“In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)”

Leroy Carr’s 1935 song “In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)” was covered by Ray Charles on his 1963 Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul LP. It’s the longest track on the LP, and was arranged by Benny Carter with famed trumpeter Phillip Guilbeau in a prominent role. (Note that this is a different song than Shifty Henry’s “Late In The Evening Blues”, released by Ray on a 78 in 1950.)

“In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)” gives Ray a chance to stretch out and indulge in some slow, take-as-long-as-you-need blues. It begins with a lengthy instrumental introduction, during which he proves that he remained the world’s greatest blues piano player. The notes just fly off the keyboard, chosen with a kind of adroit precision but encouraged to wander where the emotion of the moment may take them. Heart, you feel it; fingers, you play it.

Finally Ray begins to sing about halfway through, and the listener is struck by two unexpected realities: the singing is going to be gentle and restrained, and Guilbeau’s muted trumpet is co-starring. That trumpet is really what gives “In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)” it’s evening feel; with Carr’s lyrics about being at home alone when the sun goes down, there’s no more appropriate sound than the muted horn’s mournful tones spilling out onto the ground all around Ray.

Somehow, Ray manages to keep his voice low and bluesy for nearly the entirety of “In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)”; his famous sudden howls and grunts are nowhere to be found. The tense, deliberate movements of the band add further to the drama that the vocals invoke; this is real, palpable, gutter misery, endured in the inert halo of street lamps.

He first allows himself some vocal dynamism when he introduces his trumpet player’s solo – “all right, Mr. Phillip” – during which he extemporizes some alternately suspicious (for her) and encouraging (for the band) words: “Oh, what is she doing tonight?” “All right!”

At last, on the final verse, Ray unleashes his voice so it can soar up to its more familiar tones: vigorous and tormented, he howls the closing lyrics as the rest of the brass band swells up noisily around him; everyone finally collapses in a heap together, Ray letting out one final exuberant “all right!” as the sounds fades away.

“In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)” could have been recorded by nobody else but Ray Charles circa 1963, and as a duet between him and the trumpet, it’s magnificent. Allowing the wrenching tale to unfold over nearly six minutes was the only real choice that could have been made, and listening to the performance gives goose bumps on all counts.

The song was not released as a single, and can be found as the first song on Side 2 of the Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul LP. Copies of this landmark album are frequently seen for sale.

Listen to “In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)”

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