“That’s All I Am To You”
Song by Ray Charles
The Ray Charles song “That’s All I Am To You” was the non-LP B-side to his September 1965 single “The Cincinnati Kid”. The lighthearted R&B tune was written by Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott.
Blackwell had written several of rock and roll’s earliest hits for the likes of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis; Scott was Blackwell’s sometimes collaborator and had written “Return To Sender” for Elvis. The Animals recorded “That’s All I Am To You” in 1966, effectively a Ray Charles cover.
Ray adopts a broad and fairly comical voice for his protestations during “That’s All I Am To You”, and the lyrics offer ample opportunity for him to ham it up. They are full of clever and funny comparisons that the singer makes between himself and unwanted junk, with the point being that he really doesn’t mean much of anything to his heartless woman.
Over a sassy and brassy backing, plus the Raelets helping him decry his pitiful situation, Ray wails about being nothing more than an old piece of rag, or a broken and discarded Christmas toy, or “a turnover heel on some old worn-out shoe”.
Not even the whole shoe, just the heel! Man, that’s cold.
The rhythm and blues instrumentation is brawny and sprightly and includes a great squawking saxophone solo that, while expertly played, fits the humorous bent of the song.
Ray Charles recalls one of his most famous songs several times during “That’s All I Am To You”, egging the Raelets on by shouting “what’d I say?” Somehow he makes it sound new, though, and not a reference to his 1959 hit. Listeners can’t help but be reminded of it, of course, and it has the effect of making “That’s All I Am To You” a more fully Ray-esque moment.
Somewhat unusually for Ray Charles, “That’s All I Am To You” has a fade out, with him and the Raelets still trading their respective outrage as the sound dies away.
Single releases
Neither of the songs on this single was available on any Ray Charles LP at the time of their release, though the A-side was on the soundtrack LP for the Cincinnati Kid movie.
“The Cincinnati Kid”
b/w
“That’s All I Am To You”
Listen to “That’s All I Am To You”
Get your own “That’s All I Am To You” on 45 or MP3 from Amazon. Or get the out-of-print complete ABC singles 5xCD box set.