“Just amazing”: Tom Waits’ favourite Ray Charles songs
The gravelly tones of Tom Waits are most often associated with the worlds of folk and blues rock, as it was those genres which first inspired the songwriter on his journey to musical greatness. As dedicated fans will know, however, Waits has explored a vast range of musical styles throughout his long and illustrious career as a performer and recording artist. In fact, some of his most interesting material came about when Waits immersed himself in the euphoric world of R&B and soul music.
Within that diverse world of soul, there are few names which command the same respect as that of Ray Charles. The Georgia-born pianist and songwriter is among the most iconic figures to grace the airwaves during the 20th century, having played a major influence on everybody from Stevie Wonder to Billy Joel. After beginning his career in the 1940s, Charles remained at the absolute top of the soul and R&B game for decades, penning an incalculable number of truly groundbreaking tracks in the process.
Inevitably, the all-encompassing influence of Ray Charles was certainly not lost upon a young Tom Waits. There was a time, in fact, during which Charles was the only saving grace of Waits during his youth working in hospitality. “I knelt at the altar of Ray Charles for years,” the songwriter once explained, “I worked at a restaurant, and that’s all there was on the jukebox, practically, that and some Patsy Cline”.
Variety is the spice of life, but if you were limited to only two artists, Ray Charles and Patsy Cline are pretty good choices to go for. During a 1999 interview, Waits recalled the incredible influence Charles had on him during his youth, “I worked on Saturday nights, and I would take my break, and I’d sit by the jukebox, and I’d play my Ray Charles,” he said, before adding, “It was just amazing what he absorbed and that voice, for years it was just The Genius of Ray Charles”.
Waits has never been one to shy away from discussing his influences and musical opinions, and over the years, he has taken multiple opportunities to espouse the joys of Ray Charles. The songwriter has often shown a particular penchant for certain notable tracks with Charles’ discography, most notably the classic track ‘Georgia On My Mind’. In fact, the song is such a favourite of Waits’ that he used it as inspiration for one of his own compositions, ‘Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis’.
Many of his favourite tracks go back to that jukebox, which he found solace in during his breaks from hospitality work. Particularly, Waits recalled listening to ‘Can’t Stop Loving You’ during his town time, remembering, “I’d think, goddamn, that’s something”. The songwriter also selected Charles’ cover of The Beatles classic ‘Yesterday’ as being a performance that totally floored him upon listening to it for the first time, even referring to the cover as “indescribable”.
Waits certainly was not the first person to find inspiration in the distinctive sounds of Ray Charles, and he certainly won’t be the last. Charles is one of those rare songwriters whose quality is not limited to one specific time period of musical style, meaning his music will likely continue to be celebrated for years to come. Nevertheless, he certainly holds a special place in the heart of Tom Waits.
