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Ray Charles — Let's Go Get Stoned
Album: Ray Charles, The Album
Avg rating:
7.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1441









Released: 1961
Length: 2:49
Plays (last 30 days): 2
Let's go get stoned
Let's go get stoned
Let's go get stoned
Let's go get stoned

(Now, wait a minute)
You know my baby, she won't let me in
I've got a few pennies, I'm gonna' buy myself a bottle of gin
And then I'm gonna' call my buddy, on the telephone and say
Let's go get stoned

(Now, listen)
You know I work so hard, all day long
Everything I try to do, seems to always turn out wrong
That's why I wanna' stop by, on my way home and say
Let's go get stoned

(Let me tell you one more thing)
Ain't no harm, to have a little taste
But don't lose your cool, and start messing up the man's place
Ain't no harm, to take a little nip
But don't you fall down, and bust your lip
Let's go get stoned (6x)
Comments (141)add comment
 joejennings wrote:



Actually,  in 1961, stoned meant drunk!  Somehow, as a little kid, 6yrs old when this was released, I remember hearing it on NYC AM radio stations.


Clearly, that is what he's referring to. Even mentions the gin. Not that smoking marijuana is worse than getting drunk imo. 
"Everything I try to do, seems to always turn out wrong"
"Let's go get stoned"

Maybe there's a connection here.
Dude should have stayed with gin and taken a pass on heroin.
"...Ain't no harm, to take a little nip
But don't you fall down, and bust your lip"...

Been there, done that.
Followed by advice from RP-s illegal department :)
 james_of_tucson wrote:

And I just love it when people try to be genteel about things, to the point where they pretend that a black musician in the late 1950s or early 1960s wouldn't  relate to the expression "getting stoned" as meaning exactly, "smoking reefer."  Society feared this concept then, and to no sensible reason I can find, fears it even more today. 

The lines  "Ain't no harm, to take a little nip / But don't you fall down, and bust your lip" tends to support Daveesh's comment about "stoned" meaning drunk as well as under the influence of marijuana.
Y'all know that at the time "stoned" meant "drunk," gin in this case. 
according to wiki this is a cover: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
by the coasters1st covered by ronnie misap

there also isn't a album by the name of "ray charles, the album" with this song on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
 
joe cocker cover at woodstock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
sublime (live) playing a totally different song with the same name: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
 scrubbrush wrote:

Bob Dylan - Rainy Day Women should be up next...




Works for me!!   
 timmus wrote:

It's amusing to think how maybe 50 years ago, law enforcement would have been breaking down Bill's door to shut RP off for playing this "risque" song.  Pretty much the same thing happened to Frank Zappa in the late 1960s.




Actually,  in 1961, stoned meant drunk!  Somehow, as a little kid, 6yrs old when this was released, I remember hearing it on NYC AM radio stations.
It's amusing to think how maybe 50 years ago, law enforcement would have been breaking down Bill's door to shut RP off for playing this "risque" song.  Pretty much the same thing happened to Frank Zappa in the late 1960s.
Word brother Ray.  Let's.
 lizardking wrote: 
My first listen was in December 2000 when I got my first computer, a Windows ME.

Found it while horsing around with Winamp's browser.
 joejennings wrote:

GODLIKE!!!




I AGREE!!!
GODLIKE!!!
Jeff Beck - Rollin' and Tumblin'
John Lee Hooker & Bonnie Raitt - I'm In The Mood
Ray Charles - Let's Go Get Stoned

What an outstanding (9) set BillG, thanks for scratching my blue's itch.
Not a song about lapidation :) 
I ain't gonna argue with this fine fellow
 GoodKarm wrote:

4:20 was an hour ago over here in Ottawa...   and!!!   SIXTEEN YEARS after this post...    Just thought I'd pass that along.  Great Song from Ray...  always.    But hey?  How long has RP been online?  I love you Bill...  best DJ in the land!!!   123
K

Hey!  here's another question.   How will I know if somebody answers my question? ... or tells me to google it?     Ha.     
 
February 2000

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

LLRP!#
 gandalfbmg wrote:
Hey Mountain Time zone!!! It's about 4:20 where you are!!!
 
4:20 was an hour ago over here in Ottawa...   and!!!   SIXTEEN YEARS after this post...    Just thought I'd pass that along.  Great Song from Ray...  always.    But hey?  How long has RP been online?  I love you Bill...  best DJ in the land!!!   123
K

Hey!  here's another question.   How will I know if somebody answers my question? ... or tells me to google it?     Ha.     
Not saying that Clapton modeled his singing in Derek and the Ds on ol' Ray here, but in this song anyway, E.C. of Have You Ever Loved A Woman sure does resemble R.C. singing about getting stoned 
It's 4:20 in my time zone.................{#Cowboy}
What you trying to say Ray? 
Lindo525 wrote:
It's gotta be 4:20 somewhere... Doesn't it?

 


Ray did love the gin.
It's gotta be 4:20 somewhere... Doesn't it?
 scrubbrush wrote:
Bob Dylan - Rainy Day Women should be up next...

 
{#Cheers}
Bob Dylan - Rainy Day Women should be up next...
Gotta love Ray. Great stuff Bill, keep it up.
 shakitten wrote:



I live in Colorado, and MMJ is out in the open here. We've got shops on every freaking corner advertising plants and buds of all varieties, and edibles come in all types of baked forms. It's ridiculous, actually.
Pot's not my thing. Just doesn't react well with me. But if it's your thing, come on over to CO. All you need is a doctor approved MMJ card. They're sadly easy to get.
 

RESEARCH THE POT LAW, YOU WILL FIND A BUNCH OF HYPOCRACY,LIES AND MORE LIES.W.R. HURST BOUGHT THE LAW TO KILL HEMP PAPER.....

Everybody in my church loves this song...
 
 lily34 wrote:

  Very funny!

 


I know just how you feel Brother Ray! - R.I.P. we miss you!
 richlister wrote:
 

Is it 4:20 already?

I'm stoned right now... thank you.
 iscoot4peace wrote:
I first became acquainted with this song via Joe Cocker's excellent rendition on "Mad Dogs and Englishmen".  Great tune... and I dig both versions.  *
 
Me too ... Joe had a little more conviction in his delivery.  Maybe his need was more immediate.
niiiiiiice.
and the hookers sing..."lets go get boned"
 Cynaera wrote:

I read in the paper that a guy was busted yesterday for having a quarter-ounce of pot and a protopipe. His bail is set at $17,500.00.  The meth problem here is out of control, and law enforcement can't curtail it with their limited resources, so they're fighting the battles they know they can win - namely, busting pot-smokers (never mind the dealers) and playing up the busts in attempts to reassure "the public" that something is being done.  It's a joke.  I swear, if I wasn't so afraid of ending up in jail (in a state where gambling and prostitution is legal and one can buy a bottle of Jack Daniels in the grocery store!) I'd smoke pot rather than drink Jack Daniels for recreation.  I think that, if anything, people are more paranoid than ever, and let the witch-hunts begin. {#Eek}
 


I live in Colorado, and MMJ is out in the open here. We've got shops on every freaking corner advertising plants and buds of all varieties, and edibles come in all types of baked forms. It's ridiculous, actually.
Pot's not my thing. Just doesn't react well with me. But if it's your thing, come on over to CO. All you need is a doctor approved MMJ card. They're sadly easy to get.
Very nice!
 Cynaera wrote:

I read in the paper that a guy was busted yesterday for having a quarter-ounce of pot and a protopipe. His bail is set at $17,500.00.  The meth problem here is out of control, and law enforcement can't curtail it with their limited resources, so they're fighting the battles they know they can win - namely, busting pot-smokers (never mind the dealers) and playing up the busts in attempts to reassure "the public" that something is being done.  It's a joke.  I swear, if I wasn't so afraid of ending up in jail (in a state where gambling and prostitution is legal and one can buy a bottle of Jack Daniels in the grocery store!) I'd smoke pot rather than drink Jack Daniels for recreation.  I think that, if anything, people are more paranoid than ever, and let the witch-hunts begin. {#Eek}
 
I meant that pot smoking is much more accepted than in the past.  The last three US Presidents have admitted to "being around" or using controlled substances - particularly marijuana; that would not have been concievable in the 1950's and 60's, much less "acceptable".  I don't think that general "society" is more paranoid about drug use than they were forty or fifty years ago; the people who may be "more paranoid" are the ones who are using or selling controlled substances.


Yes, please.
 ThePoose wrote:
In Islam, this would be ''Let's go to the stoning.''
 

Heh.
 Proclivities wrote:

I'm not quite sure that "Society" fears drug use more now than it did in the 1950's and 60's.  It seems to me that it's much more accepted now than it was over fifty years ago... 

 
I read in the paper that a guy was busted yesterday for having a quarter-ounce of pot and a protopipe. His bail is set at $17,500.00.  The meth problem here is out of control, and law enforcement can't curtail it with their limited resources, so they're fighting the battles they know they can win - namely, busting pot-smokers (never mind the dealers) and playing up the busts in attempts to reassure "the public" that something is being done.  It's a joke.  I swear, if I wasn't so afraid of ending up in jail (in a state where gambling and prostitution is legal and one can buy a bottle of Jack Daniels in the grocery store!) I'd smoke pot rather than drink Jack Daniels for recreation.  I think that, if anything, people are more paranoid than ever, and let the witch-hunts begin. {#Eek}
Just to be clear, this is was written by Ashford & Simpson.
 james_of_tucson wrote:

And I just love it when people try to be genteel about things, to the point where they pretend that a black musician in the late 1950s or early 1960s wouldn't  relate to the expression "getting stoned" as meaning exactly, "smoking reefer."  Society feared this concept then, and to no sensible reason I can find, fears it even more today. 

 
I'm not quite sure that "Society" fears drug use more now than it did in the 1950's and 60's.  It seems to me that it's much more accepted now than it was over fifty years ago.  Also, I think this song was originally released later than 1961. 


I'm in. . . 
In Islam, this would be ''Let's go to the stoning.''
 daveesh wrote:
actually getting stoned back then meant getting drunk. my dad still uses that term.
 
And I just love it when people try to be genteel about things, to the point where they pretend that a black musician in the late 1950s or early 1960s wouldn't  relate to the expression "getting stoned" as meaning exactly, "smoking reefer."  Society feared this concept then, and to no sensible reason I can find, fears it even more today. 

I think Ray's got the right idea... sounds good to me!
"er, uh...actually, i think Ray did both..."

I think Ray was actually being sly.  He knew that if he said any words like "toke" or "dope" or any other drug reference, his song probably would never have been played.  Heck, I think Anslinger was still alive and enforcing his wacky views.
 Dgradeworkunit wrote:

"take a little nip" sure fits that definition...
 

er, uh...actually, i think Ray did both...
 daveesh wrote:
actually getting stoned back then meant getting drunk. my dad still uses that term.
 
"take a little nip" sure fits that definition...
Ray should have done this as a duet with Joe Cocker. It would have been a classic. Ray was one talented man. Too early here to take his advice today.
released the year I was born. Sounds older. 
actually getting stoned back then meant getting drunk. my dad still uses that term.
but if you happen to know somebody here, who'd like to take a toke, or you happen to be here by yourself - feel free to join ;-))
 horstman wrote:

Ah, could ya pass that over here, brother? Don't bogart that joint.{#Cowboy}

 
first of all, it's not a joint at all, it's a pipe ;-)) and second, i'm in SPb, Russia, and it's very snowy here, and Bob Marley is singing about shining sun...

 vinv wrote:
thank you, i'm getting stoned right now ;-))
 
Ah, could ya pass that over here, brother? Don't bogart that joint.{#Cowboy}

thank you, i'm getting stoned right now ;-))
Freekin great song!!{#Dancingbanana}
I second this sentiment!  
I think it is definitly maybe about blues
I first became acquainted with this song via Joe Cocker's excellent rendition on "Mad Dogs and Englishmen".  Great tune... and I dig both versions.  *
yes, let's!
Awesome set:
- Ray Charles - Let's Go Get Stoned
- Marc Broussard - Home
- Big Country - Your Spirit To Me

Just a little taste.  
 (8?» wrote:Originally Posted by tedhead:
stuff like THIS is why I'm listening to RP everyday.....thanks (of course this from an era when "stoned" meant drunk)
Stoned is stoned is stoned. What difference does the path make?
 
     I totally agree,,,,,{#Lol}     (song's a 10,either way)
Gin and pot just after i get in from work...well OK but only cause you asked so nice Ray.
Many, many years ago, I was the PR guy for the Latin Casino in New Jersey. I saw and met most of the "greats" of the post war years through the early 60's. Since those days I have always said my headstone should say - "a life well spent - he saw Ray Charles and James Brown, twice a night, for two weeks." Both were forces of nature (and never did the same show twice).
Jim Cummings
One of my fav Ray Charles tunes!!{#Clap}
Goat Smoked
Ray certainly did his share of drugs so he definitely spoke from experience in this one.  Just another terrific song from him.
good advice!
I saw Ray several times but once during his down time he was playing lil dinner theaters and everybody from work was treated to a night with Ray and I don't think they knew what they were in for, our table was closest to his piano and I was a diehard fan at time and just went crazy, he was maybe 10 ft away and played for close to 2 hrs. Now I was at Texas Pop Festival , Atlanta Pop festival, saw all the big groups first tours but that night with Ray with something special that I will never forget, and had the privledge of telling him so as he was leaving and he just flashed that big smile and said "why,  thank you I enjoyed it too" . What a class act and talent
 DoctorHooey wrote:
I have no *cough* idea what he's *cough* talking about ...
  Something about *cough* stones, makes no *cough cough* sense to me ......... 


{#Cowboy}
 UltraNurd wrote:
That is an awesome kid story, Bill.
 

Yeah, I really could see how that could twist a young one's brain a bit.

"Wait... why would he want to go out and get rocks thrown at him? huh?!"

 

only in a word? … ok ..... Mr. Ray Charles Robinson, is simply !Magical!

 ** 10 **



That is an awesome kid story, Bill.
 Dianyla wrote:
Did he just say what I think he just said?

 
Yeah he did, he was a huge addict.
Very provocative. Sorry, I don't smoke weed, but I DO need liquor instead of coffee to wake me up.
Works for me!!!!!

Cowboy
Yes, lets... um... I'm out, are you carrying?
ThePoose wrote:
Funny, that's what Frank Sinatra said of him: ''Ray Charles is the one true genius in this business.''
And Frank should know..........
I feel better already
DoctorHooey wrote:
I have no *cough* idea what he's *cough* talking about ...
taking nips...lol
I have no *cough* idea what he's *cough* talking about ...
Aaahh, Brother Ray!
kurtster wrote:
Thanks for reminding me its time for my morning wake and bake.
Yee Haa!
Thanks for reminding me its time for my morning wake and bake.
Did he just say what I think he just said?
Can I rate Bill's comment after the song? I'd give it a 10.
Good Idea!!...see ya!
Wait, did Bill just admit to doing DRUGS??
The reality check of RC played after MB just underscores how good MB is. Dude is really good IMO
Get stoned? well if you say so! ;)
Ray! Ray, Ray, Ray... I'm THERE, bud! Dig, dawg!
I'm ready Ray!
It's playlists like this that make me adore RP!!
Come on gang! Let's GO GET STONED.
phillips wrote:
bill just said, "it worked for me for a number of years."
::gasp:: You mean I've been listening to one of those stations?? :oP
bill just said, "it worked for me for a number of years."
brb_331 wrote:
The Genius of Ray Charles...
Funny, that's what Frank Sinatra said of him: ''Ray Charles is the one true genius in this business.''
Of the three Georgia greats (James Brown, Ray Charles and Richard Penniman), only Little Richard is still alive and grooving; the other two are truly now soul brothers.
ClashVixen wrote:
See...everybody smokes...
Or shoots...
See...everybody smokes...
The title of this puts me in mind of Monty Python's Life of Brian... ;-)
Damn...this is just a tease..I'm at work, otherwise...
Before Lou Reed and Keith Richards made heroin "chic" (for better or worse), there was Ray, and Bird, and Miles, and the list goes on.
Best idea I've heard all day!
Yes, let's do that...look, perfect timing. hmmm. gotta scoot, gotta go get...
Wow, this is an oldie but a goodie!
My sentiments exactly! (is it 5 yet?)
catmaven wrote:
The day I can stand to listen to Ray Charles may never come. However, I have at least one good friend who likes to listen to him, so maybe that can preserve me from rancorous outcries.
Based on many of your Song Comments, I'd say his/her mission is failing.