Here We Go Again

Album: Genius Loves Company (2004)
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Songfacts®:

  • Charles originally recorded this on his 1967 album Ray Charles Invites You to Listen. In 1988 it was a bonus track on the CD release of Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. Then in 2004 Charles re-recorded this as a duet with Norah Jones on the last studio album he completed before his death.
  • This song won Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration in 2005 eight months after Charles passed away. In addition Genius Loves Company was awarded Album of the Year among six other awards, as the American music industry paid lavish tribute to him.
  • Nancy Sinatra and George Strait are among the other artists to have covered this song.
  • Genius Loves Company was the best selling recording of Charles' more than 50-year career. It was a collection of duets with Noah Jones, Natalie Cole, Elton John, B.B. King, Gladys Knight, Diana Krall, Michael McDonald, Johnny Mathis, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor.
  • This was the second Grammy winner for Record Of The Year that did not chart on the Hot 100. The first was the 2001 winner, U2's "Walk On."
  • Charles' original 1967 recording peaked at #15 in the US & #38 in the UK.
  • Genius Loves Company entered the Top 10 in the US album chart more than 40 years after Charles' previous appearance in the album chart top 10. This broke the record held by another act who also made his comeback with a duets album. In 1993 Frank Sinatra's Duets reached the Top Ten 25 years after his previous Top 10 album.
  • Jones recalled collaborating with Charles on this song in a 2010 interview with Billboard magazine: "I got a call from Ray asking if I'd be interested in singing on this duets record. I got on the next plane and I brought my mom. We went to his studio and did it live with the band. I sang it right next to Ray, watching his mouth for the phrasing. He was very sweet and put me at ease, which was great because I was petrified walking in there."

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