Hit the Road Jack

October 1961

And so we return to Ray Charles. His previous chart-topper was a strings-drenched ballad, but here he strikes it big with an upbeat R&B number; the kind that made him who he was. I would say this song should be recognizable to just about anyone, or any American at least.

One thing that I like about Charles's style is that he has a propensity for interacting with his backup singers, rather than the more traditional approach of simply having them, well, back you up. I'm thinking also of his tour de force "What'd I Say," where he banters back and forth with his singers, to create a risqué sexual exchange. Here, Ray is the eponymous "Jack," and it's his backups who are telling him to get the hell out. He can only plead for mercy to this faceless and unforgiving woman – having the part sung by several women instead of only one serves to make Charles seem even more helpless. It's a neat trick, and it makes the short song a fairly effective mini-drama. Ultimately, we can't help but to side with "Jack;" this is clinched when we hear his sly spoken appeals at the very end.

It seems that for every cherished Ray Charles classic, there's a few missteps that haven't lasted quite as well. Take for example "Ruby," which was released around the same time as "Jack," and was top 10 on the R&B charts. It hasn't really stood the test of time. But his other smash success from this year, a brassy instrumental version of "One Mint Julep," is pretty well done in my opinion.

So this post covers a fairly brief portion of Ray Charles's career – that's because we're not quite done with him yet. He'll be back again next year. Until then, "Hit the Road Jack" will do just fine.

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