country music and recorded several country sides: "Take These Chains From My heart," "Busted," "That Old Lucky Sun," and from Buck Owens, "Crying Time" and "Together Again." 1966 saw the opening of Ray Charles' own RPM Studios on Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles. The first song he recorded at the facility was "Let's Go Get Stoned," a Coasters cover penned by Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson, and Jo Armistead. The ABC-Paramount recordings continued into the late '60s and early '70s. In 1972 Charles cut a version of the New Seekers hit, "Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma," but it was the B-side, "America the Beautiful," that became a runaway hit, Grammy Award winner (one of five on this collection) and to a younger generation unfamiliar with his earlier major works, his signature song.