The Great Ray Charles

{{Album reviews

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}

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The Great Ray Charles was released by Atlantic Records in August 1957.{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Mike|date=2005|title=Ray Charles: The Birth of Soul|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-1844497645}} Due to frequent airplay of two tracks off the album, "Doodlin{{'-}}" and "Sweet Sixteen Bars", Atlantic released those two tracks as an EP later that same year.{{cite magazine|last1=|first1=|date=November 25, 1957|title=Ray Charles EP Selling Like a Hit Single!|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ygEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48|magazine=Billboard|language=en|volume=69|issue=48|page=48|access-date=June 18, 2022}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| all_music = Ray Charles, except where indicated

| extra_column = Arranged by

| title1 = The Ray

| writer1 = Quincy Jones

| length1 = 4:00

| title2 = My Melancholy Baby

| writer2 = Ernie Burnett, George A. Norton

| length2 = 4:20

| title3 = Black Coffee

| writer3 = Sonny Burke, Paul Webster

| length3 = 5:32

| title4 = There's No You

| writer4 = Tom Adair, Harold Hopper

| length4 = 4:47

| total_length =

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Arranged by

| title1 = Doodlin{{'-}}

| writer1 = Horace Silver

| extra1 = Quincy Jones

| length1 = 5:54

| title2 = Sweet Sixteen Bars

| length2 = 4:07

| title3 = I Surrender Dear

| writer3 = Harry Barris, Gordon Clifford

| length3 = 5:08

| title4 = Undecided

| writer4 = Sid Robin, Charlie Shavers

| extra4 = Ernie Wilkins, Quincy Jones

| length4 = 3:40

| total_length =

}}

Note: Some sources list "Ain't Misbehavin{{'-}}" in place of "Black Coffee".

{{Track listing

| all_music = Ray Charles, except where indicated

| extra_column = Arranged by

| title1 = Dawn Ray{{efn|name=bonus|One of six tracks from The Genius After Hours.}}

| length1 = 5:03

| title2 = The Man I Love{{efn|name=bonus|One of six tracks from The Genius After Hours.}}

| writer2 = George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin

| length2 = 4:26

| title3 = Music, Music, Music{{efn|name=bonus|One of six tracks from The Genius After Hours.}}

| writer3 = Bernie Baum, Stephen Weiss

| length3 = 2:53

| title4 = Black Coffee

| writer4 = Burke, Webster

| length4 = 5:43

| title5 = The Ray

| writer5 = Jones

| length5 = 3:55

| title6 = I Surrender Dear

| writer6 = Barris, Clifford

| length6 = 5:08

| title7 = Hornful Soul{{efn|name=bonus|One of six tracks from The Genius After Hours.}}

| length7 = 5:29

| title8 = Ain't Misbehavin{{'-}}{{efn|name=bonus|One of six tracks from The Genius After Hours.}}

| writer8 = Harry Brooks, Andy Razaf, Fats Waller

| length8 = 5:40

| title9 = Joy Ride{{efn|name=bonus|One of six tracks from The Genius After Hours.}}

| length9 = 4:39

| title10 = Sweet Sixteen Bars

| length10 = 4:06

| title11 = Doodlin'

| writer11 = Silver

| length11 = 5:53

| title12 = There's No You{{efn|name=bonus|One of six tracks from The Genius After Hours.}}

| writer12 = Adair, Hopper

| length12 = 4:49

| title13 = Undecided

| writer13 = Robin, Shavers

| length13 = 3:40

| title14 = My Melancholy Baby

| writer14 = Burnett, Norton

| length14 = 4:22

| total_length =

}}

• 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
• Marvin Israel – design
• Lee Friedlander – cover photography

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Category:1957 albums

Category:Ray Charles albums

Category:Albums produced by Jerry Wexler

Category:Albums produced by Ahmet Ertegun

Category:Atlantic Records albums