RPM International, now the Ray Charles Memorial Library
2107 West Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles
2004 · album
Genius Loves Company: making room for a duet
Ray Charles’s duet album moves from the familiar surroundings of RPM to orchestral recording at Warner Bros. and a final mix at Capitol.
Genius Loves Company invited other singers into Ray Charles’s working world. Much of the album was recorded at his RPM studio in Los Angeles, with orchestral sessions at Warner Bros. and mixing at Capitol. The route matters because the project aimed to create musical exchanges between people sharing a room. Producers and engineers describe how they adapted that room and worked with an artist who knew what he wanted to hear.
Explore the places
Markers identify buildings or documented location references. They do not mark an exact recording room, stage position or camera angle.
- RPM International, now the Ray Charles Memorial Library — Position not yet established
- Warner Bros. Studios — Map source
- Capitol Studios — Map source
1 place remains listed without a pin.
A familiar room, opened to guests
The transcribed original credits place Here We Go Again, the duet with Norah Jones, at RPM International Studio. They name Terry Howard as recording engineer and distinguish Charles’s keyboards from Jones’s piano. That detail gives the duet a physical arrangement as well as a pairing of famous names: two musicians with different parts, recorded within Charles’s established workplace. These roles are recorded separately in the album documentation. [1]
The engineer beside him
In Barry Rudolph’s original interview, Howard recalled sitting beside Charles at the console and learning from his decisions about tempo, key and emotional delivery. He described an artist sensitive to small changes in monitoring and capable of identifying problems within a mix. Familiarity with the room and its sound gave Charles a practical role in recording, extending beyond the vocal performance heard on the finished record. [2]
Making live interaction possible
Howard said that the tracks he worked on for Genius Loves Company returned to an approach in which arrangements were worked out and musicians recorded together. He contrasted that experience with adding Charles’s voice and piano to otherwise finished tracks. His recollection explains the value of shared time in a room: a duet could develop through decisions made during performance, rather than only through the later combination of separate contributions. [2]
A different scale at Warner Bros.
Blair Jackson’s interviews with the project’s producers distinguish RPM sessions from the live orchestral work at Warner Bros.’ Eastwood Scoring Stage. Willie Nelson’s It Was a Very Good Year helped prompt that larger setting; Michael McDonald and Johnny Mathis also recorded with the orchestra. The broad studio-lot Place provides orientation. The article’s room name remains testimony about the session, without turning a lot marker into an exact stage or microphone position. [3]
The mix has its own workplace
Jackson’s account identifies Al Schmitt mixing at Capitol’s Studio C. The original credit transcription separately credits Schmitt at Capitol for the Norah Jones track. Recording and mixing therefore have different geographic anchors. In this World the Capitol link uses the broad studio facility, preserving the distinction between Studio C and the Studio A associated with other artists. A building reference does not imply that every room inside it is interchangeable. [3] [1]
The story in real places
Warner Bros. Studios
3400 Warner Boulevard, Burbank
Orchestral duets are recorded on the Warner Bros. lot
2003–2004 album sessions
Genius Loves Company orchestral sessions with Willie Nelson, Michael McDonald and Johnny Mathis took place at Warner Bros.’ Eastwood Scoring Stage. [3]
Capitol Studios
1750 Vine Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles
Reading the place today
RPM’s later library role and current visiting arrangements are separate from its use for these sessions. Capitol and Warner Bros. are working studio properties. Consult present operators for access; no map reference grants entry to a recording room, mix suite or scoring stage.
Sources
- Genius Loves Company — transcribed original album credits — AlbumLinerNotes / Concord original credits transcription. Checked 2026-10-17.
- Ray Charles and Mr. T — Terry Howard interview — MIX / Barry Rudolph. Checked 2026-10-17.
- Ray Charles — original Genius Loves Company producer interviews — MIX / Blair Jackson. Checked 2026-10-17.