Ray Charles was pretty well known before he released “What’d I Say” but the ultra-cool Wurlitzer intro and the dancing cymbals on this track catapulted Charles into a Musical Genius category.[1] The beginning of “What’d I Say” is quite possibly the coolest electric piano-driven intro of all time.[2]
Everything about this song is in some way the definition of cool.
You have the Wurlitzer wizardry, which ranges from James Bond cool to a soulful, jazz-like quality—both of which have a sensuality that acts like an auditory form of foreplay. The horn section that adds to the overall movement and smoothness of the song; a chorus of warm and cool, like a room with deep colors that coexist perfectly with silver accents. Those dancing cymbals, which can make one think of a night life of any major city during the Prohibition era or Harlem during the ’40′s and ’50′s. The back-and-forth between Charles and the Raelettes—the anything-goes and looseness of it that only someone like Ray Charles could do and have it be energetic and make sense within the compositional whole. And, finally, the lyrics themselves and how they are sung: so unmistakably sexual and cool and soulful. “I’m not one to interpret my own songs, but if you can’t figure out ‘What’d I Say’, then something’s wrong,” Charles would later say about the song.
“What’d I Say” was groundbreaking for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that a blind black man produced a song that most of white America unequivocally loved. “What’d I Say” also essentially created the soul genre in mainstream music. Its fusion of gospel elements broke ground for numerous other black artists to reach the top of the charts in the following decades. The interplay between Charles and the Raelettes was the tipping point for many artists to incorporate a looseness and showmanship and energy to their live shows and studio recordings. Simply put, if you were to put together a playlist of twenty songs that define America for someone who knew nothing about American music you would have to include “What’d I Say” on that list.
This song—a hair over five minutes long—provides a glimpse of how we Americans are always in a state of trying to self-correct and reconcile our public and private differences. In 1959, our society was wary of publicly embracing black people and sex. But all that went out the window (albeit momentarily, at the time) when Ray Charles released this song. Music likes this temporarily breaks down walls that people build up in their minds. It is what the musicians of the ’60′s were trying to prove to anyone who would listen: that music could change the world.
And some of them got their inspiration from Ray Charles, whose opening riffs on an electronic piano changed quite a lot, all things considered.
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[1] Note: this post is about “What’d I Say (Parts 1 & 2).” The original version of “What’d I Say” is the normal version that everyone is accustomed to. “What’d I Say, Pt. 2″ was a B-side to the original and includes the back-and-forth between Charles and his singers and musicians. Rather than reference them separately, I am just going to say that for purposes of this post “What’d I Say” includes both songs. (Also, I think that “Pt. 2″ adds a nice dimension to the overall song and that the full five minute track should be interred into the Pantheon, not just the single, “Pt.1.”)
[2] “Green Onions” by Booker T. & the M.G.’s is a close second.
