''What'd I Say'' is an 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 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

in late 1959. His sixth album since the debut ''

'' in 1957, ''What'd I Say'' compiled a range of Charles' material, including his first top 10 hit, the title track "

What'd I Say "What'd I Say" (or "What I Say") is an American rhythm and blues song by Ray Charles, released in 1959. As a single divided into two parts, it was one of the first soul songs. The composition was improvised one evening late in 1958 when Charl ...

". The album became his first

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

., and is included in

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981). Though routinely classified as a standard album, at the time of its 1959 release, it was more of a compilation of previously uncollected Charles material. It included recent singles ("That's Enough", "Tell Me How Do You Feel", "What'd I Say", all from 1959; and "My Bonnie", "Rockhouse", "What Kind Of Man Are You", "You Be My Baby", "Tell All The World About You" all issued in 1958), and tracks that had initially been issued as singles as far back as 1952 ("Roll With My Baby") and 1953 ("Jumpin' In The Mornin'").

Critical reception

Upon its release, a reviewer for ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' referred to ''What'd I Say'' as "A fine, swinging album," and wrote that Charles "is at his best here."

Track listing

Notes

* On later reissues and some digital platforms, "What'd I Say" is listed as being in two parts: "What'd I Say – Part I" and "What'd I Say – Part II", or "What'd I Say (Pts. 1 and 2)"; "Rockhouse" is similarly listed as "Rockhouse – Part I" and "Rockhouse – Part II", or "Rockhouse (Pts. 1 and 2)".

Personnel

* Ray Charles – piano (all tracks),

Wurlitzer electronic piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptua ...

(track 1),

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

(track 4), vocals (all tracks) * David Newman – tenor saxophone, alto saxophone (tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) * Emmett Dennis – baritone saxophone (tracks 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) * Bennie Crawford – alto saxophone, baritone saxophone (tracks 1, 4) *

Marcus Belgrave Marcus Batista Belgrave (June 12, 1936 – May 24, 2015) was an American jazz trumpet player from Detroit, born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He recorded with numerous musicians from the 1950s onwards. Belgrave was inducted into the class of 2017 ...

– trumpet (tracks 3, 4, 8, 9) * Lee Harper – trumpet (tracks 3, 8, 9) * Ricky Harper – trumpet (tracks 5, 10) * Joe Bridgewater – trumpet (tracks 5, 6, 10) * John Hunt – trumpet (tracks 4, 6) *

Edgar Willis Edgar Willis is a jazz bassist. Associated for many years with Ray Charles, Willis was also a member of the late 1950s Sonny Stitt Quartet, with Bobby Timmons and Kenny Dennis. Discography ;With Curtis Amy *'' Mustang'' (Verve, 1967) With ...

– double bass (tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10) * Roosevelt Sheffield – double bass (track 6) * Richie Goldberg – drums (tracks 3, 8, 9) * William Peeples – drums (tracks 5, 6, 10) * Teagle Fleming – drums (track 4) *

Milt Turner Milton Turner (1930–1993) was a jazz drummer. After graduating from Pearl High School, he attended Tennessee State University, where he coincided with Hank Crawford, who he later recommended to join him in Ray Charles' band when he took over ...

– drums (track 1) * Mary Ann Fisher – vocals (tracks 5, 10) *

The Raelettes The Raelettes (or occasionally The Raelets or The Raeletts) were an American girl group formed in 1958 to provide backing vocals for Ray Charles. They were reformed from the group The Cookies. Between 1966 and 1973, the Raelettes recorded on T ...

– backing vocals (tracks 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10) * unknown – trumpet, saxophone, double bass, drums (tracks 2, 7)jazzdisco.org link
/ref> ;Technical *

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 ...

– cover design *

Lee Friedlander Lee Friedlander (born July 14, 1934) is an American photographer and artist. In the 1960s and 1970s, Friedlander evolved an influential and often imitated visual language of urban "social landscape," with many of his photographs including fragm ...

– cover photography

References

External links

* {{Authority control Ray Charles albums 1959 albums Albums produced by Jerry Wexler Albums produced by Ahmet Ertegun Atlantic Records albums