“I’ll Never Stand In Your Way”

On “I’ll Never Stand In Your Way”, Ray Charles (and arranger Marty Paich) achieve a balance between the lush orchestral sweep of the 1953 original by Joni James and the pared-down acoustic guitar take that Elvis Presley recorded on his second visit to Sun Studios in Memphis in 1954. It thus fits perfectly on his 1962 LP Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music Volume 2, which in fact had this very musical approach at its heart.

“I’ll Never Stand In Your Way” was written by Fred Rose and Hy Heath. The song is simple, structured around some countryish I-IV-V chords and offering a sentiment of heartbreak but then acceptance. When Joni James released the song in 1953, her version was high and sweet, dominated by a thick and lush orchestra. It reached #23 in the US. When Elvis recorded his version on January 4, 1954 in Memphis, his voice was similarly sweet and pure in tone, and was backed only by the merest hint of an acoustic guitar strumming the chords gently.

“I’ll Never Stand In Your Way” was first released in 1953 by Joni James (on 45, whose label is pictured here, and 78 rpm records)

Ray Charles, aided also by strings but also by The Jack Halloran Singers (as he so often was in the early 1960s), adds elements of both. The rhythm is simple – the beat is lightly tapped out, and if it weren’t quite so understated, it could have been recorded in a barn. On the other extreme are the sweeping strings and the Singers. But, in the middle of and above these, it’s Ray’s voice that puts “I’ll Never Stand In Your Way” across so successfully.

Stinging and confident, Ray Charles’ vocal on this song is perfect evidence of why this album and its predecessor Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music were such worldwide hits. He slices through the rest of the people in the studio, the other elements all falling to either side so his pained and beautiful voice can take center stage. The performance is short, but it lasts as long as it needs to to make its point. It may be just over two minutes in length, and a mere album track on Side 2, but “I’ll Never Stand In Your Way” does a lot to give the LP its shape and character.

“I’ll Never Stand In Your Way” was recorded in Hollywood, California on September 7, 1962, along with all the other songs on Side 2 of Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music Volume 2. It was never released on a single in America, but did get selected as the B-side of the “Busted” single in Belgium in 1963.

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