“Slip Away”

Ray Charles’ 1986 country waltz “Slip Away” was the second song on Side 1 of his From The Pages Of My Mind album, and was the B-side of the first single from the album. Sweetly sentimental and with its chorus of overdubbed Rays and country slide guitar, “Slip Away” is one of Ray’s finer 1980s country tunes and an enjoyable, heartfelt moment of lament and self-reflection.

“Slip Away” was written for Ray by the trio of Joe Allen, Jim Pasquale, and Bobby Whitlock, and was arranged by Bill McElhiney. The lyrics concern a man’s feelings as he sobs over the fact that he let a good woman get away. He stares uncomprehendingly at his hands – “right through my fingers I let you slip away” he says, stunned and alone and kicking himself for allowing his life to fall to pieces.

The orchestration on “Slip Away” is dense and sweet, but appropriately so. It manages to lay it on thick without sounding overwrought, and being recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, the track is professionally played at every turn.

It’s Ray’s voice that is the most compelling part of “Slip Away”, of course, and his ever-advancing years – he turned 66 the year that this album was released – were beginning to show off the mellow and rich vocal tones his life of music had earned him. It’s the same soulful human instrument as it always was, but there are hints of a higher register in Ray’s singing voice; it sounds as if it’s coming from higher up in the chest towards his throat. He also tends to playfully and idiosyncratically slur his “s” sounds – “right through my fingersh I let you shlip awaaaay”. It’s like having a curmudgeon’s voice but a lover’s warm embrace all in the same person.

As he often did throughout the 1980s especially, he overdubbed his own singing for the background vocals on “Slip Away”. And as ever, it sounds good without moving into indulgent or overwhelming territory. Everything Ray released was filtered through his ears; he mixed his music himself before releasing it, and always knew what would sound most natural and best.

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