“Born To Be Blue”

Ray Charles covered Mel Tormé’s 1946 classic “Born To Be Blue” on his 1963 LP Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul. With a string arrangement by Sid Feller, and a melody and sentiment that suited Ray perfectly, “Born To Be Blue” is a truly forgotten Ray Charles classic, a great performance that gets no attention whatsoever these days.

Maybe Ray Charles just recorded too much great music for every individual moment to stand out; if so, it’s songs like “Born To Be Blue” that await the lucky Ray enthusiast. The song was written by Tormé and his partner Robert Wells in 1946 and was already a standard by the time Ray got to it in 1963. (It has continued to prove durable, being covered by jazz singers and even rocks stars over the years. Ella Fitzgerald, Jack Bruce, Stan Getz, and Steve Miller all recorded the song, and it has been used as album titles several times as well.)

Sid Feller’s arrangement on Ray Charles’ version of “Born To Be Blue” slides in from the outset, gentle and lovely. Ray’s voice is in a high register, his voice cracking with delicate emotion on the song’s clever but somewhat overwrought lyrics.

Some folk were meant to live in clover
But they are such chosen few
Clover being green is something I’ve never seen
‘Cause I was born to be blue

The lyrics detail the beautiful colors of the world that are off-limits to the haunted protagonist, who is destined only for bluer hues. Incidentally I’ve always admired Ray’s singing lyrics that mention “seeing” things. He was indeed sighted until about the age of six, so he had memories of colors. It may be facile to suggest, but maybe the fact that colors were mere memories influenced his tender singing on “Born To Be Blue”. At any rate, on the song’s final line he changes the focus of the “I was born to be blue” lyric from colors to music specifically: “I was born to sing the blues…”

At times the melody dips down into a tenor’s range, and Ray of course transitions smoothly. At this time in his career, with heroin addiction, drug busts, worldwide fame, and paternity suits greatly complicating his life, Brother Ray’s performances often took on a captivating fragility, and it’s in evidence throughout the Ingredients LP. “Born To Be Blue” is a fine example of it – Ray loved to escape his problems when he could, and losing himself in a self-pitying but comfortingly beautiful soundscape like this song makes for an excellent listen.

“Born To Be Blue” was the third song on Side A of the Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul album, but was not used for any single. Copies of that vinyl LP are easy to find and highly recommended.

Listen to “Born To Be Blue”

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