This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Mess Around" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The "Mess Around" is a song written byAhmet Ertegun, co-founder and then-vice-president ofAtlantic Records,^[1] under the pseudonym of A. Nugetre,^[2] or "Nuggy".^[3] It was performed byRay Charles, and was one of Charles's first hits.

Ertegun claimed his inspiration for writing "Mess Around" wasstride pianistPete Johnson.^{[citation needed]} Earlier versions of the tune'sNew Orleansboogiepiano riff can be heard in songs from the early 1930s and 1940s, with perhaps the earliest example beingCharles "Cow Cow" Davenport's "Cow Cow Blues" from 1928.Dr. John also spoke about the origin of this tune on hisDr John Teaches New Orleans Piano series ofDVDs.^{[citation needed]}

The song's lyrics urge listeners to dance ("everybody do the Mess Around"), along with a few other key phrases, notably "see that girl with the red dress on", harkening back to "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie",Pinetop Smith's early boogie-woogie classic.

"Mess Around" became a bigR&B charted hit when released as a single in early 1953. It was later included on Charles's 1957compilation albumRay Charles.

• It wascovered bythe Animals in 1965 on the albumsThe Animals on Tour andAnimal Tracks.
• Dr. John included it in his 1972 collection ofNew Orleans classicsDr. John's Gumbo.
• Professor Longhair covered the song on several of his albums, includingRock 'n' Roll Gumbo (1974).
• It was covered by the UKnew wave bandSqueeze and featured on their 1980 albumArgybargy deluxe edition as a live version.Jools Holland said Ray Charles was so impressed that Squeeze were doing a version, Ray sent the band his suit.

• The song was featured in the Americancomedy filmPlanes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) during a scene in which Del Griffith (John Candy) tries to dance to the song on the radio while driving a car at night on the freeway, and while his passenger Neal Page (Steve Martin) sleeps beside him. This scene has been parodied in theFamily Guy specialIt's a Trap! (2011) andTed 2 (2015)
• It was featured in the 2004 biographical filmRay of Ray Charles.
• The song was played on the piano in the seriesLucifer, season one, episode nine, by Lucifer Morningstar and Father Frank.

This 1950sR&B/soul music song-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• 1953 singles
• Ray Charles songs
• The Animals songs
• Atlantic Records singles
• Songs written by Ahmet Ertegun
• Dr. John songs
• 1953 songs
• 1950s rhythm and blues song stubs

• Articles needing additional references from June 2010
• All articles needing additional references
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2012
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022
• All stub articles