Mess Around

For a definition of the verb "mess around", see the Wiktionary entry mess around.

"Mess Around"
Single by Ray Charles
Released	June 19, 1953
Format	7" 45rpm
Recorded	May 17, 1953
Label	Atlantic Records 999
Writer(s)	Ahmet Ertegün
Ray Charles singles chronology
"Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand" (1951) "Mess Around" (1953) "It Should Have Been Me" (1954)

"Mess Around", written by Atlantic Records president and founder Ahmet Ertegün using the pseudonym of "A. Nugetre", or "Nuggy" on record labels, was one of Ray Charles’ first hits. Ertegün claims his inspiration for writing "Mess Around" was Pete Johnson.^[1]

The lyrics urge listeners to dance ("mess around"), along with a few other key phrases harkening back to "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie", an early boogie woogie classic. "Mess Around" became a big R&B charted hit when released as a single in early 1953.

Covers and Cultural References

• It was covered by The Animals in 1965.
• The song was featured in the film Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, as John Candy plays along with his air piano and air saxophone.
• It was featured in the 2004 biopic Ray.
• Dr. John included it in his collection of New Orleans classics Dr. John's Gumbo.
• It was covered by New York City "psycho swing" and ska band Tri-State Conspiracy in 2008 on their 2nd album Nuisance.
• A small portion of the song was featured in the 2010 Family Guy remake of Return of the Jedi entitled It's a Trap! in an homage to the famous scene from "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles."

References

1. ^ http://www.discogs.com/artist/Ahmet+Ertegun?anv=Nugetre Dicogs

This 1950s R&B/soul music song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: 1953 singles Ray Charles songs The Animals songs Atlantic Records singles 1950s R&B song stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР Tāniko Ji Han Jae Look at other dictionaries: mess around — {v. phr.} 1. To engage in idle or purposeless activity. * /Come on, you guys, start doing some work, don t just mess around all day!/ 2. {vulgar} To be promiscuous; to indulge in sex with little discrimination as to who the partner is. * /Allen… …   Dictionary of American idioms mess around — {v. phr.} 1. To engage in idle or purposeless activity. * /Come on, you guys, start doing some work, don t just mess around all day!/ 2. {vulgar} To be promiscuous; to indulge in sex with little discrimination as to who the partner is. * /Allen… …   Dictionary of American idioms Mess Around — Single par Ray Charles Sortie 1953 Durée 2 min et 40 s Genre Blues Mess Around fut l un des premiers grands succès de Ray Charles. Elle a été écrite par Ahmet Ertegün, fon …   Wikipédia en Français mess around — [v] fiddle; goof off amuse oneself, dabble, dawdle, doodle, fool around, loiter, muck around*, play, play around, play the fool*, potter, puddle, putter, tinker, trifle; concepts 87,363 Ant. labor, toil, work …   New thesaurus Mess Around — Mess Around  сингл Рэя Чарльза, один из первых его синглов, получивших признание среди широкой публики. Автор песни  Ахмед Эртегун, президент и основатель «Atlantic Records». При написании песни он использовал текст популярной в… …   Википедия mess around — (in BRIT, also use mess about) 1) PHRASAL VERB If you mess around or mess about, you spend time doing things without any particular purpose or without achieving anything. [V P] We were just messing around playing with paint... [V P] Stop messing… …   English dictionary mess around — phrasal verb mess about or mess around Word forms mess about : present tense I/you/we/they mess about he/she/it messes about present participle messing about past tense messed about past participle messed about British informal 1) [intransitive]… …   English dictionary Mess around — Este artículo o sección necesita referencias que aparezcan en una publicación acreditada, como revistas especializadas, monografías, prensa diaria o páginas de Internet fidedignas. Puedes añadirlas así o avisar …   Wikipedia Español mess around — to waste time doing something without a particular purpose. The kids were just messing around at the mall. Usage notes: often used in the not mess around to act with a serious purpose: Being a federal agent on the track of terrorists, Matt doesn… …   New idioms dictionary mess around — v. (colloq.) (AE) (D; intr.) to mess around with * * * (colloq.) (AE) (D; intr.) to mess around with …   Combinatory dictionary 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”