“Let Me Love You”
Song by Ray Charles
In April 1969, Ray Charles released a single featuring two songs not on any album. The A-side was “Let Me Love You”, written by Jimmy Holiday; the B-side of the single (ABC 11213) was “I’m Satisfied”. It aimed to keep Ray in the public eye in between the I’m All Yours Baby! and Doing His Thing LPs, which came two months before and one month after this single, respectively. Although not on Doing His Thing, “Let Me Love You” is a kind of advance promo for that album, as it’s in the same loose R&B style, unlike the densely orchestrated makeout music of I’m All Yours Baby!.
Jimmy Holiday was a well-known and respected songwriter who’d already co-written “Understanding” with Ray from the A Portrait Of Ray album in 1967. “Let Me Love You”, as recorded by Ray Charles, is tight and tough, an endlessly enjoyable slice of late-1960s R&B funk whose main instrumental star is the guitar, not the piano.
A chirpy, on-the-beat electric guitar rings out the beat while the rhythm section bashes away and couches the song in its comfortable little groove. Horns provide some of the color that’s splashed on top of that pulse – it’s a little like a more relaxed Otis Redding tune.
Front and center, as always, is Ray Charles’ voice. He is in a feisty mood on “Let Me Love You”, and he lets you know it in no uncertain terms right from the outset with his spoken/yelled introduction in the opening seconds of the song:
Hey y’all! This is Brother Ray. I got something I wanna talk to you about.
The song itself, lyrically, is an unconvincing promise that he’s “tired of running from town to town” and is looking to settle down with his woman. He pledges a number of clichéd roles for himself and her – he’ll be her water when her well runs dry, shelter whenever it rains, etc. One begins to sense a certain dissonance in his professions; since when did dedicated womanizer Ray Charles circa 1969 feel his life was too lonely?
He also promises that, “like Dr. Feelgood”, he can ease her pain. That, along with the sweaty urgency of the band and the title of the song itself, cast further doubt on the sincerity of his promises and direct attention to the fact that he wants to love this woman, right now. Like many such Ray songs, this is all bluster to get the woman in bed. He may indeed stick around in the future with her, but that’s not really the point.
“Let Me Love You” is not generally added to Ray Charles compilations, and you’ll have to find an original copy of the ABC single to hear it. That’s no problem, though; it’s commonly seen for sale and shouldn’t cost much. It’s well worth it too; Ray’s late 60s R&B work is criminally under-appreciated, and it’s the smart music fan who endeavors to seek out hidden diamonds like “Let Me Love You”.
Single releases
Listen to “Let Me Love You”
Get your own “Let Me Love You” on 45 or MP3 from Amazon. Or get the out-of-print complete ABC singles 5xCD box set.