Mary Ann | |
Type: | single |
Artist: | Ray Charles |
Released: | 1956 |
Genre: | Rhythm & blues, blues |
Length: | 2:48 |
Label: | Atlantic |
Prev Title: | Hallelujah I Love Her So |
Prev Year: | 1956 |
Next Title: | Lonely Avenue |
Next Year: | 1956 |
"Mary Ann" is a song written and performed by Ray Charles and released in 1956 as a single on the Atlantic Records label. It was the fourth Ray Charles song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Best Selling Rhythm & Blues chart. The song is set to a Latin beat, but switches into a swing rhythm, an alternation that adds fun for the dancers.[1] It has been described as "a sexy blues,"[1] and "a lightly lascivious tune."[2]
The song was written about Mary Ann Fisher (1923 - 2004),[3] a singer who had recently joined Charles band as a featured vocalist in his touring shows. Despite Charles' marriage, the two became lovers, and Fisher appears on a number of his Atlantic recordings. Fisher left Ray Charles in 1958 after he had added the Raelettes, formerly the Cookies, as female vocal backup to his band.[4] [5] [6] [7]