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The Best of Ray Charles is a compilation album released in 1970 on the Atlantic Jazz label, featuring previously released instrumental (non-vocal) tracks recorded by Ray Charles between November 1956 and November 1958.

The Best of Ray Charles
Greatest hits album by Ray Charles
Released	1970
Genre	R&B, Jazz
Length	34:06
Label	Atlantic

The instrumental, "Rockhouse" would later be covered, as "Ray's Rockhouse" (1985), by The Manhattan Transfer with lyrics by Jon Hendricks.

Track listing

1. "Hard Times" (Mitchell) – 4:39
2. "Rockhouse" (Charles) – 3:50
3. "Sweet Sixteen Bars" (Charles) – 4:04
4. "Doodlin'" (Silver) – 5:49
5. "How Long Blues" (Carr) – 9:15
6. "Blues Waltz" (Charles) – 6:29

Personnel

"Hard Times"

• Ray Charles – piano
• David Newman – alto sax
• Bennie Crawford – baritone sax
• Marcus Belgrave – trumpet
• Edgar Willis – bass
• Milton Turner – drums
• Recorded on November 5, 1958
• Recording engineer: Tom Dowd
• Produced by Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler

"Rockhouse"

• Tenor sax solo by David Newman
• Other personnel not mentioned (possibly same as Track 4)
• Produced by Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler

"Sweet Sixteen Blues"

• Ray Charles – piano
• Roosevelt Sheffield - bass
• William Peeples – drums
• Recorded on November 26, 1956
• Recording engineers: Earle Brown and Tom Dowd
• Produced by Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler

"Doodlin'"

• Ray Charles – piano
• David Newman – tenor sax
• Emmott Dennis – baritone sax
• Joseph Bridgewater – trumpet
• John Hunt – trumpet
• Roosevelt Sheffield - bass
• William Peeples – drums
• Trumpet solo by John Hunt
• Arranger: Quincy Jones
• Recorded on November 26, 1956
• Recording engineers: Earle Brown and Tom Dowd
• Produced by Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler

"How Long Blues"

• Ray Charles – alto sax and piano
• Milt Jackson – vibraharp (and piano during Ray Charles’ alto sax chorus and Pettiford’s first chorus on bass)
• Billy Mitchell – tenor sax
• Skeeter Best - guitar
• Oscar Pettiford – bass
• Connie Kay – drums
• Recorded on September 12, 1957
• Recording engineer: Tom Dowd
• Produced by Nesuhi Ertegun

"Blues Waltz"

• Ray Charles – piano
• Bennie Crawford – baritone sax
• David Newman – tenor sax
• Lee Harper – trumpet
• Marcus Belgrave - trumpet
• Edgar Willis – bass
• Richie Goldberg – drums
• Recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, Rhode Island, on July 5, 1958
• Recording engineers: Harold Chapman and Tom Dowd
• Produced by Nesuhi Ertegun

Other credits

• Sleevenotes: Ralph J. Gleason
• Cover photo: Ray Ross
• Cover design: Loring Eutemey

Chart positions

Chart (2013)	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP)[1]	200

References

• Atlantic Records 1543

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