“Just You, Just Me”

“Just You, Just Me” is a jazzy duet from Ray Charles and Betty Carter’s 1961 album Ray Charles & Betty Carter. Originally appearing in the early talkie film Marianne (1929), it is expanded here and solidified by Marty Paich’s animated arrangement and Ray and Betty’s sensuous, playful vocals.

Betty Carter takes the first verse, suggesting that the two find a place “to cuddle and coo”, and Ray takes the practical, carpe diem parts (“Oh gee!”). Ray’s vocals are naked and earnest; he sounds not like a seducer but more like a man laying his desire on the line, for good or ill. As throughout the LP, Betty’s voice is a pure-toned siren song.

“Just You, Just Me” is short, less than two minutes, and is the final song on Side 2. Ray and Betty have agreed upon the final outcome of an album full of innuendo, entreaties, lustful promises and bold suggestions: “I’ll tie a knot around wonderful you,” they sing joyously to one another – the album, and the night, has ended in success.

And that’s as it should be – after all, as Ray slyly reckons:

Oh, gee!
What are your charms for?
What are my arms for?
Use your imagination!

And so “Just You, Just Me” is an exercise in economy; after Betty and Ray each get a turn singing their parts, an ebullient saxophone solo adds some welcome dynamics to the song, but it’s a short solo: soon, Ray is back, repeating his “oh gee” section, and Betty happily acquiesces. Finally in agreement, nothing more needs to be said.

“Just You, Just Me” is a fun moment on an album full of romanticism and tensions about an undecided outcome; its anticipatory air is the walk together down the hallway to the bedroom – hurried, perhaps, but with an air of relief that the pre-ritual dance has ended.

Listen to “Just You, Just Me”

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