This day in music - November 14, 1960: Ray Charles goes to No. 1 with "Georgia On My Mind"

By Richard K. Barry

It was Charles' first of three No. 1 hits on the U.S. singles charts. The other two were: "Hit the Road Jack" (1961) and "I Can't Stop Loving You" (1962).

What can one say about Mr. Ray Charles that hasn't been said before?

One thing I came across that reminds us how far we've come but also how relatively recently things were very bad. It's this: While with ABC Records in the 1960s, Charles became one of the first African-Americans to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company.

In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Ray Charles #10 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time." He was ranked #2 on its 2008 list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time."

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)