Ray Charles – What'd I Say

Few records captured the exact moment rhythm and blues cross-pollinated with church gospel to create soul music quite like this 1959 release. Built around an impromptu Wurlitzer electric piano riff generated at a live dance in Pennsylvania, the title track remains an electrifying call-and-response masterclass between Brother Ray and the Raelettes. Across blues stomps and latin-rhythm workouts, Charles sings with rasping, ecstatic authority, daring sacred devotion and secular lust to share the same groove.