What'd I Say

"What'd I Say"
Single by Ray Charles
from the album What'd I Say
B-side"What'd I Say, Pt. 2"
ReleasedJune 1959
RecordedFebruary 18, 1959
Genre
Length5:10 (Monaural album)
3:05 (Part 1)
1:59 (Part 2)
6:27 (Stereo album)
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)Ray Charles
Producer(s)Jerry Wexler
Ray Charles singles chronology
"Night Time Is the Right Time"
(1959)
"What'd I Say"
(1959)
"I'm Moving On"
(1959)
"What'd I Say"
Single by Jerry Lee Lewis
from the album Jerry Lee's Greatest!
B-side"Livin' Lovin' Wreck"
ReleasedFebruary 1961
Recorded1961
StudioPhillips Recording Service, Nashville, Tennessee[2]
GenrePop
LabelSun
Songwriter(s)Ray Charles
Jerry Lee Lewis singles chronology
"When I Get Paid"
(1960)
"What'd I Say"
(1961)
"Cold, Cold Heart"
(1961)
"What'd I Say"
Single by Bobby Darin
from the album Bobby Darin Sings Ray Charles
ReleasedMarch 1962
Recorded1961
GenrePop
Length2:15 (Part 1)
1:43 (Part 2)
LabelAtco
Songwriter(s)Ray Charles
Producer(s)Jimmie Haskell
Bobby Darin singles chronology
"Multiplication"
(1961)
"What'd I Say"
(1962)
"Things"
(1962)

"What'd I Say" (or "What I Say") is an American rhythm and blues song by Ray Charles, released in 1959. As a single divided into two parts, it was one of the first soul songs. The composition was improvised one evening late in 1958 when Charles, his orchestra, and backup singers had played their entire set list at a show and still had time left; the response from many audiences was so enthusiastic that Charles announced to his producer that he was going to record it.

After his run of R&B hits, this song finally broke Charles into mainstream pop music and itself sparked a new subgenre of R&B titled soul, finally putting together all the elements that Charles had been creating since he recorded "I Got a Woman" in 1954. The gospel and rhumba influences combined with the sexual innuendo in the song made it not only widely popular but very controversial to both white and black audiences. It earned Ray Charles his first gold record and has been one of the most influential songs in R&B and rock and roll history. For the rest of his career, Charles closed every concert with the song. It was added to the National Recording Registry in 2002 and appeared in the 2003 and 2021 versions of Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list: at number 10 in 2003 and at number 80 in 2021.

  1. ^ Campbell, Michael (2018). Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On (5th ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 188. ISBN 978-1337560375.
  2. ^ Snoddy, Glen (1972). "Nashville, The Recording Center" (PDF). Country Music Who's Who. Record World. Retrieved 10 May 2024.