10th

I’m going to talk about Ray Charles today, as politics has officially depressed me. Yes, I’m still following the gridlock in Washington but nothing is really getting done. I hate the weather. So…

Rolling Stone has put together the 500 greatest songs of all-time. I’ll just go thru the top 10.

Artist: Ray Charles
Tune: What’d I Say

There is a type of looseness to this groove that is infectious. There is the call and response that drives the song. Ray’s piano licks are masterful. There are some tunes that simply jump off the record. This is one of those tunes.

From RS:

“The people just went crazy, and they loved that little ummmmh, unnnnh,” Ray Charles told Rolling Stone in 1978, describing the instant genesis of “What’d I Say,” his first Top 10 pop single and the greatest feel-good song in rock & roll. “Later on, people said it was vulgar,” Charles continued, referring to that irresistible, sexually heated vocal bridge. “But, hell, let’s face it, everybody knows about the ummmmh, unnnnh. That’s how we all got here.” (more…)