![]() Would Ray even come at all? Are we all going to get paid our promised double overtime for the late session? Everyone had reason to sweat.įinally Ray came in with his mistress Mae Mosely Lyles Ray was almost entirely oblivious to his surroundings, having just shot up heroin. Ray was late to the studio, and the fifty-five members of the orchestra and choir, as well as the technicians and others, were kept waiting for a tense two hours. ![]() While “Georgia On My Mind” is famous for its lovingly gentle tribute to home and hearth – its universal and yearning feeling of homesick appreciation for ones own roots – the way that it was recorded couldn’t be more at odds with its reputation.įrom Michael Lydon’s biography Ray Charles Man and Music comes the story of the recording session that produced “Georgia On My Mind”. In the end it doesn’t really matter – if it has to be one or the other, you’d have to give it to the State. But the dichotomy is part of the mysterious appeal of the song. There are clear references to both in the lyrics – the “other arms” of a girl, the “moonlight through the pines” of the state. One debate that has gone on forever is whether “Georgia On My Mind” is about a girl or the southern American state. (In fact this was a one-off he never wrote another song after “Georgia”.)įrom such humble beginnings rose one of the most-recorded songs of the twentieth century by the time that Ray Charles did it, it had been covered by nearly everyone who was anyone, though it was Ray’s that brought it to full worldwide attention. His friend and fellow Hoosier Stuart Gorrell wrote the lyrics to the song, but was a banker, not a professional musician. Hoagland “Hoagy” Carmichael, a songwriter from Indiana, was on the verge of quitting the music business when he co-composed “Georgia On My Mind” its success prompted him to continue in his career. It went to Number One on the Billboard charts and eventually became the official state song of Georgia, where Ray was born in Albany in 1930 – the year the song was written. It originally appeared on his July 1960 album The Genius Hits The Road (his first for ABC) and was released as a single in August that year. I especially like his brief falsetto coming back into the verse at 2:45.“Georgia On My Mind” is arguably Ray Charles’ most famous recording. ![]() The song was written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell thirty years before this particular version was released, and various others have recorded it, but Ray Charles does it better than any of them. Listen carefully and you’ll hear the strings do a rise and fall that is strikingly reminiscent of the James Bond theme song.ģ. The strings have several great moments in the song, notably the opening few bars, but my favourite part comes at 1:17, as he sings, “Her the arms reach out to me”. Listen to them at 0:39 and I’m sure you’ll be able to imagine them in the recording studio, draped over pianos, slumped in chairs, too chilled-out to bother snapping their fingers. It sounds like a choir that’s just re-gaining consciousness after dental surgery. The world’s most laid-back back-up singers. The muscles in the back of your neck will thank you.ġ. The second the weather gets nice in your part of the world, you need to schedule a meeting with a hammock, your favourite drink, and Ray Charles. Grab your calendar, iPhone, Trapper Keeper, or whatever you use to make appointments, and schedule a time to lie in the sun somewhere with this song in your ears. If you’ve been feeling stressed lately, do yourself a favour.
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