Editing Ray Charles (section)

===1952–1959: Atlantic Records===
[[File:Aankomst Ray Charles (kop) op Schiphol, Bestanddeelnr 921-7410.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Charles in 1968]]
In June 1952, Atlantic bought Charles' contract for $2,500 (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|2500|1952}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}).<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-story-of-atlantic-records-20010426 |title=The Story of Atlantic Records: Ahmet Ertegun in His Own Words |last=Fricke |first=David |date=April 26, 2001 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=April 3, 2018 |archive-date=April 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404073740/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-story-of-atlantic-records-20010426 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=[[Rockin' in Time]]|last=Szatmary|first=David P.|publisher=Pearson|year=2014|page=177}}</ref> His first recording session for Atlantic ("The Midnight Hour"/"Roll with My Baby") took place in September 1952, although his last Swing Time release ("Misery in My Heart"/"The Snow Is Falling") would not appear until February 1953.

In 1953, "[[Mess Around]]" became his first small hit for Atlantic; during the next year, he had hits with "[[It Should've Been Me (Memphis Curtis song)|It Should've Been Me]]" and "Don't You Know".<ref name=":0"/> He also recorded the songs "Midnight Hour" and "Sinner's Prayer" around this time.

Late in 1954, Charles recorded "[[I've Got a Woman]]". The lyrics were written by bandleader Renald Richard. Charles claimed the composition. They later admitted that the song went back to [[the Southern Tones]]' "It Must Be Jesus" (1954). It became one of his most notable hits, reaching No. 2 on the R&B chart.<ref name=":0"/> "I've Got a Woman" combined [[Gospel music|gospel]], [[jazz]], and [[blues]] elements. In 1955, he had hits with "[[This Little Girl of Mine]]" and "[[A Fool for You]]". In upcoming years, hits included "[[Drown in My Own Tears]]" and "[[Hallelujah I Love Her So]]".

Charles also recorded jazz, such as ''[[The Great Ray Charles]]'' (1957). He worked with vibraphonist [[Milt Jackson]], releasing ''[[Soul Brothers]]'' in 1958 and ''[[Soul Meeting]]'' in 1961. By 1958, he was not only headlining major black venues such as the [[The Apollo Theater|Apollo Theater]] in New York, but also larger venues such as [[Carnegie Hall]] and the [[The Newport Jazz Festival|Newport Jazz Festival]], where his first live album was recorded in 1958. He hired a female singing group, [[the Cookies]], and renamed them [[the Raelettes]]. In 1958, Charles and the Raelettes performed for the famed [[Cavalcade of Jazz]] concert produced by [[Leon Hefflin, Sr.|Leon Hefflin Sr.]] held at the [[Shrine Auditorium]] on August 3. The other headliners were [[Little Willie John]], [[Sam Cooke]], [[Ernie Freeman]], and [[Bo Rhambo]]. [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] was also there to crown the winner of the Miss Cavalcade of Jazz beauty contest. The event featured the top four prominent disc jockeys of Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dreamboogietrium00gura|title=Dream boogie: the triumph of Sam Cooke|last=Guralnick, Peter.|date=2005|publisher=Little, Brown|isbn=0-316-37794-5|edition=1st|location=New York|oclc=57393650}}</ref><ref>"Applause! In the Theatre" Review by Hazel L. Lamarre Los Angeles Sentinel July 24, 1958</ref>

Charles reached the pinnacle of his success at Atlantic with the release of "What'd I Say", which combined gospel, jazz, blues and Latin music. Charles said he wrote it spontaneously while he was performing in clubs with his band. Despite some radio stations banning the song because of its sexually suggestive lyrics, the song became Charles' first top-ten pop record. It reached No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Pop chart and No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1959.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":0"/> Later that year, he released his first country song (a cover of [[Hank Snow]]'s "[[I'm Moving On (Hank Snow song)|I'm Movin' On]]") and recorded three more albums for the label: a jazz record (''The Genius After Hours'', 1961); a blues record (''The Genius Sings the Blues'', 1961); and a big band record (''The Genius of Ray Charles'', 1959) which was his first Top 40 album, peaking at No. 17.