“Here We Go Again”

The honeyed melodies and heartsick resignation of “Here We Go Again”, a country tune Ray Charles released in 1967, recall his then-recent hit “Crying Time”. Through a dense, slow-moving stew kept alive by the drummer’s lean-sounding cracks, Ray shares the song with a swirling, churchy-sounding Wurlitzer as he sighs through the simple and self-admonishing lyrics.

“Here We Go Again”, written by Red Steagall and Don Lanier, was released as a single A-side in April 1967 ahead of the June 1967 LP Listen, where it was the first song on Side 2. The single was released as ABC 10938 with the non-LP B-side “Somebody Ought To Write A Book About It”. (Steagall’s name, incidentally, is misspelled “Speagall” on the 45. Oops.)

Ray himself plays a piano; neither the 45 nor the LP featured musician credits, so it’s not known who plays the fairground organ or who the backup female singer is on “Here We Go Again”. As a superstar Ray would often get away with this lack of liner notes, even though his supporting players and singers often gave recordings significant portions of their special appeal.

The lyrics describe a man waiting in dread, knowing that his ex-lover is coming back to town and will be looking him up. “I’ll take her back again,” he moans, knowing that he shouldn’t but he remains powerless to stick up for himself:

Here we go again
The phone will ring again
I’ll be her fool again

Ray often sang songs about hopeless matters of the heart, but usually these were either broken-hearted blues after she had left him, or proud, manful threats that she’d better toe the line if she knows what’s good for her. Steagall and Lanier’s “Here We Go Again” is notable in that it’s about a guy who is stuck in a spiral, not of loneliness, but of being pursued by the wrong irresistible woman – a new kind of dejection, if not exactly lonesomeness.

The title phrase, especially, is sung in a middle-to-high register that brings out the best of Ray Charles’ country voice: low enough to feel like he’s in control of himself, but high enough to blaze with emotional torment. Ray manages to make “Here We Go Again” both poignant and contemptuous, and it’s a captivating listen.

He gets way into the country-ness of it, too. Although arranged by Sid Feller, this is no grandiloquent performance with giant orchestras and choirs as on his legendary 1962 hits like “I Can’t Stop Loving You”; “Here We Go Again” finds Ray slurring his Rs with relish: “Herrrrrre we go again,” whimpers the native Georgian, with an enunciation as clear and slow as water in a creek.

Ad for “Here We Go Again” from Billboard Magazine (1967).

Musically, it’s the lounge organ that occupies the most prominent position. During its own solo (under which Ray indulges in some jaw-dropping blues piano of his own) it wheedles out some extraordinarily high-pitched notes, like a nightmarish skating rink soundtrack.

The performance is sweet throughout, and strikes a great balance between style and substance. Ray’s voice and piano are at the top of their games, and he’s enjoying himself on “Here We Go Again” immensely.

Single releases

ABC 10938
April 1967

“Here We Go Again”
b/w
“Somebody Ought To Write A Book About It”

Listen to “Here We Go Again”

Get your own “Here We Go Again” on 45, LP or MP3 from Amazon. Or get the out-of-print complete ABC singles 5xCD box set.