''The Great Ray Charles'' is the second studio album by American musician

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

, released in 1957 by Atlantic Records. An instrumental

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

album, it features cover art designed by

Marvin Israel Marvin Israel (July 3, 1924 – May 7, 1984) was an American artist, photographer, painter, teacher and art director from New York City known for modern/surreal interiors, abstract imagery. Israel created sinister shadowy and exuberant interiors ...

. Later CD re-issues of ''The Great Ray Charles'' often include six out of the eight songs from the 1961 album ''

The Genius After Hours ''The Genius After Hours'' is an album by American musician Ray Charles, released in 1961. The songs featured on the album were taken from the same three studio sessions that created his 1957 album '' The Great Ray Charles'', which featured the ...

'', as bonus tracks.

Release

''The Great Ray Charles'' was released by Atlantic Records in August 1957. Due to frequent

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

of two tracks off the album, " Doodlin" and "Sweet Sixteen Bars", Atlantic released those two tracks as an Extended play, EP later that same year.

Track listing

Original LP release

Note: Some sources list "Ain't Misbehavin' (song), Ain't Misbehavin" in place of "Black Coffee".

1987 CD reissue

Personnel

* Ray Charles – celesta, piano * Oscar Pettiford, Roosevelt Sheffield – bass * Joe Harris, William Peeples – drums * David "Fathead" Newman – alto and tenor saxophone * Emmot Dennis – baritone saxophone * Joe Bridgewater – trumpet, soloist * John Hunt – trumpet ;Technical * Earle Brown, Tom Dowd – recording engineer *

– design * Lee Friedlander – cover photography

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Ray Charles, The 1957 albums Ray Charles albums Albums produced by Jerry Wexler Albums produced by Ahmet Ertegun Atlantic Records albums