True Genius

True Genius
True Genius
Box set by Ray Charles
Released	September 10, 2021
Recorded	1959–2004
Length	347:30 (CD version); 398:34 (CD version with bonus disc); 90:30 (Sides of Ray)
Label	Tangerine Records

True Genius is a box set of material by American musician Ray Charles, first released on September 10, 2021, by Tangerine Records, as a six-CD collection.^[1] The set contains 90 remastered tracks by Charles, as well as eight previously unreleased songs, which were recorded live in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972.^[1] The release of True Genius purposely coincided with the 90th anniversary of Charles's year of birth.^[1]

The six-CD release was followed by a condensed version of the material, True Genius: Sides of Ray, which was released as a double-disc vinyl album on November 19, 2021. On May 6, 2022, the unearthed recordings of Charles's 1972 Stockholm concert were issued as a standalone release titled Live in Stockholm 1972.^[2]

Background

True Genius was compiled by record producer John Burk—who produced Charles's final studio album, Genius Loves Company—and The Ray Charles Foundation, led by Valerie Ervin.^[3] During the assembly of True Genius, they discovered previously unreleased recordings of a concert by Charles held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972.^[3] The nine songs from that concert were included on the CD release of True Genius,^[1] and later received a standalone release as Live in Stockholm 1972.^[2]

Release

True Genius was first released on September 10, 2021, by Tangerine Records, as a six-CD set with a coffee table-style hardcover book.^[4] It was followed by a double-disc vinyl record release, True Genius: Sides of Ray, on November 19, 2021. Live in Stockholm 1972 received a limited edition colored vinyl record release on Record Store Day, on Black Friday in November 2021; this initial vinyl release was limited to 2,000 copies.^[5]^[6] Live in Stockholm 1972 later received a standard vinyl release on May 6, 2022.^[2]

Critical reception

Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that "This straightforward, career-spanning compilation covers his early years as he forges his fusion of gospel, swing, blues, country and pop, though for his pivotal 1950s Atlantic singles—"Hallelujah, I Love Her So," "I've Got a Woman" and "What'd I Say"—it swaps in live versions instead of the studio classics. It moves through his decades as an interpreter, when he homed in on the soul within other people's hits, and includes a rambunctious 1972 concert set from Stockholm and latter-day duets with admirers like Willie Nelson, Norah Jones and Billy Joel."^[4]

Track listing

CD version

All tracks are written by Ray Charles, except where indicated

Disc one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Georgia on My Mind"	Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell	3:39
2.	"Them That Got"	Ricci Harper	2:49
3.	"Ruby"	Mitchell Parish, Heinz Roemheld	3:54
4.	"Hardhearted Hannah"	Jack Yellen, Bob Bigelow, Charles Bates, and Milton Ager	3:17
5.	"One Mint Julep"	Rudy Toombs	3:06
6.	"I've Got News for You"	Roy Alfred	4:32
7.	"I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town"	Andy Razaf, Casey Bill Weldon	3:44
8.	"Hit the Road Jack"	Percy Mayfield	1:59
9.	"Unchain My Heart"	Bobby Sharp	2:51
10.	"Baby, It's Cold Outside" (with Betty Carter)	Frank Loesser	4:10
11.	"Hide nor Hair"	Mayfield	3:11
12.	"I Can't Stop Loving You"	Don Gibson	4:15
13.	"You Don't Know Me"	Eddy Arnold, Cindy Walker	3:16
14.	"You Are My Sunshine"	Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell	2:59
15.	"Take These Chains from My Heart"	Fred Rose, Hy Heath	2:56
16.	"No One"	Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman	3:10
17.	"Busted"	Harlan Howard	2:36
18.	"That Lucky Old Sun"	Beasley Smith, Haven Gillespie	4:23
19.	"Baby, Don't You Cry"	Buddy Johnson, Ned Washington	2:34
20.	"Smack Dab in the Middle"	Charles E. Calhoun	3:18
21.	"My Heart Cries for You"	Carl Sigman, Percy Faith	2:49
22.	"Cry"	Churchill Kohlman	3:34
Total length:			73:02

Disc two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Makin' Whoopie" (Live)	Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson	6:13
2.	"Hallelujah I Love Her So" (Live)		2:59
3.	"I've Got a Woman" (Live)	Charles, Renald Richard	6:11
4.	"What'd I Say" (Live)		4:32
5.	"I'm a Fool to Care"	Ted Daffan	3:18
6.	"The Cincinnati Kid"	Dorcas Cochran	2:24
7.	"Crying Time"	Buck Owens	2:55
8.	"Together Again"	Owens	2:40
9.	"Let's Go Get Stoned"	Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Jo Armstead	2:57
10.	"Please Say You're Fooling"	Bobby Stevenson	2:43
11.	"I Don't Need No Doctor"	Ashford, Simpson, Armstead	2:33
12.	"Here We Go Again"	Don Lanier, Red Steagall	3:16
13.	"Somebody Ought to Write a Book About It"	Jimmy Holiday, Jimmy Lewis, Cliff Chambers	3:07
14.	"In the Heat of the Night"	Quincy Jones, Marilyn Bergman, Alan Bergman	2:35
15.	"Yesterday"	Lennon–McCartney	2:50
16.	"Sweet Young Thing Like You"	Dee Ervin	2:17
17.	"Eleanor Rigby"	Lennon–McCartney	3:00
18.	"If It Wasn't for Bad Luck"	Lewis, Charles	4:45
19.	"I Didn't Know What Time It Was"	Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart	4:52
20.	"Let Me Love You"	Holiday	2:48
21.	"I'm Satisfied"	Ashford, Simpson, Armstead	2:30
Total length:			71:25

Disc three
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"We Can Make It"	Lewis	3:42
2.	"Laughin' and Clownin'"	Sam Cooke	3:23
3.	"If You Were Mine"	Lewis	3:51
4.	"Booty Butt"		4:14
5.	"Feel So Bad"	L. Temple, J. Johnson	3:16
6.	"Your Love Is So Doggone Good"	D. Erwin, R. Love	3:03
7.	"Something"	George Harrison	4:04
8.	"America the Beautiful"	Katharine Lee Bates, Samuel A. Ward	3:36
9.	"Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma"		3:43
10.	"There'll Be No Peace Without All Men as One"	Melanie Safka	3:52
11.	"Every Saturday Night"	Aaron Collins	3:22
12.	"Our Suite"	Charles, Roger Neumann	8:07
13.	"I Can Make It Through the Days (But Oh Those Lonely Nights)"	Charles, Ervin, Ruth Robinson	3:55
14.	"Ring of Fire"	June Carter Cash, Merle Kilgore	3:08
15.	"Come Live with Me"	Felice and Boudleaux Bryant	3:24
16.	"Somebody"		4:06
17.	"Till There Was You"	Meredith Willson	4:10
Total length:			66:56

Disc four
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Living for the City"	Stevie Wonder	6:04
2.	"It Ain't Easy Being Green"	Joe Raposo	4:14
3.	"3/4 Time"	Tony Joe White	2:50
4.	"Summertime" (with Cleo Laine)	George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, Ira Gershwin	6:15
5.	"Take Me Home Country Roads" (Live)	Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, John Denver	4:32
6.	"Am I Blue" (Live)	Harry Akst, Grant Clarke	6:57
7.	"I Can See Clearly Now"	Johnny Nash	4:25
8.	"How Long Has This Been Going On"	G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin	5:21
9.	"Let It Be"	Lennon–McCartney	3:32
10.	"Is There Anyone Out There?"	Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett	5:57
11.	"Drift Away"	Mentor Williams	3:46
12.	"Blues in the Night"	Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer	7:39
13.	"3/4 Time"		4:23
14.	"Compared to What"	Gene McDaniels	4:23
Total length:			70:18

Disc five
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Do I Ever Cross Your Mind"	Billy Burnette and Michael Smotherman	3:50
2.	"Two Old Cats Like Us" (with Hank Williams Jr.)	Troy Seals	2:37
3.	"Seven Spanish Angels" (with Willie Nelson)	Seals, Eddie Setser	3:50
4.	"Anybody with the Blues Knows"		3:30
5.	"Baby Grand" (with Billy Joel)	Billy Joel	4:05
6.	"Stranger in My Own Home Town" (with Kenny Carr)	Mayfield	3:20
7.	"Save the Bones for Henry Jones" (with Lou Rawls and Milt Jackson)	Danny Barker, Vernon Lee	3:42
8.	"Ellie My Love"	Keisuke Kuwata	4:13
9.	"I'll Be Good to You" (with Quincy Jones and Chaka Khan)	George Johnson, Louis Johnson, Sonora Sam	4:57
10.	"A Song for You"	Leon Russell	4:16
11.	"Still Crazy After All These Years"	Paul Simon	5:00
12.	"If I Could"	Ken Hirsch, Ron Miller, Marti Sharron	4:55
13.	"None of Us Are Free" (with Eric Clapton)	Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Brenda Russell	5:05
14.	"Imagine"	John Lennon, Yoko Ono	4:28
15.	"Here We Go Again" (with Norah Jones)	Lanier, Steagall	3:58
16.	"The Long and Winding Road" (with Count Basie Orchestra)	Lennon–McCartney	4:03
Total length:			65:49

Bonus disc: Live in Stockholm, 1972
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Alexander's Ragtime Band" (Live)	Irving Berlin	2:34
2.	"What'd I Say" (Live)		4:04
3.	"I've Had My Fun" (Live)	Jimmy Ogden	7:04
4.	"Raelettes Introduction" (Live)		1:16
5.	"Games People Play" (Live)	Joe South	5:40
6.	"Don't Change On Me" (Live)	Eddie Reeves, Holiday	3:24
7.	"I Can't Stop Loving You" (Live)	Don Gibson	4:01
8.	"Marie" (Live)	Irving Berlin	1:45
9.	"I've Got a Woman" (Live)	Charles, Renald Richard	8:46
Total length:			38:34

Vinyl version (Sides of Ray)

All tracks are written by Ray Charles, except where indicated

Side One – Soul
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hit the Road Jack"	Mayfield	1:59
2.	"I Don't Need No Doctor"	Ashford, Simpson, Armstead	2:33
3.	"Unchain My Heart"	Sharp	2:51
4.	"No One"	Pomus, Shuman	3:10
5.	"Hide nor Hair"	Mayfield	3:11
6.	"I've Got a Woman" (Live)	Charles, Renald Richard	6:11
Total length:			19:55

Side Two – Jazz & Blues
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Let's Go Get Stoned"	Ashford, Simpson, Armstead	2:57
2.	"I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town"	Razaf, Weldon	3:44
3.	"Smack Dab in the Middle"	Calhoun	3:18
4.	"Them That Got"	Harper	2:49
5.	"One Mint Julep"	Toombs	3:06
6.	"I've Got News for You"	Alfred	4:32
Total length:			20:26

Side Three – Country
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Here We Go Again"	Lanier, Steagall	3:16
2.	"You Are My Sunshine"	Davis, Mitchell	2:59
3.	"Crying Time"	Owens	2:55
4.	"Take These Chains from My Heart"	Rose, Heath	2:56
5.	"Ring of Fire"	Cash, Kilgore	3:08
6.	"I Can't Stop Loving You"	Gibson	4:15
Total length:			19:29

Side Four – Pop Classics
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Georgia on My Mind"	Carmichael, Gorrell	3:39
2.	"Eleanor Rigby"	Lennon–McCartney	3:00
3.	"Busted"	Howard	2:36
4.	"Till There Was You"	Willson	4:10
5.	"Hallelujah I Love Her So" (Live)		2:59
6.	"A Song for You"	Russell	4:16
Total length:			20:40

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Legaspi, Althea (June 9, 2021). "Ray Charles' 'True Genius' Box Set to Feature Previously Unreleased Live Tracks". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c Uitti, Jacob (April 4, 2022). "Ray Charles' Estate Announces Two Upcoming Releases Originally from 1972". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Kennedy, Mark (May 4, 2022). "Ray Charles 'lost' Stockholm concert album on its way to digital platforms". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Pareles, Jon; Caramanica, Jon; Russonello, Giovanni; Zoladz, Lindsay (December 28, 2021). "A Trip Through Pop, Rap and Jazz's Past, in 27 Boxed Sets". The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
^ Schafer, Debra Kate (November 23, 2021). "10 of Black Friday's Record Store Day Releases That You Need in Your Vinyl Collection". The Aquarian Weekly. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
^ Amorosi, Ad (November 24, 2021). "Flood's Guide to Black Friday Record Store Day 2021: Leonard Cohen, Fleetwood Mac, Thundercat, Jason Isbell, and More". Flood Magazine. Retrieved June 23, 2022.

[Legaspi_2021-1] Legaspi, Althea (June 9, 2021). "Ray Charles' 'True Genius' Box Set to Feature Previously Unreleased Live Tracks". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 13, 2022.

[Uitti_2022-2] Uitti, Jacob (April 4, 2022). "Ray Charles' Estate Announces Two Upcoming Releases Originally from 1972". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 14, 2022.

[Kennedy_2022-3] Kennedy, Mark (May 4, 2022). "Ray Charles 'lost' Stockholm concert album on its way to digital platforms". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 13, 2022.

[Pareles_2021-4] Pareles, Jon; Caramanica, Jon; Russonello, Giovanni; Zoladz, Lindsay (December 28, 2021). "A Trip Through Pop, Rap and Jazz's Past, in 27 Boxed Sets". The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2022.

[5] Schafer, Debra Kate (November 23, 2021). "10 of Black Friday's Record Store Day Releases That You Need in Your Vinyl Collection". The Aquarian Weekly. Retrieved June 23, 2022.

[6] Amorosi, Ad (November 24, 2021). "Flood's Guide to Black Friday Record Store Day 2021: Leonard Cohen, Fleetwood Mac, Thundercat, Jason Isbell, and More". Flood Magazine. Retrieved June 23, 2022.

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