Songs That Changed Music: "What'd I Say" by Ray Charles
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In December of 1958, Ray Charles and his band performed at a concert in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Charles and company played every song they knew during their roughly four-hour set, but by the end of the night, they still had 12 minutes to spare. Charles told his band to follow his lead, his backing singers (The Raelettes) to just repeat whatever he said on his cue. What transpired was the creation and first performance of "What'd I Say".
When the impromptu song began, Charles simply played whatever he thought would go well together. Drawing influence from rhumba by utilizing a conga drum, using gospel elements with a call-and-response between him and The Raelettes... All the while, his orchestra and The Raelettes followed in suit. With these musical elements coupled with his rhythm and blues style, Charles effectively created soul music.
In no time, the audience was dancing along to it. Charles said he could even feel the room shaking from the audience's enthusiasm! Once the song finished, many members of audience gathered at the stage around Charles begging to know the name of the song so they could go out and purchase the record. Unfortunately for them, the song was not recorded. At least not yet. But the reaction to this early version of "What'd I Say" was enough for Ray Charles to record the song with all due haste.
Ray Charles stated he never tested songs live before recording them, nor would he give advanced notices for when he would want to record a new song, but "What'd I Say" was an exception. Charles and his band would perform the song several more times at their shows and by the time they had entered the studio to record it in February 1959, they had about perfected it and had the finished product recorded within just a few takes.
Interestingly enough, the studio producers weren't all that impressed with "What'd I Say" at first and found the first song recorded during the same session "Tell The Truth" to be more favorable. On another interesting note, the original recording was much longer, surpassing seven minutes in length, until engineer Tom Dowd (who would go on to become a well-respected producer himself) edited it to the six-and-a-half minute track we're all familiar with.
"What'd I Say" was released in June 1959. Despite stirring up quite a bit of controversy, the song was a major success and gave Ray Charles his breakthrough into the mainstream. Charles had already seen some commercial success before with his 1954 hit "I Got A Woman", but "What'd I Say" was the song that established him as a superstar. That same year, his contract with Atlantic Records would expire, after which he would sign on with ABC-Paramount and start producing hit after hit from then on.
Despite skyrocketing Ray Charles to stardom, "What'd I Say" was also highly controversial when it was first released for its sexual innuendo. Following Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" released four years prior, "What'd I Say" was one of the most explicit songs of its time. Many radio stations refused to play it thinking it was too sexually charged for general audiences. But this didn't hinder the song's commercial success at all, because the song's erotic nature made it all the more appealing to listeners and its controversy more sought-after when people couldn't hear it on their local radio stations.
This was only the beginning of the tremendous impact "What'd I Say" would have. When it reached overseas in Europe, it was heard by many who would go on to become some of the greatest acts in music history. Some of these listeners were Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Eric Burdon, Steve Winwood and Van Morrison. Each has cited "What'd I Say" as an influence on why they became interested in music and most would often cover it in their live performances.
The song has also been credited as the first soul song and marked the foundation of a whole new genre. The style of blending blues with gospel would be picked up by James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and others; each of whom would become known as forebears of soul. While soul would have many figures who would play an integral role in the genre's development and popularity, none of them could have done it without Ray Charles pioneering soul with "What'd I Say".
Ray Charles would perform "What'd I Say" as his closing number for every single show for the rest of his career. In retrospect, it stands as the pinnacle of Charles' success and one of the most influential songs of all time for single-handedly creating a whole new genre of music.
Thanks for reading!
In December of 1958, Ray Charles and his band performed at a concert in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Charles and company played every song they knew during their roughly four-hour set, but by the end of the night, they still had 12 minutes to spare. Charles told his band to follow his lead, his backing singers (The Raelettes) to just repeat whatever he said on his cue. What transpired was the creation and first performance of "What'd I Say".
When the impromptu song began, Charles simply played whatever he thought would go well together. Drawing influence from rhumba by utilizing a conga drum, using gospel elements with a call-and-response between him and The Raelettes... All the while, his orchestra and The Raelettes followed in suit. With these musical elements coupled with his rhythm and blues style, Charles effectively created soul music.
In no time, the audience was dancing along to it. Charles said he could even feel the room shaking from the audience's enthusiasm! Once the song finished, many members of audience gathered at the stage around Charles begging to know the name of the song so they could go out and purchase the record. Unfortunately for them, the song was not recorded. At least not yet. But the reaction to this early version of "What'd I Say" was enough for Ray Charles to record the song with all due haste.
Ray Charles stated he never tested songs live before recording them, nor would he give advanced notices for when he would want to record a new song, but "What'd I Say" was an exception. Charles and his band would perform the song several more times at their shows and by the time they had entered the studio to record it in February 1959, they had about perfected it and had the finished product recorded within just a few takes.
Interestingly enough, the studio producers weren't all that impressed with "What'd I Say" at first and found the first song recorded during the same session "Tell The Truth" to be more favorable. On another interesting note, the original recording was much longer, surpassing seven minutes in length, until engineer Tom Dowd (who would go on to become a well-respected producer himself) edited it to the six-and-a-half minute track we're all familiar with.
"What'd I Say" was released in June 1959. Despite stirring up quite a bit of controversy, the song was a major success and gave Ray Charles his breakthrough into the mainstream. Charles had already seen some commercial success before with his 1954 hit "I Got A Woman", but "What'd I Say" was the song that established him as a superstar. That same year, his contract with Atlantic Records would expire, after which he would sign on with ABC-Paramount and start producing hit after hit from then on.
Despite skyrocketing Ray Charles to stardom, "What'd I Say" was also highly controversial when it was first released for its sexual innuendo. Following Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" released four years prior, "What'd I Say" was one of the most explicit songs of its time. Many radio stations refused to play it thinking it was too sexually charged for general audiences. But this didn't hinder the song's commercial success at all, because the song's erotic nature made it all the more appealing to listeners and its controversy more sought-after when people couldn't hear it on their local radio stations.
This was only the beginning of the tremendous impact "What'd I Say" would have. When it reached overseas in Europe, it was heard by many who would go on to become some of the greatest acts in music history. Some of these listeners were Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Eric Burdon, Steve Winwood and Van Morrison. Each has cited "What'd I Say" as an influence on why they became interested in music and most would often cover it in their live performances.
The song has also been credited as the first soul song and marked the foundation of a whole new genre. The style of blending blues with gospel would be picked up by James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and others; each of whom would become known as forebears of soul. While soul would have many figures who would play an integral role in the genre's development and popularity, none of them could have done it without Ray Charles pioneering soul with "What'd I Say".
Ray Charles would perform "What'd I Say" as his closing number for every single show for the rest of his career. In retrospect, it stands as the pinnacle of Charles' success and one of the most influential songs of all time for single-handedly creating a whole new genre of music.
Thanks for reading!
