Do I Ever Cross Your Mind

After returning to the vinyl world with the 1983 album Wish You Were Here Tonight, Ray Charles bettered that LP with his second for Columbia Records, Do I Ever Cross Your Mind (FC 38990), released in July 1984.

Ray’s deal with Columbia was that he would make music to appeal to the country music market – and Ray was certainly game, having become a global phenomenon in the early 1960s with recordings like “I Can’t Stop Loving You” that reworked the country music that he always loved.

Is it really country?

And there are indeed elements of country throughout Do I Ever Cross Your Mind: pedal steel, fiddles, and the like. But ultimately, these are mere embellishments on what is essentially a smooth, soulful pop-rock album.

The country feel of the album, to the extent that it exists, comes more from Ray’s own warm, homespun persona, as well as the lyrics of many of the songs. In the end, though, and as with all Ray Charles music, it can’t be classified: Do I Ever Cross Your Mind is in the Ray Charles genre, pure and simple.

The ease with which Ray and his musicians move through disparate ideas on this LP is impressive. Moments like the smooth, slinky “They Call It Love” and the stately “I Was On Georgia Time” contrast with the goofy ode to sex “(All I Wanna Do Is) Lay Around And Love On You” and the now-politically incorrect “Workin’ Man’s Woman”. What connects the varying styles is the panache of the musicians and the heartfelt attention that Ray obviously gives to the material.

Record covers

Record labels

Singles with songs from Do I Ever Cross Your Mind

Columbia 4420
March 1984

“Do I Ever Cross Your Mind”
b/w
“They Call It Love”

Columbia 4500
June 1984

“Woman Sensuous Woman”
b/w
“I Was On Georgia Time”

Columbia 4531
July 1984

“Rock And Roll Shoes”
[from Friendship]
b/w
“Then I’ll Be Over You”

Track listing

Side A
1. “I Had It All”
2. “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind”
3. “Woman Sensuous Woman”
4. “Then I’ll Be Over You”
5. “(All I Wanna Do Is) Lay Around And Love On You”

Side B
1. “Love Of My Life”
2. “They Call It Love”
3. “If I Were You”
4. “Workin’ Man’s Woman”
5. “I Was On Georgia Time”

Listen to Do I Ever Cross Your Mind

Do I Ever Cross Your Mind was never released on CD, despite it being a highlight of 1980s-era Ray Charles. Finding used, or even sealed, original copies for sale is, fortunately, quite easy.

Get your own Do I Ever Cross Your Mind on LP or MP3 from Amazon.