“When Your Lover Has Gone”

Ray Charles’ version of “When Your Lover Has Gone” is one of many swinging gems from that legendary 1959 LP The Genius Of Ray Charles. The song was never released as a single and can be found as the fifth track on Side 1 of that album, which has been re-released several times in a variety of formats.

“When Your Lover Has Gone” was written in 1931 by a guy named Einar Aaron Swan, an American whose parents had immigrated from Finland. The song was included in the 1931 movie Blonde Crazy starring James Cagney and was subsequently recorded by quite a few famous names, including Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday.

As for Brother Ray’s mesmerizing take on it, jazz critic Nat Hentoff’s review as printed on the back cover of the record singles out “When Your Lover Has Gone” for special praise:

In any case, not since Louis Armstrong’s 1931 vocal on “When Your Lover Has Gone” – to cite my own favorite ballad performance on this record – have I been as touched by the song as here. I only wish that it had gone on several choruses more.
– Nat Hentoff

As performed by Ray Charles, “When Your Lover Has Gone” is gentle and compelling, a study of loneliness. It doesn’t complain though; it merely seeks to describe. The sympathetic brass band is kept on the generally quiet side throughout. Romantic and impressionistic lyrics find a laid-back Ray rejecting starlit skies and sunrises because “like faded flowers, life can’t mean anything when your lover has gone.”

Ray had already made his large and fanatical R&B audience do a double take by releasing albums of lengthy instrumental jazz music, and The Genius Of Ray Charles upped the ante. It was a further step in his endless musical explorations: a big brass band on Side 1, a full orchestra on Side 2. Now often assessed as one of the greatest LPs ever recorded, and though it was in fact a big hit in its time, the record must have come as quite a surprise to everyone raised on the likes of “Hallelujah I Love Her So” and “Mary Ann”.

“When Your Lover Has Gone” features a great saxophone solo by legendary Ray sideman David “Fathead” Newman; the two shared a musical chemistry that always made their collaborations sparkle. Following Fathead’s short solo, the brass kicks it up into high gear for a kind of solo of their own, before settling back down so Ray can hold forth once more.

Make no mistake: “When Your Lover Has Gone” is a beautiful moment on an LP chock full of them. It’s got all the pathos Ray could muster. Even if the song itself is somewhat slight, keeping it from attaining the heights of recordings like “Just For A Thrill” and “Come Rain Or Come Shine”, Ray makes it a soul-crushingly lovely exploration of the blues – a wistful, daydreamy look at sighing despair.

“When Your Lover Has Gone”, clocking in at under three minutes, was arranged by Al Cohn and recorded (as with all six songs on Side 1) on Monday, June 23, 1958 in New York City.

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