What'd I Say

At the end of a long session at Atlantic Studios, Ray Charles and his band reportedly had time left at the end of a session. Charles sat at a Wurlitzer electric piano, started playing a hypnotic, Latin-flavored riff, and told the Raelettes to just repeat whatever he sang. What followed was a largely improvised, deeply controversial collision of the Saturday night juke joint and the Sunday morning church. Blending sanctified gospel call-and-response with highly suggestive, secular moans, "What'd I Say" bypassed the racial barriers of pop radio, essentially serving as the a major turning point that birthed 1960s soul music.