“Take Off That Dress”

From Ray Charles’ disco album Love And Peace of 1978 comes “Take Off That Dress”, one of two Jimmy Lewis songs that Ray recorded for the album. (The other is “Give The Poor Man A Break”.)

“Take Off That Dress” might come as quite a shock to the casual Ray Charles listener: it’s straight-up disco, not traditional Ray with a hint of disco like some of his other songs from the late 1970s. But this is no sad bid for mainstream acceptance, as it is sometimes portrayed. Listen to Ray’s singing: he’s having a ball, totally in control, and his performance dances as much as his listeners will want to. He sounds sure of himself – and if disco was in the air, why not do it to perfection himself? You may have a problem with this choice but he certainly didn’t.

As might be expected of such a blunt title, the meaning of “Take Off That Dress” is very different than it first appears. The song is in fact a demand from a jealous boyfriend of his girl, who is dressing too sexily for his comfort in public. Take off that dress – and wear something else less revealing. “Put on some blue jeans or something,” he suggest in the final few seconds of the track’s fade.

To modern ears, the references to the woman “belonging” to him, and the humorless instructions to cover up what are his “supplies” might seem dated, but perhaps it was meant as a kind of roundabout compliment. And jealous men like this still exist and perhaps always will. It was, in all fairness, probably a little overbearing in 1978 as well; that’s kind of the reason the song exists and where it gets the power of its pleas.

The lyrics find different ways to express the man’s worry over his woman’s sexiness:

Woman, please put on some clothes
‘Cause what you’re showing belongs to me
And I just don’t want it exposed

Take off that dress and cover up my supplies
‘Cause you got me already
Girl you don’t need to advertise

You’re just showing too much (that’s what’s wrong)
I know you know – you let a man see, and pretty soon
He gonna wanna touch (and I can’t blame him)

In the first verse, a chorus of women, representing the one woman addressed in the lyrics, gives one-word answers to Ray’s protestations. They don’t sound like any Raelets ever did, though; with high-register, angelic voices and little in the way of personality (“What?” and “No! Why?” they pout, and that’s about it), they are there merely to provide the male-and-female “conversation” that Ray always liked, but in a different way.

That may be the biggest strike against “Take Off That Dress”, actually; Ray was a strong guy who liked strong, interesting women, and the regular Raelets always fit that bill. But these women are reduced to gossamer, childish little wisps. They’re not allowed to get a word in edgewise after that first verse anyway – the polar opposite of Margie Hendricks barnstorming her way through her man’s attention span.

Musically, as mentioned, “Take Off That Dress” is pure disco. A swelling, dramatic trumpet sound cuts in at times like an approaching train, and given the surrounding arrangement it’s hard to tell if it’s real or a synthesizer. (I would guess the brass is real.)

The rhythm bounces fussily, as disco tended to do, with a crackly bass. While Ray plays some tricky, virtuoso electric keyboard, it’s smeared into the mix with everything else – contributing, but not taking center stage. The solo is a nice, clean-toned electric guitar. Overall, the structure of “Take Off That Dress” is pretty simple, based on the classic lyrical AAB and chordal I-IV-V figure of the blues, with some modifications and a middle section.

At the song’s end, the band continues the groove it’s kept up without exception throughout, while Ray scats variations on the lyrics over the top. There is a fade-out, but before the volume disappears the music suddenly stops, Ray still bitching, if barely audibly.

“Take Off That Dress” was the second song on Side A of Love And Peace, a prominent placement apparently intended to grab listeners and demonstrate what the album was all about. Fair enough; it does that. It was not released on any side of a single, so to hear it you’ll have to find a copy of the LP. Fortunately there are many for sale, easily found online.

Listen to “Take Off That Dress”

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