What'd I Say - Legacy

Legacy

In an instant, the music called Soul comes into being. Hallelujah!

Michael Lydon, another of Charles' biographers, summarized the impact of the song: "'What'd I Say' was a monster with footprints bigger than its numbers. Daringly different, wildly sexy, and fabulously danceable, the record riveted listeners. When 'What'd I Say' came on the radio, some turned it off in disgust, but millions turned the volume up to blasting and sang 'Unnnh, unnnh, oooooh, oooooh' along with Ray and the Raelets. became the life of a million parties, the spark of as many romances, and a song to date the Summer by." The song's impact was not immediately seen in the U.S.; it was particularly popular in Europe. Paul McCartney was immediately struck by the song and knew that when he heard it he wanted to be involved in making music. George Harrison remembered an all-night party he attended in 1959 where the song was played for eight hours non-stop: "It was one of the best records I ever heard." While The Beatles were developing their sound in Hamburg, they played "What'd I Say" at every show, trying to see how long they could make the song last and using the audience in the call and response, with which they found immense popularity. The opening electric piano in the song was the first John Lennon had ever heard, and he tried to replicate it with his guitar. Lennon later credited Ray Charles' opening of "What'd I Say" to the birth of songs dominated by guitar riffs.

When Mick Jagger sang for the first time with the band that would become The Rolling Stones, he performed a duet of "What'd I Say". Eric Burdon from The Animals, Steve Winwood of The Spencer Davis Group, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, and Van Morrison counted the song as a major influence on why they were interested in music and incorporated it into their shows. Music historian Robert Stephens attributes the birth of soul music to "What'd I Say" when gospel and blues were successfully joined; the new genre of music was matured by later musicians such as James Brown and Aretha Franklin. "In an instant, the music called Soul comes into being. Hallelujah!" wrote musician Lenny Kaye in a retrospective of Atlantic Records artists.

In the late 1950s, rock and roll was faltering as its major stars dropped from public view. Elvis Presley was drafted, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran died in 1959 and 1960 respectively, Chuck Berry was in jail, and Jerry Lee Lewis had been disgraced by press reports that he married his 13-year-old cousin. Music and culture critic Nelson George disagrees with music historians who attest the last two years of the 1950s were barren of talent, pointing to Ray Charles and this song in particular. George writes that the themes in Charles' work were very similar to the young rebels who popularized rock and roll, writing

By breaking down the division between pulpit and bandstand, recharging blues concerns with transcendental fervor, unashamedly linking the spiritual and the sexual, Charles made pleasure (physical satisfaction) and joy (divine enlightenment) seem the same thing. By doing so he brought the realities of the Saturday-night sinner and Sunday-morning worshipper—so often one and the same—into raucous harmony.

"What'd I Say" has been covered by many artists in many different styles. Elvis Presley used the song in a large dance scene in his 1964 film Viva Las Vegas and released it as a single with the title song on the B-side. Cliff Richard, Eric Clapton with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, The Big Three, Eddie Cochran, Bobby Darin, Nancy Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash all put their own style on the song. Jerry Lee Lewis found particular success with his rendition in 1961, which peaked at number 30 and spent eight weeks on the charts. Charles noticed, later writing "I saw that many of the stations which had banned the tune started playing it when it was covered by white artists. That seemed strange to me, as though white sex was cleaner than black sex. But once they began playing the white version, they lifted the ban and also played the original."

Charles later spoofed this double standard on the television comedy show Saturday Night Live in 1977. He hosted an episode and had the original band he toured with in the 1950s to join him. In one skit, he tells a producer that he wants to record the song, but the producer tells him that a white band named the "Young Caucasians", composed of beaming white teenagers, are to record it first, which they do on the show, in a chaste, sanitized, and unexciting performance. When Charles and his band counter with their original version, Garrett Morris tell them, "Sorry. That'll never make it."

Charles closed every show he played for the rest of his career with the song, later stating, "'What'd I Say' is my last song onstage. When I do 'What'd I Say', you don't have to worry about it—that's the end of me; there ain't no encore, no nothin'. I'm finished!" It was ranked tenth on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", with the summary, "Charles' grunt-'n'-groan exchanges with the Raeletts were the closest you could get to the sound of orgasm on Top Forty radio during the Eisenhower era". In 2000, it ranked number 43 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs in Rock and Roll and number 96 on VH1's 100 Greatest Dance Songs, being the oldest song in the latter ranking. The same year it was chosen by National Public Radio as one of the 100 most influential songs of the 20th century. A central scene in the 2004 biopic Ray features the improvisation of the song performed by Jamie Foxx, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Charles. For its historical, artistic, and cultural significance, the Library of Congress added it to the U.S. National Recording Registry in 2002. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame featured it as one of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll in 2007.