"Drown in My Own Tears", originally credited as "I'll Drown in My Tears", is a song written by Henry Glover. It is best known in the version released as a single in 1956 by Ray Charles on the Atlantic record label.

History

"Drown in My Own Tears" was first recorded in 1951 by Lula Reed, on the King label (King 4527) as part of a split-single 78rpm; blues pianist Sonny Thompson was featured on the A-side with the instrumental track, "Clang, Clang, Clang". The record was a No.5 hit on the US Billboard R&B chart.^[1]

Ray Charles' recording featured his lead vocal and piano, with instrumentation by session musicians. It was his third number-one single on the Billboard R&B singles chart.^[2] It was one of his most important singles during his Atlantic period, where he dominated the R&B singles chart, and influenced him to recruit a singing group he later called the Raelettes.

Personnel

• Ray Charles, arranged and also played piano
• Cecil Payne, baritone saxophone
• Paul West, bass
• David "Panama" Francis, drums
• Donald Wilkerson, tenor saxophone
• Joe Bridgewater, Joshua "Jack" Willis, trumpet
• produced by Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler^[3]

Other recordings

^[4]

Other recordings include one by Dinah Washington on the 1998 CD reissue of The Swingin' Miss "D" (1957), originally on the EmArcy Records label.^[5] The song was also performed by Simply Red in 1991 at the Montreux Jazz Festival, featuring on the live album of the event.