What'd I Say

Ray Charles was the premier architect singer/songwriter/musician whose "genius" of combining jazz, blues with gospel most certainly began the American soul music movement. This modern form of R&B which would become an American way of life forever etched itself in total with the release of his 1959 classic hit single and album What'd I Say.

Fused with heavy blues, gospel and rock & roll, What'd I Say was one of Ray's very first top ten hits after a very long run of predominantly R&B only chart successes. The tune itself has been covered hundreds of times by some of the most important voices in popular music, like The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Van Morrison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many others.

Also included on this masterpiece are some of Ray Charles more refined blues rockers like the powerful instrumental Rockhouse, the rockin' You Be My Baby, the shouter Tell Me How Do You Feel, and the brilliant pre-soul sounds of What Kind Of Man Are You which features the Raylettes' Mary Ann Fisher.

The What'd I Say album forever etched the name superstar and genius with Ray Charles as the album reached the upper rungs of the popular, jazz and R&B charts and has become an American institution which will forever stand the test of time.

Friday Music is very honored to announce the first time ever 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl of the Ray Charles classic What'd I Say. Mastered from the original monophonic Atlantic Records tapes by Joe Reagoso at Friday Music Studios, this masterwork truly sounds exceptional and will become one of the more important roots albums to be reissued in quite some time for the audiophile vinyl domain.

This limited edition release also comes with the original album cover graphics of Marvin Israel, featuring the stunning liner notes by Ren Gravatt as well as the legendary photography of Lee Friedlander.

The album will be packaged in a poly bag to preserve the rich details of the legendary cover art as well as a poly lined inner sleeve to protect your vinyl purchase for years to come. Baby What'd I Say!