Coming Back to Brother Ray's Blues

Rehearsal is always important, of course, but sometimes leaving a song alone for a while also has interesting effects.For instance, it’s been probably a year or more since the Ray Charles classic “Hard Times (Who Knows Better Than I)” has made an appearance at a Flood rehearsal. It’s a great tune, but for some reason it just didn’t come to mind for while.However, the song hasn’t been stagnating, as it turns out. When the tune finally did roll around again at last week’s gathering, it had been percolating in everyone’s memory. That was obvious, because all kind of exciting new ideas came out as the solos went around the room.About the SongAs reported earlier, in 1961 Atlanta Records commemorated Ray Charles’s near-decade of dedication to that label with the release of an album called The Genius Sings The Blues. It was a welcome compilation of some of Brother Ray’s earlier singles, plus some previously unreleased stuff, like this perfect Ray Charles composition.“Hard Times” had the distinction of being the A-side of the only single released to promote that album. It also is the standout number in the entire collection. The tune has gone on to be covered by everybody from David Clayton-Thomas to Eric Clapton. Here’s The Flood’s 2024 rendition of it. More? Gotcha CoveredIf you’d like more from the blues column on our menu, just click the “Blues” button on our free Radio Floodango music streaming service.Click here to give it a spin. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 1937flood.substack.com