“Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'”

By the time of Ray Charles’ October 1977 album True To Life, he had long been known for his unexpected musical choices that drew from pre-war Americana and the lighter end of pop standards. So it wasn’t shocking that he’d record the 1943 Rogers and Hammerstein classic “Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'”, but it is pretty impressive that it fits so well on the earthy sublimity that is its parent LP.

As a key song from the musical Oklahoma!, “Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'” was the song that introduced Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II (music and lyrics, respectively) to the world. It has been frequently covered by many artists over the years, including by Frank Sinatra the same year it premiered on Broadway.

Ray Charles’ rather weird version of “Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'” is swinging and lively, with some varied brass arranged by Roger Newman darting in and out. Ray, too, playing a cool and funky electric organ to give it a little late-70s juice, uses his voice as a dynamic instrument; his many asides and shouts accentuate the muted trumpets and swelling brass section.

He is somehow able to deliver the silly, playful lyrics – which can be defined as the polar opposite of the blues – with real feeling. That takes skill, something abundantly on display here.

Did I say “feeling”? Yes, feeling! “The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye” never sounded so soulful, but damn if it doesn’t work. And Ray keeps up his good-natured performance throughout the piece – he lets his voice roam all over the place, and is clearly enjoying himself.

Maybe he was happy to be back at Atlantic Records for the first time since 1959 after leaving ABC and releasing the one-off double-album Porgy And Bess with Cleo Laine for RCA. Whatever the reason, Ray Charles in 1977 was loosey goosey and riding a wave of confidence all out of proportion to his recent album sales. But his concert career was going swimmingly, and the money continued to roll in. He still had his women, his booze and marijuana, and his own studio at R.P.M. in Los Angeles. Why not be happy?

Ray’s thoughts on “Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'”

The same year that True To Life was released, Ray Charles and David Ritz published Ray’s official biography Brother Ray, a funny, insightful, and cheerfully profane look at the artist’s life until that point. He mentioned this song in a passage defending his musical choices:

It’s crazy, I know, me singing “Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'” or “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah,” but those are numbers which I can honestly feel. I can be cynical about other things, but never my music.
– Ray Charles

(For the record, I am not aware of a recording of Ray doing “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah”!)

“Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'” doesn’t have to sound like a 1943 show tune if you don’t want it to; it can be enjoyed as just some groovy little song that Ray did and made his own. That’s how I hear it – I don’t know much about Oklahoma! and so this is the only version I have to go on. And it is a beautifully-produced, marvelously-arranged, and spectacularly-sung moment on an album full of them. All the sounds of the Earth are like Ray’s music!

Listen to “Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'”

Get your own “Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'” on LP or MP3 from Amazon.