“Some Enchanted Evening”

Ray Charles chose to lead off his 1979 LP Ain’t It So with the zesty, quasi-disco “Some Enchanted Evening” (yes, the Rodgers and Hammerstein number).

And why not? The choice is a canny one; “Some Enchanted Evening” does indeed serve as an accurate representation of circa-’79 Ray; although the rest of its album wasn’t all disco, it makes sense that this song would be the opening shot. It was the disco era, and Ray was Ray, and the two came together on tracks like these and others from the era (on both the Ain’t It So and Love And Peace LPs).

Of course, the lush, poignant ballad from 1949’s South Pacific is a, um, bold choice for a disco workout. But this is no ordinary “Some Enchanted Evening”.

There is nothing sentimental about Ray Charles’ version of this evergreen, which was covered by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Art Garfunkel to Bob Dylan. So forget whatever you may know of the song and listen to this take with fresh ears – you’ll hear a fun tune, with the band at its poppiest and Mr. C at his warmest.

His adept voice is what gives “Some Enchanted Evening” its heart. Ray sounds relaxed and comfortable, and is quite enjoying losing himself in the music. His beautiful electric piano work is astonishing, as ever, but mixed somewhat lower.

A few vocal asides here and there, egging on the band or filling in the gaps between the lyrics, and you have yet another in an endless stream of examples of Ray proving his unmatched adeptness at conveying a set of lyrics directly into the listener’s soul.

The instrumentation is somewhat curious on “Some Enchanted Evening”, however. I call it “quasi-disco” because the drums, and their undeniably high-hat-led disco beat, are mixed quite low. Only the bass, by far the key disco element, pops and slinks high enough in the mix to earn the D-word. The real star, besides the vocals, is probably the horn section. It leads off the performance with a shrill jab to the gut, and throughout the song the horns enliven the atmosphere significantly.

Reducing the disco feel somewhat too is the fact that Ray stretches the song out over five minutes, letting different sections and tempos in on the action to break up the infamously monotonous beat that even then was already starting to wane in New York’s clubs. The structure is pop, the vocals and horns pure Ray, and the drums too shy to shape the track. The bass makes it 1979.

Single releases

Listen to “Some Enchanted Evening”

Get your own “Some Enchanted Evening” on 45, LP or MP3 from Amazon.