| True Genius | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Box set by | |
| Released | September 10, 2021 (2021-09-10) |
| Recorded | 1959–2004 |
| Length | 347:30 (CD version) 398:34 (CD version with bonus disc) 90:30 (Sides of Ray) |
| Label | Tangerine 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]
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]
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]
Jon ParelesofThe 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]
All tracks are written by Ray Charles, except where indicated
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Makin' Whoopie" (Live) | Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson | 6:13 |
| 2. | "Hallelujah I Love Her So" (Live) | 2:59 | |
| 3. | "I've Got a Woman" (Live) | Charles, Renald Richard | 6:11 |
| 4. | "What'd I Say" (Live) | 4:32 | |
| 5. | "I'm a Fool to Care" | Ted Daffan | 3:18 |
| 6. | "The Cincinnati Kid" | Dorcas Cochran | 2:24 |
| 7. | "Crying Time" | Buck Owens | 2:55 |
| 8. | "Together Again" | Owens | 2:40 |
| 9. | "Let's Go Get Stoned" | Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Jo Armstead | 2:57 |
| 10. | "Please Say You're Fooling" | Bobby Stevenson | 2:43 |
| 11. | "I Don't Need No Doctor" | Ashford, Simpson, Armstead | 2:33 |
| 12. | "Here We Go Again" | Don Lanier, Red Steagall | 3:16 |
| 13. | "Somebody Ought to Write a Book About It" | Jimmy Holiday, Jimmy Lewis, Cliff Chambers | 3:07 |
| 14. | "In the Heat of the Night" | Quincy Jones, Marilyn Bergman, Alan Bergman | 2:35 |
| 15. | "Yesterday" | Lennon–McCartney | 2:50 |
| 16. | "Sweet Young Thing Like You" | Dee Ervin | 2:17 |
| 17. | "Eleanor Rigby" | Lennon–McCartney | 3:00 |
| 18. | "If It Wasn't for Bad Luck" | Lewis, Charles | 4:45 |
| 19. | "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" | Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart | 4:52 |
| 20. | "Let Me Love You" | Holiday | 2:48 |
| 21. | "I'm Satisfied" | Ashford, Simpson, Armstead | 2:30 |
| Total length: | 71:25 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "We Can Make It" | Lewis | 3:42 |
| 2. | "Laughin' and Clownin'" | Sam Cooke | 3:23 |
| 3. | "If You Were Mine" | Lewis | 3:51 |
| 4. | "Booty Butt" | 4:14 | |
| 5. | "Feel So Bad" | L. Temple, J. Johnson | 3:16 |
| 6. | "Your Love Is So Doggone Good" | D. Erwin, R. Love | 3:03 |
| 7. | "Something" | George Harrison | 4:04 |
| 8. | "America the Beautiful" | Katharine Lee Bates, Samuel A. Ward | 3:36 |
| 9. | "Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma" | 3:43 | |
| 10. | "There'll Be No Peace Without All Men as One" | Melanie Safka | 3:52 |
| 11. | "Every Saturday Night" | Aaron Collins | 3:22 |
| 12. | "Our Suite" | Charles, Roger Neumann | 8:07 |
| 13. | "I Can Make It Through the Days (But Oh Those Lonely Nights)" | Charles, Ervin, Ruth Robinson | 3:55 |
| 14. | "Ring of Fire" | June Carter Cash, Merle Kilgore | 3:08 |
| 15. | "Come Live with Me" | Felice and Boudleaux Bryant | 3:24 |
| 16. | "Somebody" | 4:06 | |
| 17. | "Till There Was You" | Meredith Willson | 4:10 |
| Total length: | 66:56 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Living for the City" | Stevie Wonder | 6:04 |
| 2. | "It Ain't Easy Being Green" | Joe Raposo | 4:14 |
| 3. | "3/4 of the Time" | 2:50 | |
| 4. | "Summertime" (with Cleo Laine) | George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, Ira Gershwin | 6:15 |
| 5. | "Take Me Home Country Roads" (Live) | Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, John Denver | 4:32 |
| 6. | "Am I Blue" (Live) | Harry Akst, Grant Clarke | 6:57 |
| 7. | "I Can See Clearly Now" | Johnny Nash | 4:25 |
| 8. | "How Long Has This Been Going On" | G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin | 5:21 |
| 9. | "Let It Be" | Lennon–McCartney | 3:32 |
| 10. | "Is There Anyone Out There?" | Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett | 5:57 |
| 11. | "Drift Away" | Mentor Williams | 3:46 |
| 12. | "Blues in the Night" | Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer | 7:39 |
| 13. | "3/4 Time" | 4:23 | |
| 14. | "Compared to What" | Gene McDaniels | 4:23 |
| Total length: | 70:18 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" | Billy Burnette and Michael Smotherman | 3:50 |
| 2. | "Two Old Cats Like Us" (with Hank Williams Jr.) | Troy Seals | 2:37 |
| 3. | "Seven Spanish Angels" (with Willie Nelson) | Seals, Eddie Setser | 3:50 |
| 4. | "Anybody with the Blues Knows" | 3:30 | |
| 5. | "Baby Grand" (with Billy Joel) | Billy Joel | 4:05 |
| 6. | "Stranger in My Own Home Town" (with Kenny Carr) | Mayfield | 3:20 |
| 7. | "Save the Bones for Henry Jones" (with Lou Rawls and Milt Jackson) | Danny Barker, Vernon Lee | 3:42 |
| 8. | "Ellie My Love" | Keisuke Kuwata | 4:13 |
| 9. | "I'll Be Good to You" (with Quincy Jones and Chaka Khan) | George Johnson, Louis Johnson, Sonora Sam | 4:57 |
| 10. | "A Song for You" | Leon Russell | 4:16 |
| 11. | "Still Crazy After All These Years" | Paul Simon | 5:00 |
| 12. | "If I Could" | Ken Hirsch, Ron Miller, Marti Sharron | 4:55 |
| 13. | "None of Us Are Free" (with Eric Clapton) | Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Brenda Russell | 5:05 |
| 14. | "Imagine" | John Lennon, Yoko Ono | 4:28 |
| 15. | "Here We Go Again" (with Norah Jones) | Lanier, Steagall | 3:58 |
| 16. | "The Long and Winding Road" (with Count Basie Orchestra) | Lennon–McCartney | 4:03 |
| Total length: | 65:49 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (Live) | Irving Berlin | 2:34 |
| 2. | "What'd I Say" (Live) | 4:04 | |
| 3. | "I've Had My Fun" (Live) | Jimmy Ogden | 7:04 |
| 4. | "Raelettes Introduction" (Live) | 1:16 | |
| 5. | "Games People Play" (Live) | Joe South | 5:40 |
| 6. | "Don't Change On Me" (Live) | Eddie Reeves, Holiday | 3:24 |
| 7. | "I Can't Stop Loving You" (Live) | Don Gibson | 4:01 |
| 8. | "Marie" (Live) | Irving Berlin | 1:45 |
| 9. | "I've Got a Woman" (Live) | Charles, Renald Richard | 8:46 |
| Total length: | 38:34 | ||
All tracks are written by Ray Charles, except where indicated
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hit the Road Jack" | Mayfield | 1:59 |
| 2. | "I Don't Need No Doctor" | Ashford, Simpson, Armstead | 2:33 |
| 3. | "Unchain My Heart" | Sharp | 2:51 |
| 4. | "No One" | Pomus, Shuman | 3:10 |
| 5. | "Hide nor Hair" | Mayfield | 3:11 |
| 6. | "I've Got a Woman" (Live) | Charles, Renald Richard | 6:11 |
| Total length: | 19:55 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let's Go Get Stoned" | Ashford, Simpson, Armstead | 2:57 |
| 2. | "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town" | Razaf, Weldon | 3:44 |
| 3. | "Smack Dab in the Middle" | Calhoun | 3:18 |
| 4. | "Them That Got" | Harper | 2:49 |
| 5. | "One Mint Julep" | Toombs | 3:06 |
| 6. | "I've Got News for You" | Alfred | 4:32 |
| Total length: | 20:26 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Here We Go Again" | Lanier, Steagall | 3:16 |
| 2. | "You Are My Sunshine" | Davis, Mitchell | 2:59 |
| 3. | "Crying Time" | Owens | 2:55 |
| 4. | "Take These Chains from My Heart" | Rose, Heath | 2:56 |
| 5. | "Ring of Fire" | Cash, Kilgore | 3:08 |
| 6. | "I Can't Stop Loving You" | Gibson | 4:15 |
| Total length: | 19:29 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Georgia on My Mind" | Carmichael, Gorrell | 3:39 |
| 2. | "Eleanor Rigby" | Lennon–McCartney | 3:00 |
| 3. | "Busted" | Howard | 2:36 |
| 4. | "Till There Was You" | Willson | 4:10 |
| 5. | "Hallelujah I Love Her So" (Live) | 2:59 | |
| 6. | "A Song for You" | Russell | 4:16 |
| Total length: | 20:40 | ||
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| Studio albums |
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| Posthumous studio creations |
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| Live albums |
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| Notable compilations |
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| Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles |
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| Other Billboard Charts #1 singles |
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| Grammy Awarded Works (not included above) |
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| See also |
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