“You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Wanna Do It)”

“Listen!” demands Ray at the beginning of “You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Wanna Do It)” from his 1967 LP which was itself called Listen!. And so you do – sassy brass blows the song wide open, and soon Ray is singing the playful lyrics at a comfy pace but with a gleam in his winking eye.

(Incidentally, Ray’s then-recent B-side “Somebody Ought To Write A Book About It” begins the exact same way: with his yelling “Listen!” before the songs starts.)

“You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Wanna Do It)” was written in 1913 by Joseph McCarthy and James Monaco; it was recorded by Al Jolson soon afterwards and became a hit for Judy Garland in 1938, just before she starred in The Wizard Of Oz. Many others have recorded the sentimental tune over the years, although Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ eccentrically insane 1957 version has to be the most fun.

Ray Charles’ version features a big band arranged by Sid Feller which tends to the jazzier side. A saxophone solo steps in for a nice, hip turn in the spotlight, as does Ray himself during a piano solo. Crisp brass and Ray’s tinkling piano push the performance forward on a steady rhythmic flow.

Ray’s singing is especially mischievous on “You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Wanna Do It)”, his frequently conversational tone heightening the comical faux-pouting contrivance of the lyric. “You made me love you,” he’ll sing conventionally, then mutter broadly, “I didn’t wanna do it – no I didn’t wanna do it!”, speaking rather than singing.

Elsewhere he gets even more into the role:

I want some love that’s true
Yes I do, indeed I do, you know damn well I do, baby!

And although it may seem from the words that Ray is being his usual churlish, emotional self on “You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Wanna Do It)”, he is in fact relaxed and in good humor, his objections to his lover all rhetorical and smiling.

Listen to “You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Wanna Do It)”

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