“Everybody’s Handsome Child”
Song by Ray Charles
A refreshed and high-spirited Ray Charles delivers a throaty message of pride and self-love on his 1996 song “Everybody’s Handsome Child”, the seventh track on his non-vinyl Strong Love Affair album.
“Everybody’s Handsome Child”, written like many songs on the album by Richard Niles and Phil Spalding, is constructed of high-tech keyboards plus real instruments. The effect of mixing the perfectly-timed synth sounds with the adept and energized brass band, live drummer, and others is to yield a blastingly crisp yet full and wide sound.
The song’s words are written from the point of view of a guy who is everybody’s darling, and knows it. There is no humility in the lyrics of “Everybody’s Handsome Child”; Ray happily reports the many compliments he regularly receives and gleefully describes the “pretty women” who follow him around.
Characterizing himself as “kinda cute and a little bit wild”, it isn’t known exactly how much of his real self Ray Charles might have seen in this song, but he gets a big kick out of singing it (and singing appears to be his only contribution; the music was recorded in London and Paris and then sent to him in Los Angeles). As gritty as ever, his voice shouts and struts through each line, trying to give the impression that he’s not bragging, he’s just describing.
It doesn’t work, and it doesn’t matter. The listener isn’t fooled into thinking Ray has any modesty on this song, and isn’t supposed to be.
The only time that Ray softens his voice is on a brief spoken section featuring a dialogue between him and Raelet Sylvia Mason-James. Ray answers her insistent and coy “Hey Ray, can you come out to play?” with an amused, patient tone; he was an experienced enough old dog to instantly drop down into his charming “speaking with a woman” voice. It’s a great moment.
If most of Ray’s audience had moved on by 1996, or was still playing forty-year-old records at the expense of his newer stuff, that wasn’t Ray’s problem. He’s loving what he’s doing on “Everybody’s Handsome Child”, because he still indeed was – as the lyrics mention – an evergreen.
“Everybody’s Handsome Child” has never been released on vinyl. To hear it, find a copy of the Strong Love Affair CD (or cassette if you’re so inclined). It’s a great album, full of surprises like this buoyant performance.
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