“Hot Rod”
Song by Ray Charles
It would be hard to imagine a more energetic or fun performance than Ray Charles’ live instrumental “Hot Rod” as captured on the Ray Charles At Newport LP, released in October 1958. Written by Ray himself and featuring his own alto sax, “Hot Rod” was recorded in Newport, Rhode Island at the Newport Jazz Festival on the hot night of July 5, 1958.
“Hot Rod” is formed around a sprightly brass riff, funky and high notes played in unison by Ray’s band. Bare-bones percussion from Richie Goldberg is there at first just to provide accents, but during the solos the entire kit is brought in and instantly falls into a saucy, cymbal-heavy jazz bop.
It’s a testament to the tightness of Ray’s band that they are able to plough through the sax solo as effortlessly as they do: the drums and the cracking wallops from the brass section hit like lightning in tandem while the saxophone ripples and shimmies over the top. But it’s the interplay between the two factions – soloist and everyone else – throughout that is most impressive. Somehow, whoever is taking the lead at the moment finds notes that oppose but complement what’s happening underneath.
So it goes with “Hot Rod”: while someone takes a solo, the others form the infrastructure that holds the performance together, but it’s all done lovingly and ultimately in service to the music. Even on the second round of solos, wherein a far looser trumpet and then sax take increasingly daring melodic liberties, everyone just manages to keep the careening train from flying off the tracks.
A couple short but thrilling breakdowns later, during which everyone, even the drummer, gets to shine one last time for the benefit of the enraptured Newport audience, some high trumpet squeals end “Hot Rod” in an exhausted heap. You can almost hear the sweating band swell with exhilarated pride as the crowd erupts in appreciation.
There were no singles put out at the time of At Newport‘s release, so to hear “Hot Rod” you need to track down a copy of the LP. Avoid recent European reissues, which were apparently made from commercial CDs and not the original tapes, but exist due to European copyright laws. Copies of original Atlantic pressings are recommended and easy to find, as is the 1973 Ray Charles Live double LP which combined At Newport with 1960’s In Person.
Incidentally, Ray Charles At Newport may feature my favorite Ray Charles LP jacket of all time, showing Ray standing on the stage at Newport holding his sax and smiling to the crowd while David “Fathead” Newman concentrates on playing his own sax behind him. On the LP, only “Hot Rod” features Ray on sax, so it may well be that that cover photo was taken during the song’s performance. If so, Ray’s ecstatic grin says all one needs to know about “Hot Rod”.
Listen to “Hot Rod”
Songs on Ray Charles At Newport