This is one of those songs where I could listen to it on a loop and be happy. Ray Charles wrote this song with a gospel feel to it. It was released in 1956 and it peaked at #5 in the R&B charts.
He went to a state school for the blind in St. Augustine, Florida. He became a professional musician after leaving there in 1945, after the death of his mother. A piece of advice that Ray’s mother gave to him: “You’re blind, not stupid.”
He moved to Seattle because it was the farthest, he could get from Florida. Jack Lauderdale, one of the first black record label owners, signed Charles to the Downbeat label, for whom Charles had his first hit in 1949, Confession Blues. The recording session for it was noteworthy for another reason…Charles recorded it while there was a musicians’ strike. The union fined him $600, his life savings at that point for the infraction.
Charles’ recording contract was sold to Atlantic Records in 1952, shortly after he moved to LA. He formed his own band in 1954 and started to release records.
This song was in the Quarrymen and early Beatles repertoire and a big influence. The first time I heard this song was on the Live! at the Star Club 1962 album released in 1977. The album was recorded in 1962 in the audience by “King Size” Taylor, lead singer of the Dominos. He claims he asked Lennon if that was alright and John verbally agreed to the group being recorded in exchange for Taylor providing the beer during their performances. It was recorded on a low-grade reel to reel in the audience. The Beatles tried to block the release but were unsuccessful. I for one am glad it wasn’t blocked.
It shows how raw they were in the early days. This was recorded right after The Beatles sacked Pete Best and Ringo was brought in.
The lead singer on the Beatles version was that famous Beatle named Horst Fascher. Actually, Horst was a protector of the band and the only favor he asked was to occasionally sing a song. Fascher meant a lot to the Beatles and he worked at the Hamburg clubs they played in.
According to Mark Lewisohn (author of Tune In)… Hamburg was very important to the Beatles. In their first trip to Hamburg, they accumulated around 415 hours of stage time. The Beatles had to be the most experienced rock group in the world, not just Liverpool. When they got back to Liverpool people were amazed and they were the number 1 band in their hometown from then on.
Eddie Cochran and George Jones made chart versions of this song.
Hallelujah I Love Her So
Let me tell you ’bout a boy (girl) I know
He(She) is my baby and he (she) lives next door
Ev’ry morning ‘fore the sun come up
He (she) brings my coffee in my fav’rite cup
That’s why I know, yes, I know
Hallelujah, I just love him (her) so
When I’m in trouble and I have no friends
I know hel’ll (she’ll) go with me until the end
Ev’rybody asks me how I know
I smile at them and say he (she) told me so
That’s why I know, yes, I know
Hallelujah, I just love him (her) so
Now if I call him (her) on the telephone
And tell him (her) that I’m all alone
By the time I count from one to four,I hear him (her) on my door
In the evening when the sun goes down
When there is nobody else around
He (she) kisses me and he (she) holds me tight
He (And) tells me “Baby, (Daddy) ev’ry thing’s all right”
That’s why I know, yes, I know
Hallelujah, I just love him (her) so
[Repeat]
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Great song! Beatles and Eddie Cochran were first versions that came to my mind. Steve Marriott has a great version out there, too.
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I did hear the Humble Pie version while looking at this…yes I like that one also. Anything that Marriott does I like automatically.
I’m re-reading about the early Beatles…love their choice of music. I need to listen to the Cochran version.
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This was almost one of my song draft picks!! Love this one from Ray!!!
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I do also…funny I know it from the Beatles and they never recorded it. It’s alright…any way you find out about a song is alright….as long as you find it.
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listening to the Ray version… very nice. Very upbeat and catchy! On the Beatles, malcolm Gladwell points to Hamburg as the real reason for their greatness. In his theory about 10 000 hours needed to be great at pretty much anything, he figures they got close to that amount of stage time there so they really got well-honed as musicians and performers and wouldn’t have had they been like so many other bands and played a couple of shows a week at home.
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It’s interesting about them Dave. Some of the other bands went over there and didn’t come back like this. Their talents just meshed there more than the others. You would think every band would have came back world beaters.
It did help them. Before they left the first time…they couldn’t get many gigs in Liverpool…after they never hurt for gigs at home. They went to Hamburg a total of 5 times…they didn’t really want to go the last two times but did…I would have loved to hear them. This is when they were at their top live….before Beatlemania and not hearing themselves. They were the Stones before the Stones in Hamburg and Liverpool.
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Very nice, jazzy and gospel-like.
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Nice music Max and I am wondering if you have Disney Plus so you can watch The Beatles: Get Back movie.
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We are getting it this month…only for the Beatles.
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Love it, Max, you really can’t go with Ray Charles. They didn’t call him the genius for nothing!
While I own that Beatles live recording at the Star-Club on vinyl, I haven’t listened to it in ages and, frankly, had completely forgotten they covered this song.
I agree, The Beatles’ crazy performance schedule during those Hamburg days, as gruesome as it was, probably was the best apprenticeship they could ever have had. It really shaped them to become a great live band!
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The hours they put in…at that time…think about it. The most stage experienced rock band in the world….that is some statement.
Like I told Dave…other bands got the same experience after The Beatles but did not set the world on fire. It just meshed with their talents and they swore not to repeat themselves on 6-8 hours sets.
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I dug the Hamburg record back out after reading…I love the rawness of them. They lost some of that when Beatlemania hit
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Totally agree, the rawness of these early performances is quite charming. It would have been priceless to catch one of them!
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They Hamburg album reminds me of the early Stones but with better voices.
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I’d never heard this track before. It’s fabulous and very effervescent and so is Ray’s playing.
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Every song Ray Charles ever recorded was gold. As for the Beatles’ early recording, I’ve never heard anything about Horst Fascher. His name is totally new to me.
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Horst also was a bouncer of the club and kept the troublemakers away from the Beatles. He was an imposing person. He was not a bad singer!
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Ray Charles – Musical Genius!
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