“I Love You, I Love You (I Will Never Let You Go)”
Song by The Maxin Trio
Ray Charles’ first-ever record release was a 78 featuring “I Love You, I Love You (I Will Never Let You Go)” and “Confession Blues”; it was released in February 1949 on the Down Beat label (Down Beat 171-A).
Ray himself wrote “I Love You, I Love You (I Will Never Let You Go)” and had been playing it with the band he was in, the McSon Trio, which also featured his friends Gossie McKee on guitar and Milton Garret on bass. The hapless band had their name misspelled on the record as “The Maxin Trio”, but at least all three got their names on the label correctly. (Ray gets a separate vocal credit too; his writing credit is under his real name R. C. Robinson.)
“I Love You, I Love You (I Will Never Let You Go)” is a smooth, peppy tune whose lyrics don’t stray much beyond the title sentiment. Ray begins the performance with dramatic, “ladieees and gentlemen!” high-register piano notes, and he and Garret immediately settle into their groove. Ray’s voice is smooth and good-natured, repeating his wide-eyed promises to the object of his affections.
I live only for you my love
Just as sure as the stars above
I love you, I love you, I always will
I will not let you go
Ray’s singing is loose, and although it isn’t yet his “real” voice, it is still a young Ray Charles and something of a warm wonder to hear. He’s cheeky enough to switch the lyrics out at one point –
I love you, I crave you, I always will
I will not let you go
– and you can almost see him smiling with a practiced bashfulness on the word “crave”. I bet the girls loved hearing this unexpected bit of “poetry” while he was singing!
His piano is already accomplished, and throughout the song Ray finds complicated runs of notes with great ease. The audio quality of the song, given its time, allows the listener to hear not just his melodies but actually his fingers hitting the keys – a most welcome physical immediacy not present in modern piano recordings.
Ray indulges in a short solo, again concentrating on the higher keys while Garret’s swaying bass keeps the song moored to the earth. McKee then finally enters with his own solo, pleasant enough but drowned out by Ray, who despite playing more softly can’t help but overpower whatever small, distantly-placed guitar amp was being used in the studio during recording.
While “I Love You, I Love You (I Will Never Let You Go)” is historically important as the first Ray-written song ever released, it was in fact the 78’s other side, “Confession Blues”, that became a Top 5 R&B hit upon its release, and thus the lesser-known of the 78’s two songs.
Many quasi-bootleg LPs have been released over the years assembling various pre-Atlantic Ray 78s of 1949-51, sometimes including “I Love You, I Love You (I Will Never Let You Go)”. These are generally not recommended. The best source for this era of Ray’s career is a comprehensive CD compilation of all of these songs, or an original copy of the 78s. (“I Love You, I Love You (I Will Never Let You Go)” is one of Ray’s less rare ones, and affordable copies often pop up for sale.)
This song is sometimes (such as on the aforementioned fly-by-night LPs) erroneously known by titles like “I Live Only For You” or “I’ll Never Let You Go”.
Single releases
“I Love You, I Love You (I Will Never Let You Go)”
by The Maxin Trio
b/w
“Confession Blues”
by The Maxin Trio
Listen to “I Love You, I Love You (I Will Never Let You Go)”
Get your own “I Love You, I Love You (I Will Never Let You Go)” on MP3 from Amazon. Or get the complete 1948-51 recordings CD.