Ray Charles - Mess Around | Soul Sunday

This Soul Sunday features Ray Charles’s 1953 track “Mess Around,” an upbeat R&B tune driven by boogie-woogie piano and lively vocals. Its energetic rhythm and playful style marked an early step in shaping his signature sound. Ray Charles Robinson had it rough. Born in 1930, he was poor, Black in Jim Crow Florida, and blind. But his mother, Aretha Robinson, enrolled him at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. He learned to read music, mastering classical piano and other instruments. When Aretha died in 1945, Ray, 14, quit school to work as a piano man. In 1948, he and guitarist Gussie McKee relocated to Seattle, Washington. A club hired Ray, whose trio charted in 1949 with his take on “Confession Blues.” He moved to Los Angeles, California, to be music director for Lowell Fulson. Now “Ray Charles,” he also produced, delivering hits like Guitar Slim’s #1 “The Things That I Used To Do.” In 1952 he signed with Atlantic. He broke big with “I Got A Woman” and embraced jazz with LPs and shows at settings like Carnegie Hall, reaching the Top Ten with “What’d I Say” and diversifying into country, blues, and big band sounds. In 1959 he moved to ABC-Paramount, scoring such hits as “Georgia On My Mind,” a multi-Grammy winner he followed with “Hit the Road, Jack.” He broke ground with “I Can’t Stop Loving You” from the 1962 LP Modern Sounds in Country And Western Music. He was now touring internationally, an achievement punctuated by a stint in rehab. He returned to the charts with “Let’s Go Get Stoned” and “Crying Time.” Though his hitmaking fell off, his fans remained, held by recordings like his rendition of “America The Beautiful.” In 1977 he returned to Atlantic and hosted Saturday Night Live. In 1985 he helped record “We Are The World,” the charity single celebrated for its chorus of music heavyweights. His latter years were rich with friendships, awards, and family until his passing in 2004. —Michael Dolan Ray Charles - Mess Around Album: Hallelujah I Love Her So Album released June 19, 1953 Recorded on May 17, 1953 at Atlantic Studios in New York, NY Atlantic _Written By:_ Nuggy (aka Ahmet Ertegun) _Performed By:_ *Ray Charles* - piano, vocal; Jesse Drakes - trumpet Sam Taylor - tenor sax Dave McRae - baritone sax Mickey Baker - guitar Lloyd Trotman - bass Connie Kay - drums _Produced By:_ Jerry Wexler and Nesuhi Ertegun Recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York, NY on November 30, 1955 Subscribe to the Rhino Channel! https://Rhino.lnk.to/YouTubeSubID Check Out Our Favorite Playlists: Classic Rock https://Rhino.lnk.to/YTClassicRockID 80s Hits https://Rhino.lnk.to/YT80sHitsID 80s Hard Rock https://Rhino.lnk.to/YT80sHardRockID 80s Alternative https://Rhino.lnk.to/YT80sAlternativeID 90s Hits https://Rhino.lnk.to/YT90sHitsID Stay connected with RHINO on... Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RHINO/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rhino_records Twitter https://twitter.com/Rhino_Records https://www.rhino.com/ RHINO is the official YouTube channel of the greatest music catalog in the world. Founded in 1978, Rhino is the world's leading pop culture label specializing in classic rock, soul, and 80's and 90's alternative. The vast Rhino catalog of more than 5,000 albums, videos, and hit songs features material by Warner Music Group artists such as Van Halen, Madonna, Duran Duran, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, The Doors, Chicago, Black Sabbath, John Coltrane, Yes, Alice Cooper, Linda Ronstadt, The Ramones, The Monkees, Carly Simon, and Curtis Mayfield, among many others. Check back for classic music videos, live performances, hand-curated playlists, the Rhino Podcast, and more!