#Georgia on mymind ray charles full#
#Georgia on mymind ray charles professional#

Ray placed his carefully-planned “I said-a Georgia” and “no peace – no peace! – I find” vocals exactly where he wanted each time. They started again and were indeed off to the races: twenty takes were recorded, as tears sometimes streamed down the narcotized genius’ face. Suddenly Ray leaned into the microphone and said he was ready. The problem was somewhat shocking: Ray wasn’t into paying attention to Burns or the orchestra – and Mae was down on the ground scratching Ray’s bare feet and ankles, drawing blood with her fingernails. Someone pointed at Ray, and Burns turned around to see what the problem was. He was led to the piano and everyone got ready to play “Georgia”, but when conductor and arranger Ralph Burns began, the orchestra seemed distracted and the take immediately ground to a halt. Would Ray even come at all? Are we all going to get paid our promised double overtime for the late session? Everyone had reason to sweat.įinally Ray came in with his mistress Mae Mosely Lyles Ray was almost entirely oblivious to his surroundings, having just shot up heroin. Ray was late to the studio, and the fifty-five members of the orchestra and choir, as well as the technicians and others, were kept waiting for a tense two hours. While “Georgia On My Mind” is famous for its lovingly gentle tribute to home and hearth – its universal and yearning feeling of homesick appreciation for ones own roots – the way that it was recorded couldn’t be more at odds with its reputation.įrom Michael Lydon’s biography Ray Charles Man and Music comes the story of the recording session that produced “Georgia On My Mind”. In the end it doesn’t really matter – if it has to be one or the other, you’d have to give it to the State. But the dichotomy is part of the mysterious appeal of the song. There are clear references to both in the lyrics – the “other arms” of a girl, the “moonlight through the pines” of the state. One debate that has gone on forever is whether “Georgia On My Mind” is about a girl or the southern American state.

#Georgia on mymind ray charles full#

(In fact this was a one-off he never wrote another song after “Georgia”.)įrom such humble beginnings rose one of the most-recorded songs of the twentieth century by the time that Ray Charles did it, it had been covered by nearly everyone who was anyone, though it was Ray’s that brought it to full worldwide attention.

#Georgia on mymind ray charles professional#

His friend and fellow Hoosier Stuart Gorrell wrote the lyrics to the song, but was a banker, not a professional musician.

Hoagland “Hoagy” Carmichael, a songwriter from Indiana, was on the verge of quitting the music business when he co-composed “Georgia On My Mind” its success prompted him to continue in his career. It went to Number One on the Billboard charts and eventually became the official state song of Georgia, where Ray was born in Albany in 1930 – the year the song was written. It originally appeared on his July 1960 album The Genius Hits The Road (his first for ABC) and was released as a single in August that year. “Georgia On My Mind” is arguably Ray Charles’ most famous recording.