Saturday, September 3, 2016

Ray Charles - You Don't Know Me

1962 saw a very unusual album released.  Blues giant Ray Charles recorded "Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music" which included songs in the Country and Folk genres.  It was a spectacular success, selling over half a million copies in the first three months after release.  The singles from the album were selling at a rate of 100,000 a week.

It was also a critical success: Charles won a Grammy for this in 1963, and the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2001.  This album is listed at #49 of CMT's top 100 Country albums, and Rolling Stone lists this at #104 of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.

Listening to it, I can't help but think about how much it sounds like something from Patsy Cline.



You Don't Know Me (Songwriters: Cindy Walker, Eddie Arnold)
You give your hand to me
And then you say hello
And I can hardly speak
My heart is beating so
And anyone can tell
You think you know me well
But you don't know me (no you don't know me)
No you don't know the one
Who dreams of you at night
And longs to kiss your lips
Longs to hold you tight
Oh I am just a friend
That's all I've ever been
Cause you don't know me (no you don't know me)
I never knew the art of making love
No my heart aches with love for you
Afraid and shy I let my chance go by
The chance that you might love me too (love me too)
You give your hand to me
And then you say goodbye
I watch you walk away beside the lucky guy
Oh you will never know
The one who loves you so
Well you don't know me
I never knew the art of making love
No my heart aches with love for you
Afraid and shy I let my chance go by
The chance that you might love me too (love me too)
You give your hand to me
And then you say goodbye
I watch you walk away beside the lucky guy
Oh you will never know
The one who loves you so
Well you don't know me
You don't know me
Oh you don't know me

3 comments:

Divemedic said...

I always felt a connection to this song. After all, who hasn't ever been in the "friend zone?"

Chickenmom said...

Ahhh, the good stuff. Thanks Borepatch - for the memories!

Windy Wilson said...

Ray Charles, early Johnny Cash, late Johnny Cash, Elvis, Patsy Cline as you note, heck, even Bob Wills. Crossover, decried by purists, is the way music develops, in a way it's cross-pollination. My Piano teacher said once that Debussy used the chord combinations of Jazz, but not the rhythms.