Genius Loves Company

Genius Loves Company
Studio album by Ray Charles
Released	August 31, 2004
Recorded	June 2003–March 2004
Genre	R&B, pop, soul, jazz, urban contemporary
Length	54:03
Label	Concord/Hear Music
Producer	John Burk Phil Ramone
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (A-) link The Daily Vault (A-) link Entertainment Weekly (C) link JazzTimes (favorable) link Mojo link PopMatters (favorable) link Rolling Stone link USA Today link Western Courier (B+) link
Ray Charles chronology
Strong Love Affair (1996) Genius Loves Company (2004) Singles from Genius Loves Company "You Don't Know Me" Released: September 18, 2004 "Here We Go Again" Released: 2005

Genius Loves Company is the final studio album by rhythm and blues and soul musician Ray Charles, released August 31, 2004 posthumously on Concord Records.^[1] Recording sessions for the album took place throughout June 2003 to March 2004.^[2] The album consists of R&B, country, pop and blues standards performed by Charles and several guest musicians, such as Natalie Cole, Elton John, Norah Jones, B.B. King, Gladys Knight, Diana Krall, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson and Bonnie Raitt. Genius Loves Company was the last album recorded and completed by Charles before his death in June 2004.

The album was produced as a collaboration of Concord Records and Hear Music, the record label owned by the coffee chain Starbucks.^[3] It served as the first original non-compilation release by Hear Music,^[3] as well as one of Ray Charles' most commercially successful albums. On February 2, 2005, Genius Loves Company was certified triple-platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America following sales of over three million copies in the United States.^[4]

Reception

Commercial performance

The release of Genius Loves Company was preceded by a period of mostly mediocre LP releases by Charles and critical slide after the massive success of his 1962 crossover opus Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.^[5][6] Genius Loves Company proved to be a comeback success, in terms of sales and critical response, quickly becoming Charles' first top-10 album in forty years and the best-selling record of his career.^[7][8] The release of Genius Loves Company served as Charles' two-hundred fiftieth of his recording career, as well as his last recorded effort before his death on June 10, 2004.^[9]

Within its first week of release, the album sold over 200,000 copies in the United States alone,^[10] while it debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually ascending to #1 on March 05, 2005.^[1] Genius Loves Company also received a significant amount of airplay on jazz, blues, R&B, urban contemporary and country radio stations, as well as critical praise from well-known publications and music outlets.^[9] By the first month of its release, the album had shipped over two million copies in the United States and shipped more than three million worldwide, receiving gold, silver and platinum certifications across North America, Europe and several other regions.^[9] The massive commercial success of the album (over 5.5 million copies were sold worldwide up to 2007)^[11] was attributed in part to it being distributed and promoted via Starbucks coffeehouses,^[3] as well as the distribution and marketing relationship between Concord Records and the Starbucks Hear Music label.^[9] The Starbucks Coffee Company proved to be singularly responsible for nearly thirty-percent of the total domestic sales of the album. Following several certifications of gold, platinum and multi-platinum in the United States during the fall of 2004, Genius Loves Company earned a triple-platinum sales certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 2, 2005.^[4]

Grammy Awards

In December 2004, announcements were made that the album had earned ten Grammy Award nominations.^[12] At the 47th Grammy Awards on February 13, 2005, Genius Loves Company lead the annual ceremony with a total of eight awards, including Album of the Year, while its hit single "Here We Go Again" won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Awards won are as listed below:^[13]

• Record of the Year: John Burk (producer), Terry Howard, Al Schmitt (engineers/mixers), Ray Charles & Norah Jones for "Here We Go Again"
• Album of the Year: John Burk, Don Mizell, Phil Ramone, Herbert Waltl (producers), Terry Howard (producer & engineer/mixer), Robert Fernandez, John Harris, Pete Karam, Joel Moss, Seth Presant, Al Schmitt, Ed Thacker (engineers/mixers), Robert Hadley, Doug Sax (mastering engineers)
• Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): Victor Vanacore (arranger) for "Over the Rainbow" performed by Ray Charles & Johnny Mathis
• Best Gospel Performance: Ray Charles & Gladys Knight for "Heaven Help Us All"
• Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals: Ray Charles and Norah Jones for "Here We Go Again"
• Best Pop Vocal Album: Ray Charles and various artists
• Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical: Robert Fernandez, John Harris, Terry Howard, Pete Karam, Joel Moss, Seth Presant, Al Schmitt & Ed Thacker (engineers)
• Best Surround Sound Album: Al Schmitt (surround mix engineer), Robert Hadley & Doug Sax (surround mastering)

Track listing

1. "Here We Go Again" with Norah Jones (Lanier/Steagall) – 3:59
2. "Sweet Potato Pie" with James Taylor (Taylor) – 3:47
3. "You Don't Know Me" with Diana Krall (Arnold/Walker) – 3:55
4. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" with Elton John (John/Taupin) – 3:59
5. "Fever" with Natalie Cole (Cooley/Davenport) – 3:30
6. "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?" with Bonnie Raitt (Burnette/Smotherman) – 4:34
7. "It Was a Very Good Year" with Willie Nelson (Drake) – 4:59
8. "Hey Girl" with Michael McDonald (Gerry Goffin/Carole King) – 5:15
9. "Sinner's Prayer" with B.B.King (Fulson/Glenn) – 4:25
10. "Heaven Help Us All" with Gladys Knight (Miller) – 4:32
11. "Over the Rainbow" with Johnny Mathis (Arlen/Harburg) – 4:54
12. "Crazy Love" with Van Morrison (Morrison) – 3:42

Chart history

Album

Singles

Personnel

Notes

References

• Nathan Brackett, Christian David Hoard, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. excerpt by Douglas Wolk. Simon and Schuster, USA. ISBN 0-743-20169-8. 

External links

• Song by song analysis by Ray Charles - CD notes at Discogs.com
• Genius Loves Company : Ray Charles : Concord Music Group