“Riding Thumb”
Song by Ray Charles
“Riding Thumb” is the fourth song on side A of Ray’s 1978 album Love And Peace. There are overt disco elements on “Riding Thumb”, but then again it’s a Frankenstein monster of several styles. Trumpet blasts prop up the rhythm like some of Ray’s 1960s recordings, and the frenetic pace and Ray’s angry-ish, attention-demanding vocals recall his 1975 Stevie Wonder cover “Living In The City”. A guitar like a slithering water moccasin takes a solo in the middle. And yes, the verses sit on a bed made of busy disco beats.
The song’s lyrics are about moving, motion – the main character leaves “his home down in Macon, Georgia” and heads for new opportunities, brushing off his family in the process with fake promises that he’ll write them. The character in this song is celebrating the open freedom of America, not its opportunities for success; he is wandering, as Ray tended to so often do on his yearly tours.
“Riding Thumb” was released as a single on Atlantic/Crossover in 1978 to promote Love And Peace, an album (and single) that unfortunately nobody bought. Copies of that vinyl single are very hard to find but it has the distinction of including the final non-album B-side of Ray’s life, the flute-led “You Forgot Your Memory”. Much more common are blue-label promo versions which have “Riding Thumb” on both sides.
Single releases
Listen to “Riding Thumb”
Songs on Love And Peace