Genius Hits the Road [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered]

Ray Charles | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 22, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 1960
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Label: Concord Records
• ASIN: B002HWUU4K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,468 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #88 in Music > Blues > Piano Blues

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"What'd I Say" may have given Ray Charles his first top 10 single, but it was this 1960 album that really solidified his commercial standing. It hit the top 10 on the strength of the massive sales of "Georgia on My Mind"; while nothing else here comes close to topping that particular song, there are a number of other fine performances, including "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," "Basin Street Blues," and "New York's My Home." Charles takes a smooth, supper-club approach to most of the material, but only "Deep in the Heart of Texas" is really too hokey for its own good. Rhino's CD reissue adds several other geographically themed cuts from Charles's career, including "Rainy Night in Georgia," "Swanee River Rock," and a marvelously swingin' take on "Blue Moon of Kentucky." --Dan Epstein

Product Description

The famed 1960 Genius concept album, featuring a dozen songs devoted to various parts of the U.S. with brassy big band arrangements and material from the likes of Al Jolson and Hoagy Carmichael. This newly remastered version features 7 bonues tracks!

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Genius Does It Again !!!, August 9, 2000

By 

"ooscott" (Manhasset, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Genius Hits the Road (Audio CD)

Theme albums don't always work according to plan. Don't take my word for it. Just listen to Carly Simon's "Film Noir" or k.d.lang's "Drag" and you'll catch my drift. But with the genius plotting the course, it's money in the bank you won't go astray. This album contains some of the absolute swingingest Ray Charles this side of Chattanooga. Dig Ray's heartfelt reading of Moonlight in Vermont or Georgia On My Mind. And wait until you hear him yukin' it up on Deep In the Heart of Texas and my favorite New York's My Home, where he applies just the right amount of gleeful good humor. Hit the road runnin' and pick up on this one. It's a sure fire winner.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gives You the Hibigeebies, this Record is So Darned Good, March 2, 2010

By 

Ken Douglas (Landlocked in Reno) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Genius Hits the Road (Audio CD)

Ray Charles takes you from Alabama to Georgia, to New Orleans, then Mississippi and he doesn't leave out New York and California, when he hits the road with this record. "Georgia on My Mind" is one of the best recordings to ever hit wax. Many have covered it, Willie Nelson's version is very well done, but none of the covers touches the original. "Basin Street Blues" alone would make this one of the ten best records of 1960, but when you ad in Ray's version of "California, Here I Come," well there you go, this is a must have disc, back then as well as now.

But wait, there's more, Ray's version of "Blue Hawaii", though very different than Elvis Presley's version from the movie, is a heartbreakingly good song. This record (the original) ends with "Hit the Road Jack" one of Rays' signature songs and a real rocker. If you don't have soul, this record will give it to you, it gives you the hibigeebies, it's so darned good.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ray poised for Superstardom, November 25, 2004

By 

The Rocketman (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Genius Hits the Road (Audio CD)

Thank Rhino for reissuing this overlooked album. This was his first after he split from Atlantic for ABC/Paramount. People like to think that his ABC/Paramount period starts with MODERN SOUNDS, but you can see the "road" Ray's traveling with this album. Most of the orchestration is done with a lot of taste and not syrupy as might plague some later recordings. These cuts sound classic today and not dated -- well, except for the silliness over Deep in the Heart of Texas.

Enjoy this album for more than Ray's signature tune of Georgia on my Mind, Ray's solo on Moon over Miami, for example. The bonus cuts complete the experience. This album will help bridge those who only know Ray from his Atlantic years into the rest of his career - about a 40 year period!