“Georgia On My Mind”
Song by Ray Charles
“Georgia On My Mind” is arguably Ray Charles’ most famous recording. It originally appeared on his July 1960 album The Genius Hits The Road (his first for ABC) and was released as a single in August that year. It went to Number One on the Billboard charts and eventually became the official state song of Georgia, where Ray was born in Albany in 1930 – the year the song was written.
The origins of “Georgia On My Mind”
Hoagland “Hoagy” Carmichael, a songwriter from Indiana, was on the verge of quitting the music business when he co-composed “Georgia On My Mind”; its success prompted him to continue in his career. His friend and fellow Hoosier Stuart Gorrell wrote the lyrics to the song, but was a banker, not a professional musician. (In fact this was a one-off; he never wrote another song after “Georgia”.)
From such humble beginnings rose one of the most-recorded songs of the twentieth century; by the time that Ray Charles did it, it had been covered by nearly everyone who was anyone, though it was Ray’s that brought it to full worldwide attention.
Is Georgia a girl or a state?
One debate that has gone on forever is whether “Georgia On My Mind” is about a girl or the southern American state. There are clear references to both in the lyrics – the “other arms” of a girl, the “moonlight through the pines” of the state. In the end it doesn’t really matter – if it has to be one or the other, you’d have to give it to the State. But the dichotomy is part of the mysterious appeal of the song.
The drug-fueled recording session
While “Georgia On My Mind” is famous for its lovingly gentle tribute to home and hearth – its universal and yearning feeling of homesick appreciation for ones own roots – the way that it was recorded couldn’t be more at odds with its reputation.
From Michael Lydon’s biography Ray Charles Man and Music comes the story of the recording session that produced “Georgia On My Mind”. Ray was late to the studio, and the fifty-five members of the orchestra and choir, as well as the technicians and others, were kept waiting for a tense two hours. Would Ray even come at all? Are we all going to get paid our promised double overtime for the late session? Everyone had reason to sweat.
Finally Ray came in with his mistress Mae Mosely Lyles; Ray was almost entirely oblivious to his surroundings, having just shot up heroin. He was led to the piano and everyone got ready to play “Georgia”, but when conductor and arranger Ralph Burns began, the orchestra seemed distracted and the take immediately ground to a halt. Someone pointed at Ray, and Burns turned around to see what the problem was.
The problem was somewhat shocking: Ray wasn’t into paying attention to Burns or the orchestra – and Mae was down on the ground scratching Ray’s bare feet and ankles, drawing blood with her fingernails. Nobody knew what to say.
Suddenly Ray leaned into the microphone and said he was ready. They started again and were indeed off to the races: twenty takes were recorded, as tears sometimes streamed down the narcotized genius’ face. Ray placed his carefully-planned “I said-a Georgia” and “no peace – no peace! – I find” vocals exactly where he wanted each time. He knew how to place those little vocal tics that seemed like improvisations for maximum effect.
Although it began in what seemed overwhelmingly like disaster, the session yielded the famous version of “Georgia On My Mind” that was selected for the album and single as well as others for the place-name-themed album The Genius Hits The Road.
The success of “Georgia On My Mind”
There’s a big psychological difference between a Number Two and a Number One song, even when the achievements are largely similar. When “Georgia” hit the top spot, Ray’s performance fees went up, attention from the press became much more strident, and his international stature began to grow. It was like nothing he had ever experienced, even with his many successes since beginning his professional recording career twelve years earlier.
Over the years, Ray recorded several other songs with “Georgia” in the title (“Rainy Night In Georgia”, “Sweet Georgia Brown”, “I Was On Georgia Time”, etc). But it was “Georgia On My Mind” that he often sang in concert – especially at shows back in his native state, where it inevitably brought the house down. Such was the power of the song and the deep connection to the feelings of tradition and the complications of racial history in the South that Georgia officially adopted it as the state song in 1979. It’s perhaps the best state song in the U.S.
Single releases
“Georgia On My Mind”
b/w
“Carry Me Back To Old Virginny”
Listen to “Georgia On My Mind”
Get your own “Georgia On My Mind” on 45, LP, CD or MP3 from Amazon. Or get the out-of-print complete ABC singles 5xCD box set.
Songs on The Genius Hits The Road