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"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. It has been described as "a sexy blues," and "a lightly lascivious tune."

The song was written about Mary Ann Fisher (1923–2004), 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.

References

1. ^ Michael Lydon (2004). Ray Charles: Man and Music, Updated Commemorative Edition. Routledge. p. 127. ISBN 0203498321.
2. Scott Schinder (2008). Icons of Rock. ABC-CLIO. p. 39. ISBN 978-0313338465.
3. Mary Ann Fisher, History Inspired. Retrieved 9 October 2016
4. Lydon 2004, p. 122.
5. Carin T. Ford (2007). Ray Charles: "I was Born with Music Inside Me". Enslow Publishers, Inc. p. 66. ISBN 978-0766027015.
6. David Ritz, Ray Charles (2009). Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story. Da Capo Press. pp. 167–169. ISBN 978-0786728039.
7. Ritz, David. 2009. Faith In Time: The Life of Jimmy Scott. Da Capo Press. P 122-125

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